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Found 17 results

  1. WE DID IT!!! We did it! Me by posting a new chapter once every week for the last 14 weeks, and you by taking the time to read them! It's been lots of fun getting to post my personal Ark Survival Evolved story for others to read, and I'm very happy to have seen that at least a few people seem to be interested in it. I hope that it has been as enjoyable to read as it was for me to write! However, as stated in the introduction section for chapter 1, I currently only have 14 chapters completely finished and polished ready to read. So, unfortunately, as this is chapter 14 it will be the last one that I post for awhile. Perhaps for a very long while; as it takes a long time to write and polish a story. Maybe if I knew in greater detail the extent to which others might enjoy further chapters I would have a higher incentive to work on more? Feel free to leave a comment on this chapter if you'd like to express to me whether you'd like me to keep going or not; and feel free to give me details on why you'd like me to post further chapters, or if not then even why you'd prefer I didn't post any more chapters. Constructive criticism is always nice. To give you an idea concerning how far into the overall story chapter 14 is, I have a working list of future chapter titles and it would take around 86 more chapters to completely finish Florian's story; equaling to about 100 chapters in all(coincidentally; 100 also being the level that I reached with Florian's character before the legacy server split, along with a few other issues, caused his story to come to an end). In any case, I've found it to be a happy coincidence that I'll be posting this last of my first 14 chapters just a week before ASE official servers permanently shut down; as I've somewhat been dedicating the posting of these chapters as something of a "memoriam" for ASE official. I think one last solemn week after this posting is a very fitting timing. Say what you want of wildcard delays, but for me in this case it turned out nicely; as if they'd shutdown ASE official servers on their originally planned date, then the posting of my chapters wouldn't have worked out so well. Still, it'd be even better if they weren't shutting them down at all... Also, I hope that my chapters have helped at least a few of you in regards to the "void" created by a lack of promised official animated episodes. I, like many others, have been very annoyed at wildcard's debut of the season 1 animated series trailer near the beginning of this year; only to then get no further information about it until their recent announcement that "maybe you'll get to see it sometime next year"... Do you notice what I did wildcard? I waited until I had all 14 chapters completely finished and ready to post, then I announced that I would post 1 chapter each week until I'd posted all 14, and then guess what? I did just exactly that; and hit the weekly deadline every time. Sometimes on Friday, Sometimes on Saturday, but a new chapter every week. Maybe you could learn from your own past experiences and do the same for once? I mean, I don't care if you have all the episodes for season 1 finished and that you want to tell me this and show off a shiny trailer; it means nothing to me unless you then also begin to show me those episodes. Don't tell me that you have something done, or are working on something, until you're actually ready to show it to me; cause showing me a shiny trailer, then going silent about it for months, then almost a year later telling me that you still aren't ready to show me the episodes (and even worse that you still don't even know when you will be ready) doesn't build hype or anticipation; no, it builds resentment. Anyways; so, you could consider these first 14 chapters of mine to be "season 1" if you like. The first 14 "episodes" of Florian's story. And, if you've been feeling like the past few "episodes" have been really short; well, then I've got some good news for you! Similar to how the "introduction section" of this chapter will be the longest one so far, chapter 14 is also BY FAR the longest of these first 14 chapters. So; if you've been wanting more story each time lately and not getting it, you're getting it now! And if you've preferred the shorter chapters due to not liking as much reading; well, then, good luck with this one I guess! Alright, so, with all that out of the way; how was the previous chapter? Hulk certainly was a strangely interesting character wasn't he? Especially for a pvp server; where you'd expect him to just murder me, instead of throwing his implant at me and asking me to remember him. I mean, he was like level 84 or so at the time and I was only level 34. He could have one-shot me with his bare fists! But, whatever the strangeness of his methods, I guess he managed to achieve his goal. After-all; not only did I remember him, but I remembered him so well that I dedicated an entire chapter of my story to him! And now...with the last of my first 14 chapters...the end of "season 1" if you will...it's finally time to truly "start" to get into the story of Florian's Journey! To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, I invite you to read the longest chapter so far as we conclude this "memoriam" and "season 1 of chapters" with a Grand Finale! FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 102 102 Chapter 14 A Ghost-Face? And A Meat-Stick? I’d continued my Turtle hunt into the early morning…though sightings had remained few and far between. I now had just five Giant Turtles worth of harvested resources, packed into the storage boxes upon my raft; yet I figured that I would need at least five to ten more...just for a start. Irritable from the lack of sleep, along with a growing impatience over the long hours, I’d finally decided to give-up the hunt from atop my vessel…and instead search farther inland on foot. I docked my raft upon a wide sandy beach, strewn with large boulders, about a mile South of the huge swampland on the island’s Eastern edge. With a wooden spear in my right hand, and two more tied securely to my back, I jumped onto the warming sand; somehow managing to remain highly alert, despite my weary state. About a hundred feet in from the water, were a couple of small cliff-edged plateaus; with a wide, gently sloping, grassy pathway between them. The plateau on my right rose to about thirty feet above the beach beneath it, while the one on my left soared to around an eighty foot height; both seeming almost like barriers; set to separate the densely towering forest upon them, from the sparsely treed lowlands at their base. Quickly scanning the area, I could see that there were plenty of Trikes; Stegos; Parasaurs; and Phiomias; all casually moving about in their variously sized herds, grazing upon the low lying plants. But…no Giant Turtles. 103 103 Catching the glimpse of a swiftly moving Raptor, hunting a pack of Dodos several yards down the coast to my right, I decided to head off towards the left. The beach in this direction narrowed abruptly, as the land gradually climbed to a hundred foot tall cliff-face; overlooking the rocky sands below. This incline passed partly in-front of the eighty foot high plateau…creating a wide, smoothly sloping, grassy pathway; split in two by a large mound of earth about halfway up, which proudly displayed a single huge tree growing strong upon its surface. Deciding that the altitude would give me a good visual vantage point of the immediate area, I initially began ascending this convenient trail…but was stopped by a series of wooden billboards; which began just passed the large solitary tree. Carefully brushed in white paint, with bold lettering, they all read; ‘NO TRESPASSING! TRAPS AND TURRETS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!’ I gazed up the path, as it wound around to the top of the eighty foot high plateau…and saw the form of a modest stone fortress; tucked away behind a dense covering of trees…with what appeared to be an elaborate fortification of wooden spiked walls surrounding it. ‘…Here was certainly someone who didn’t like visitors.’ Not wanting to get into any unnecessary trouble, I quickly hiked back down the moderate slant; and decided to try my luck along the rocky shoreline, beside the gradually rising cliff-face. After about Sixty yards of barren rocky sand, the hundred foot high cliff suddenly dipped inwards; as if a giant had taken a large bite out of it. The rock-face curved inland as a half-circle, so that it created a large sandy area…sparsely covered in palm trees and boulders at the base of the hundred foot high precipice; which extended about three-hundred feet in from the water, and stretched roughly a hundred-fifty feet across…before realigning itself with the rest of the vertical rocky surface. The far end of the towering crag, several hundred feet off in the distance, gradually sloped down into a flat sandy beach; near the point of the peninsula. On either side of this enormous indentation…sunk securely into the sand near the water…was a large wooden billboard, with a merciless threat smeared upon it in red paint…probably meant to look like blood; ‘Trespassers Will Be Killed!’ 104 104 Glancing into the inward curvature of the rock-face, I saw what appeared to be a large wood structure; nearly as tall as the towering cliff beside which it was built, and almost as wide as the semicircle space within which it had been constructed. The building appeared haphazard…with no logical design to its assembly, and no obvious means of entry…though the sheer size of it was quite impressive. Thinking for a moment that; ‘traveling this way had been a waste of time’, it was then that I spotted the armor-plated head, of my long sought after quarry, emerging from the surface of the water on the other side of the large sandy expanse; which lay between the threatening billboards! As I watched the form of a large, grey-shelled, Giant Turtle with teal colored hide slowly make its way onto the beach…just out of my reach…a couple of yards beyond the far warning sign…I knew that; ‘I couldn’t let an intimidating message, keep me from obtaining the resources I so desperately needed!’ Still…being careful to heed the billboard’s warning, I traversed the space between the no-trespassing signs by wading through the ocean water; so as to not step upon the actual land…hoping that this would be a good enough excuse, should their owner suddenly appear…and question my presence. …A few minutes later, I had finally made it to the other side of the sectioned-off area; to find the Giant Turtle leisurely walking around the beach, as it soaked up the warming sun. With a battle cry, I swiftly charged towards it from behind; and stabbed my spear as deep into its back left leg as I could manage, before promptly pulling it out! Uttering a pain-filled shriek, the Giant Turtle quickly turned around; snapping at me with its razor-sharp beak-like mouth! Dodging its attack, I rushed around to its back and stabbed it again! The Turtle continued to follow me with its head…slowly turning upon its four stout limbs…as it attempted to strike back with its only means of offensive action. …I merely kept dodging around to its rear; piercing its hind-legs over …and over …progressively amassing a series of steadily bleeding wounds. 105 105 I then accidentally jabbed my spear into its shell, striking the hard surface, thus causing my weapon to splinter into pieces! Further proof that its tough, keratin-like shielding was exactly what I needed to increase my own defensive capabilities! Its rigid, spikey covering protected the Giant Turtle’s major organs from harm…making it seemingly impossible to kill the creature easily. For most predators, this was enough of a deterrent to keep them from even trying…but unfortunately for the Turtle, it just meant that its death would come slowly…and painfully…at the hands of any who were determined enough to see their efforts through till the end. Grabbing one of my back-up spears from its holster upon my back, I continued in the same manner as before; being even more careful not to strike its shell again. After about a half hour or so of struggling in this round-about way, the Giant Turtle at last succumbed to fatigue due to its gradual blood-loss…and collapsed onto the sand in a dazed faint. Taking the stone axe which hung at my side, I firmly held the Turtle’s limp head down…and with a couple of swift chops, I quickly ended its pain …along with its life. I didn’t enjoy killing the more innocent creatures…like this one. The bloodthirsty beasts…such as Dillos, Raptors, and Carnos…I had no problems with; but I ached severely inside, whenever I Killed something…which hadn’t first been trying to kill me. ‘Still…I had no choice. For my own survival…I needed their natural protection to become mine…and there was no way for them to give it up willingly.’ Knowing that I would still have to do this at least another four times, I silently thanked the animal for its sacrifice…and prepared myself to begin processing its body. ~~~~~~~ A series of rapid thundering footsteps, sounding down the shoreline, then interrupted my actions as I turned; startled; to look into a cavernous maw of sharply glistening teeth, which were as long as my arm! The massive Tyrannosaurus-Rex let out a deafening ‘RROOOOAAAARRR’ straight in my face; amidst a flailing of huge spit globs, and the stench of rotting meat! Frozen in fear…I sat there…as the intense ringing in my ears gradually faded…certain that I was only seconds away from sliding sliced and bloody down its throat! 106 106 Then, just as I was sure the beast was about to devour me whole, the playful male voice of a human looking down on someone less advantaged called out from far above; “Heh-hey there little guy?! What-cha doin near my beach?!” Dazed and confused…I stared blankly up at the Rex……wondering for just a moment, if it had actually spoken to me; “Uh………What?” A pale human face, covered in shaggy black hair, then poked out from behind the Rex’s gargantuan head and shouted; “Up here little guy! Those are MY no trespassing signs back there…or didn’t ya read them?! I sure hope you didn’t step on MY SAND; cause then I’d have to KILL YOU!” Briefly pushing aside the mind-shattering fact, that someone had not only managed to domesticate a T-REX…but also rode about on it so casually…for future contemplation, I quickly stuttered back in response; “Oh, oh, oh, oh that wood building and those signs are yours then? No Sir, I didn’t step a single foot on your sand! I noticed the signs, and swam around the area out in the water!” Hoping to add some extra weight to my defense, I briefly glanced at the lifeless turtle carcass beside me; “I wouldn’t have even done that…but I saw a Giant Turtle on the other side…and I just had to get to it! See, I’ve spent the past thirty-six hours hunting them specifically…and haven’t had much luck in finding them…so I couldn’t let this one get away!” The man gazed at me with a look that said he wasn’t entirely convinced; “Giant Turtles eh? Ah, you mean the Carbonemys. What’cha doin hunting those things for?! It’ll take you hours to kill one with your little spears! …There’s plenty of easier animals to hunt for food around here; and much better tasting ones to!” Getting up off the ground…I decided it would probably be better just to be honest with him; “I need their hard keratin shells to improve my defenses, so that I won’t just get killed in two seconds by something! It’s the only way I can think of, to survive with all the dangerous stuff around here!” The man momentarily glanced at my kill…then turned his attention back towards me; “Do you want the meat then?! And does the shell have to be fully intact for your use?!” 107 107 Wondering what exactly it was, he was thinking of doing…I shouted back submissively; “No! I have too much meat to eat already from my previous kills…and I actually need the shell broken up into much smaller pieces to use properly…so I’ll have to spend a lot of time painstakingly cutting it apart later!” The man’s eyes glinted with a spark of blatant superiority as he stated; “That so? Well then, you better step back; so that you can get a good look at what this powerful beast does best!” I barely managed to jump out of the way, as the man’s Rex suddenly scooped the Carbonemys corpse into its drooling mouth at his command! It then proceeded to crunch the shell into shattering chunks between its massive jaws; letting the pieces rain down onto the sand like thick, shimmering, shards of glass. I marveled at the lumbering brute’s delicate precision, as it appeared to swallow none of the sharp fragments along with its meat…letting the entire cracked shell fall at my feet; while I swiftly gathered the pieces into a large hide carrying bag on my back. When the Rex had finally finished with its meal, the man again called out to me boastingly; “See?! Wasn’t that so much easier?! Say…out of curiosity…it doesn’t have to be Carbonemys shell does it? I mean, there are lots of animals around here that you can get forms of keratin from. The spikes and back-plates on Stegos…the horns on Trikes…the skulls of Pachys.” Staring up at him gratefully for his help, I quickly answered; “Not really! Long as it’s keratin, I can use it! But…Stegos and Trikes are so much more dangerous. I don’t really think I have a chance at killing them; which is why I started hunting the Carbonemys.” The man’s face acquired a patronizing grin as he replied; “Well shoot! I’m about to go on a meat run to feed my Carnivores, and I end up throwing away piles of the stuff every time I do! Hmmmm…. Well…I suppose as a favor, I could throw it down to you instead! That is…provided you can keep up with me on foot?!” Gazing at him with increased gratitude, I yelled back eagerly; “Sure! That’d be great! Thank you so much!” 108 108 Laughing gently at my enthusiasm for keratin, the man shouted back to me as his Rex began walking forwards with gradually increasing speed; “Sure thing! The name’s GhostFace by the way; learn it and respect it! I’ll allow you to cross between my signs just this once, so you won’t be slowed down by the water as you follow me! Well…let’s see if you can keep up!” With that, the Rex took off down the coastline with crashing strides of ten to fifteen feet; which shook the sandy ground beneath its massive black and grey colored form! Immediately realizing that this GhostFace individual wasn’t going to make it easy for me, I desperately sprinted after him; using all the strength I could muster just to keep up! We rushed passed his warning signs and down the cliff-edged shoreline; finally stopping near the thirty foot high plateau, as the Rex skillfully took off a Parasaur’s head with one chomp! The poor thing hadn’t even had a chance…the Parasaur had barely begun to pick up speed in its attempted escape, as the steadily jogging Rex had moved swiftly upon it. Finally catching up…I placed my hands firmly upon my knees to steady myself, as I gasped deeply with exhaustion, while the Rex effortlessly picked up the Parasaur’s headless body with its jaws; and swung it around onto a special carrying rack made of metal bars, which had been fitted to its back. Hardly managing to recover from the intensive sprint, I then caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of my right eye; as a Raptor raced swiftly through the grass in my direction! Thinking for a moment, that I’d be done before my keratin gleanings had even begun…as I had no strength within me to run or fight back…I simply closed my eyes; and awaited the familiarly inevitable pain. Hearing a loud crunch, followed by an agonizing screech, I then opened my eyes to see that the Rex had deftly caught the Raptor in its crushing maw just before it’d reached me! Lifting it up, the Rex casually tossed it into the air; and then caught it again with a deadly cracking of bones. 109 109 Looking down from his large leather-hide saddle, GhostFace called out jeeringly; “You’re going to have to do a lot better than that little guy! We’ve barely begun, and you’re already out of breath! From here on the meat run will only get more difficult; so follow or not at your own discretion, as I can’t be constantly looking behind me to check if you’re still there!” Not waiting for a response, he directed his Rex to stomp up the sloping pathway between the two plateaus; into the forested region beyond. Not wanting to give this guy the satisfaction of my surrender, and still very much desiring that otherwise wasted keratin, I chased after him into the dense vegetation! We went up and over a large forested hill, then down the other side towards the bay-like inlet of ocean water; which ran along the peninsula’s inner flank. Here, amongst a wide scattering of enormous boulders, the Rex stopped again; as it engaged in combat with a lone green-colored Stegosaurus! Panting heavily a few yards away, I watched as the Stego whipped its spiked tail at the Rex’s lower jaw; lightly scratching its thigh instead. The Rex then shoved hard with its oversized cranium; smashing the Stegosaurus against a giant boulder near the sand, which was as large as the Rex itself! The Stego wobbled painfully from the impact, then rushed towards the Rex with another jabbing strike of its tail! This time; the Stegosaurus managed to scrape a couple of long, yet shallow, cuts into the Rex’s chest. Seeing the opening it was waiting for, the Rex clamped down hard upon the Stego’s immensely smaller head; using its huge left foot to press strategically against the Stego’s side until it fell over…twisting the Stego’s neck in the process. With the full weight of its left leg keeping the Stegosaurus pinned down, the Rex severed its head from its body with a hard wrenching yank! It then proceeded to skillfully rip out the Stego’s large back-plates and tail-spikes with its teeth; leaving them on the ground for me to pick up, while it swung the rest up onto its carry rack; to lay beside the Parasaur. As I scrambled to stuff the keratin chunks into my now bulging hide backpack, the Rex abruptly continued on its hunt; stomping in the direction of the inlet bay’s inland side, amidst a scattering of frightened Dodos! 110 110 A towering, hundred foot-high, cliff-face rose along the peninsula edged side of the inlet at our backs; with a large grassy slant leading up to its summit far down the wide beach, as it stretched towards the ocean. The far side of the bay rose into a large forested hill, with the beginnings of a lofty rock-face creeping just around the bend of shoreline; which marked the inlet’s outer reaches on that side, as it merged into the wider ocean. Flattening the smaller palm trees as it charged ahead, the Rex turned to rush down a series of large elongated mounds of dirt; sparsely covered in massive rocks and dainty trees…with variously sized, shallow streams continually splitting and reconnecting around them; as they raced out to join with the inlet bay. Hastily stuffing the last few bits of keratin into my pack, I once again chased after the Rex; my bare feet feeling refreshingly cool as I splashed through the shallow streams, and comfortingly warm as I ran over the earthen mounds. ~~~~~~~ Eighty foot tall cliffs began to rise on both sides; as the numerous streams gradually converged into a single, shallow river farther down. The cliff-faces narrowed into a thirty foot wide canyon; with a sheer rock-face to our right; and a gently inclining pathway, leading up to the precipice’s densely forested peak, on our left. The Rex again stopped, as it caught another Parasaur in its teeth; above a frantic scattering of the rest of its herd. The fleeing Parasaurs honked loudly with decrees of danger, as they dashed wildly into the lengthy ravine! While the Rex gently tossed its latest kill onto the slowly growing pile of victims upon its back, GhostFace glanced over his shoulder just as I was catching up to him; “That all you got man?! Come’on…can’t you run any faster?! I’m even going slower than usual for you!” Amidst a series of coughing gasps, I sputtered back; “I’m trying my best! But I’m running on foot! That Rex can take ten foot strides…compared to my two foot sprints! …I can only run so fast for so long!” 111 111 Commanding his Rex to begin walking down the river carpeted canyon, GhostFace shouted in reply; “Sounds like a you problem! I’ve got a schedule to keep, so I can only accommodate slowness to a point!” I said nothing, as we continued splashing down the deep gulley; the Rex causing a wave of water half my height to rise with every step. A few tens of yards in, the shallow river was suddenly split in two by a soaring cliff-edged plateau! GhostFace steered his Rex down the left path, which continued on for several tens of yards more; after which it gradually opened as the cliffs descended into gently sloping, rocky inclines. The waterway again was split into two narrow creeks by a lengthened mound of soil; shortly before joining with a larger river which extended meanderingly inland far off into the distance on my right, and curved around an eighty foot high cliff-face to my left…a narrower, shallow stream also branched off from this wider river near to where the creeks joined with it; which flowed straight out into what appeared to be the ocean, about a half mile or so to my left. Letting my eyes wander to the top of the eighty foot tall rock-face, I saw that a large stone fort had been built at its peak; overlooking the valley below as a steadfast sentry. After only a brief moment’s pause, the Rex suddenly jerked to the right; and headed down the large, meandering river. Chasing after him; we passed by another couple of small creeks amidst a series of long, earthen, rocky covered hillocks as the rest of the previous winding brook met up with the broader waterway. The huge river flowed lazily along a path of gently winding curves. It appeared to be about eighty feet wide from edge to edge, and ten feet deep at its center; though thankfully we kept to the riverbank, so I didn’t need to worry about trying to keep up with the Rex while swimming. The land touching the river’s margin on our right, upon which we hastily traveled, consisted of a large grassland; sparsely dotted with trees, that gradually transitioned into a series of forested knolls far off into the distance. The shore to our left, in contrast, immediately rose into a series of large wooded hills; which were occasionally laced by variously sized cliffs. 112 112 To my visual delight, there were a vast multitude of creatures moving throughout the wide prairie before us; as they all went about their daily routines. I saw large herds of Parasaurs, Stegos, and Trikes as they either grazed upon the grasses or drank at the water’s edge…flocks of Pteranodons soared through the sky overhead; occasionally dipping their long pointed beaks into the river for a drink, or to catch a big wriggling fish…various groups of Carbonemys moved slowly about near the water, as packs of Dillos and Raptors chased after fleeing Dodos and Phiomias respectively…towering over them all, rose a small herd of lumbering Brontos; which seemed unconcerned with the commotion around them, while they drank from the river and searched for tall trees to casually graze upon. Looking more closely…it even seemed there were a few species I hadn’t yet seen upon the island. There were what appeared to be a light scattering of Diplodocus throughout the savanna…a smaller cousin of the Brontosaurus. They stood about thirty feet high; upon four stout legs, with massive four-toed feet. Tiny spikes followed along the entire hundred foot length of their spine; from their bulbous head, sporting a pair of alert eyes above flat herbivorous teeth, down their ridiculously long necks…all the way to the tips of their exceedingly lengthy whip-like tails; all encased in a thick leathery hide of blues and greens. Droves of Gallimimus darted skittishly between the other animals upon two lengthy legs, with large three-toed feet; designed for extreme sprinting speeds. Their twelve foot height, and twenty-six foot length, caused them to appear something of a mix between a Parasaur and a Raptor…their heads seeming almost predatory with long narrow mouths filled by tiny sharp teeth, and a pair of slightly forward-set eyes; expertly alert beneath a tuft of long feathers which sprouted from the back of their heads, all set atop a very extensively curving neck…their two long, slender arms each with three lengthy clawed fingers made them look as though they could be quite deadly; along with their swiftly slender form, and lengthily slender tail all covered in a hide of tans and greens. However, despite their immediately dangerous appearance, I somehow knew that Gallis were among the most nervous of herbivores…being more likely to run from a Dillo, than attack it. 113 113 The Rex casually snapped up a few Parasaurs and Phiomias, as their comrades fled for their lives, while we continued down the riverbank. Occasionally, it would crunch up a Carbonemys or two; letting the keratin shards fall to ground, where I rapidly snatched them from the dust amidst its stomping feet. It tried to catch a Galli every now and then…but they were far too agile to be worth chasing after; not when there was so much easier game to be had. Whenever a Raptor or Dillo would charge towards us with intent to kill me, the Rex would nonchalantly bend over and snatch it into its crushing maw; as if to remind me, that I’d be dead without its protection. Eventually…we came upon a lone Triceratops; which had wandered a good distance away from the safety of its herd. Seeing a worthy challenge, the Rex lunged at it; barely scratching the Trike’s back, as it swung its horns around in defense! The Rex then backed a few yards away from it…and waited…as the Trike decided whether it would stay and fight, or rush back to the security of its herd. Being a young and naïve male, the Trike charged towards the Rex with intent to drive its horns deep into the Rex’s chest! The Rex on the other hand, seemed a veteran of dinosaurous combat; which had been well-trained by its human masters. Waiting until just the right moment, the Rex stepped quickly to the side; unharmed as the charging Trike rushed by! Then, seeing the opening it’d been waiting for, the Rex lunged swiftly forwards; aiming for the Trike’s weakest point at the base of its neck, which would otherwise have been hidden by the large armor-like frill atop its head! Clamping down hard, the Rex stopped the Trike in its tracks by pinning it with its weight…and after just a few seconds of struggling, it managed to snap the Trike’s neck between its powerful crushing jaws! Pulling out the horns for me to collect into my pack, it tossed the corpse onto the ever growing pile upon its back; which seemed to me to be getting a bit too heavy, and awkward, for it to carry effectively. Continuing onwards; it was then I realized how close we’d gotten to the enormous, floating, green-glowing metal tower! From my vantage point on the ground, it looked as though the area around its base might be similar to that of the red tower’s; as I could see seven colossal pillars of rock curving like claws towards the center of a circular region beneath. 114 114 Akin to that of the red tower, these claw-like rock formations pulsed green with a peculiar energy within a strange technology; which had been embedded inside them. As I gazed distractedly towards the floating tower, the Rex stopped abruptly to rest amidst the grassy plain. Standing here, we were only about a quarter mile away from the enormous obelisk; with just a few short, cliff-edged plateaus in front of it being the only obstacles to traverse. ~~~~~~~ As I was about to inquire if we might possibly head over in that direction, a gigantic bird suddenly blocked the mid-day sun with its massive wings; as it descended upon us! Franticly looking towards GhostFace to gauge the threat, I saw him waving up to the bird familiarly; as though he were greeting a long-time friend. My abrupt panic slowly easing off, I began to see the fowl more clearly; as it landed a few yards away from the Rex, with a deep reverberating ‘HONK!’ The great bird appeared to stand about twenty feet tall upon two large, five-clawed hind legs; and a couple of even larger five-clawed front arms. It had a pair of enormous skin-covered, orange-colored, wings which stretched between its limbs; and looked as though they would provide a forty-five foot wingspan if fully extended. Its head consisted of a long, pointed, cream-colored beak; which appeared to be even larger than the Rex’s cranium, with a huge eye about the size of my head on either side…and a thick Mohawk of purple feathers fluffed along its top…this all sitting upon a lengthy giraffe-like neck of blue skin; which connected to a large body of small, black feathers; with a little Pteranodon-like nub-of-a-tail hanging between its back legs. By all description…I knew it to be a Quetzalcoatlus! The Quetz stood there warily…its eyes flickering, and its head twitching slightly… as it constantly shifted its gaze about its surroundings; ever vigilant of potential threat. To my astonishment, it carried a large metal platform saddled to its back; with a long metal ramp sloping almost to the ground on the side which faced us! 115 115 A large muscular man, wrapped in a deep ebony casing, and wearing a complete set of hide-leather clothing with close-cut raven hair; then stood from his seat upon the Quetz’s back, and called out to GhostFace; “Hey! What you got for me?!” GhostFace shouted back in friendly banter; “More than you can carry, since the Rex can hardly lift it! But you’re welcome to try!” The man grinned, bellowing back; “That so?! Well; you better get to work loading up the Quetz then, so we can find out!” The man then glanced briefly in my direction, as he noticed my minute presence beneath the massive Rex; “Hey GhostFace; who’s the noob?!” GhostFace looked around confused for a moment, as the man’s question had distracted him; from his task of loading the harvested animals onto the Quetz’s metal platform with his Rex; “Huh?! Oh; yeah…I found him killing a Carbonemys with a wooden spear near my beach! He gave me the meat, cause he said he just wanted the keratin shell! I don’t really know why he wants keratin so much…but I told him that I waste a lot of it on these meat runs, and said he could have all that I collected today if he kept up with me! Heh, heh, heh…So he’s been following along and picking up the pieces I drop!” The man’s face then took on a sternly irritated visage…though I could see a smile of amusement just a few centimeters beneath it; “Come’on now! That’s not a nice way to treat noobs! Making them run behind you on foot so they die of exhaustion! You could just as well have saved up the keratin, and traded it to him for something later!” GhostFace replied critically, as his Rex tossed one of the dead Parasaurs onto the Quetz’s back; “Well…it’s not like I was forcing him to do it! He could have chosen to give up, and go do something else at any moment! I thought I was being quite charitable; since the keratin was just going to be thrown away…and I even made sure to keep him from dying! Besides…I doubt he’d have anything I’d want to trade for!” As the Rex threw its final carcass onto the now heavily weighed down Quetzal, the man looked down towards me and shouted; “Hey you down there! It’s a long way back to where you were! If you can manage to get yourself onto the Quetzal, and don’t mind riding near a pile of dead meat, then I’ll give ya a lift back alright?!” 116 116 Nodding my head in the affirmative, I ran up to the Quetz and carefully climbed up the somewhat slippery metal ramp to its back; being careful to avoid the small trickles of blood, which flowed down from the corpses above. As I steadied myself near the pile of remains, just a few feet behind the six and a half foot tall man, he gave me a nod; then took his seat by the long, hide-leather reigns and yelled at GhostFace; “Take the Rex a little ways into the ocean on your way back to wash off some of that blood! I don’t want the base smelling like rotting meat again!” I could hear the faint reply of ‘Yeah, yeah!’ from GhostFace, as the Quetzal unfurled its gigantic wings with a thundering whoosh of air! Then, with a snap of the reigns and a loud holler, the Quetz began to flap against the ground with a mighty force; causing us to slowly lift into the air! I wobbled slightly amidst the whirling gusts, and flattened myself against the metal of the platform to keep from being blown off; clinging tightly to my overstuffed pack of hard-won keratin, so that it wouldn’t go sliding off! Once we’d reached his desired altitude, the ride began to feel a little smoother …but I remained flat against the hard metal; for fear of slipping off, as there were no safety lines to cling to! Weighed down by the heavy load, we flew low to the ground…just barely brushing against the towering treetops, as we steadily headed back towards the peninsula. Once we’d been in the air for a couple minutes or so, the man at the reigns called loudly over his shoulder; so as to be heard above the Quetzal’s booming wing-flaps; “My name’s MeatStick by the way! …Bet this is the first time you’ve ridden a Quetzal huh?! Heh…probably the first time you’ve ever flown! …It might feel a bit bumpy at first…but you’ll get used to it! So…why do you want so much keratin; if you don’t mind me asking?!” While trying desperately to focus on not falling off, I respectfully replied; “It’s nice to meet you! …I’m Florian! …Well…I just figure that the tough substance would be really good for increasing my personal defenses! …There are so many dangerous things around here…that want to kill me…so I’m trying to think of ways to help keep me alive!” 117 117 Correcting the Quetzal’s course slightly, MeatStick shouted back; “I suppose that makes sense in your position! It could help you out, if you made armor-plating of some kind with it maybe! …Would chitin perhaps be of any interest to you?! That’s the hard carapace around things like Pulmonoscorpius, uh, the Giant Scorpions!” Considering my experience with them…I felt that chitin might be similar enough to keratin for it to be useful, so I responded quickly; “Sure! If you have any spare chitin, then I could certainly use it!” MeatStick happily yelled back; “Great! We’ve got a few boxes of the stuff just taking up space back home! I’m not going to just give it away like GhostFace though! …If you’re willing; let’s do a trade?! …If you can gather and bring me twenty bundles of fiber, then I’ll give you all the chitin we’ve got; alright?!” My enthusiasm building due to the recent turn of events, I gleefully agreed; “Okay! You got a deal!” MeatStick angled the Quetz’s trajectory slightly to the right as he responded; “Excellent! I’ll drop you off near the point of the peninsula then; okay?! There’s lots of bushes there for you to collect for fiber, and it’s close to where GhostFace found you…if you have a raft or something to put the keratin you’ve already collected into! Our base is near there to; when you’re ready to trade! You can’t miss it! In-fact…you’ve probably already seen it! It’s the large, stone, rectangular box against the cliff-face with a wooden spiked wall around it!” My smile widening, and not just because of the airstream blowing into my cheeks, I simply shouted back; “Sure! Sounds good to me!” ~~~~~~~ A few minutes later, I felt the Quetz slow its forward momentum; and begin to lower as it descended towards the peninsula’s point. It dropped till the bottom edge of the metal ramp was just a few feet above the ground, and then hovered there as MeatStick waved me off with a final instruction; “Okay; here’s your stop! Just slide down the ramp and into the sand…it should cushion your fall! Just walk up to one of our outer wooden gates, and give it a hard knock when you’re ready to trade okay?! Or give us a shout if that doesn’t work!” 118 118 I nodded, then slid down the ramp with a soft thud into the sand below; my backpack full of keratin making a loud rattling noise as it rolled down the glistening metal! MeatStick took off on his Quetz towards his stone fortification, which was just a few tens of yards down the beach, as I covered my face; shielding it from the spiraling sand, which flew up amongst the mighty gusts of wind the Quetzal produced in its wake! As the whirling grains settled, I confidently stood; hefting the hide pack full of keratin shards onto my back. MeatStick had dropped me off near the peninsula’s outer most point; just a few feet from the large wooden scaffolding, which resembled the letters ‘FU’. Now standing at its base…the entire structure appeared to be about thirty-six feet high, and forty-eight feet wide…as it faced sternly towards the crescent shaped islet, which sat about a mile or so out from the main island. Glancing briefly about my immediate surroundings, I found myself to be on a wide…flat…sandy area which was indeed densely covered in a blanket of little fern-like bushes; along with a sparse scattering of small trees. The beach curved gently into the ocean’s softly glistening water, all around the long finger of land; aside from a few large boulders…including a massive fifty foot tall slab of rock near its tip; which seemed strangely out-of-place amongst its otherwise flatter surroundings. As the ground moved inland along the peninsula’s length…it gradually sloped into a grassy, boulder-strewn hill; with hundred-foot high cliffs on either side…overlooking large sandy beaches beneath. A small jut of earth split the slope into two paths part way up; with a single, large tree growing firmly on its crumbling surface. I first made my way to the raft; which was about a mile down the peninsula’s rocky outer edge…being careful to skirt around GhostFace’s ‘No Trespassing’ signs…and stashed the substantial pile of keratin into a wooden storage container upon it. Once that was accomplished, I sailed the craft back to the peninsula’s point; docking it near the fifty foot tower of rock. Reminding myself to remain alert, I quickly set off upon my work of collecting fibrous plant tissue from the field of bushes around me; all the while enjoying a sing-song, chortling chorus from the many variously colored Dodos waddling peacefully nearby; as they fed off the differently hued berries. 119 119 I tied the fibers into bundles of a hundred strands each…and once I had twenty of them all set aside into a pile, I carefully gathered them up into a towering heap…cradled strategically in my arms…before striding warily towards MeatStick’s imposing dwelling. The cliff-face on the peninsula’s inner side rose gradually to my right, as I cautiously made my way down the half-mile or so stretch of coastline to their outer gate…trying my best not to trip over anything, as the awkward stack of fibrous bales made it difficult to see where I was going. The sun had long since dipped into the evening portion of its daily travel across the sky; causing a deep lengthening of shadows to blanket the terrain in a darkening precursor of the night to come. Walking up to their exterior fortifications, I felt a slight twinge of unease…as I still wasn’t certain how far I could trust them. The external perimeter of their land, on this side, consisted of a large wooden gateway about twenty-four feet high by twelve feet wide; which was connected to a twelve foot tall barricade of huge tree-trunks, that had been sharpened into deadly points…then angled out towards any enemy which dared approach. The bottom of the spiked wall appeared to have been securely sunk into the sand for added support, and the wooden beams were firmly lashed together with hide straps. To my right, the pointed barrier fit snuggly against the base of the rocky cliff; while to my left, it curved as it followed the shoreline around to the other side of their fenced-off domain. On either side of the wood gate, was a great wooden billboard which read in brushed white paint; ‘No Entry Without Permission! Trespassers Will Be Killed On Sight!’ Taking a slow…deep breath…I shifted the fibers’ weight to my left side; and pounded hard upon the wood gate with my right fist shouting loud as I could; “Hello?! It’s Me! …I’ve Finished Collecting The Plant Fiber You Wanted!” ……Silence. After a few minutes without a response, I was just beginning to consider whether I should give another shout; when the large double-doors of the wooden gate slowly creaked open, to reveal MeatStick standing on the other side. 120 120 Looking at me with a half-intrigued, half-confounded gaze…he called out in a deep, booming voice; “Oh Man! Are you actually still collecting fiber?! It was getting dark, so, to be honest I thought you’d given up and gone somewhere else! …Did you really collect all that by hand?! …Well…a deal is a deal. Come on in and set that pile down by the building’s entrance! I’ll get ya the chitin I promised! Don’t worry…none of my Dinos will hurt you; since I invited you in.” Continuing to balance the precarious parcels of fiber, I followed him through the gate into a wide sandy area; dimly lit by the crackling flames from a sparse scattering of five-foot high standing torches, which had been firmly secured in the ground. I scanned around to see if GhostFace was here as well, but saw neither him…nor anything else of interest along the barren shoreline. The singular structure within their semi-circle of spiked walls was a massive, stone, rectangular box; which hugged the cliff-face all the way up to its hundred foot height, so that if someone had been standing on top of the rocky precipice; they’d be able to easily jump from it, onto the flat roof of their building. The impressive construction looked to be about a hundred and eighty feet long, by forty-two feet wide, as well; with a behemoth stone gate, reinforced by metal bracing, as its main entrance. Glancing around the structure…I saw a stone, behemoth-sized gateway fitted into the perimeter barricade on the other side of the building as well; which looked to serve as the inland entrance to their claimed area. Placing the fiber onto the ground near the building’s entrance as instructed, I then stepped back and waited to see what MeatStick would do. I watched, as he strode casually up to the behemoth gate…and gave it two hard whacks with his right fist. A few seconds later, the massive doors groaned slowly open; just wide enough for two humans to step through side-by-side. He then walked over to the pile of fiber, and gathered it up as he instructed; “Wait here a few minutes…and I’ll be out with your chitin. I’d invite you inside…but I’d rather not take the chance of my Dinos getting spooked by someone they don’t recognize.” 121 121 As I nodded my head to show that I’d understood, he carried the heap of fiber through the doorway; disappearing into an enormous room, faintly lit by firelight…and smelling strongly of animals. With curiosity getting the better of me, I carefully peeked through the opening after him; to see what could only be described…in the dim light that I had to see by…as a massive stone barn. I saw rows and rows of stalls…all filled with various creatures; some of which I recognized, and some that I couldn’t quite make out in the weak light. I also noticed that there appeared to be three floors in total to the structure; with the larger land animals making up the majority of those stabled on the bottom, while the two upper floors consisted mainly of flyers along with smaller land critters. A few minutes later, MeatStick reappeared from the smelly twilight; holding four large hide sacks in his hands, which he promptly dropped to the ground at my feet with a clatter; “There you go! As promised! That’s all the chitin I could find stored around the base... Don’t worry about closing the wood gate on your way out; we’ll get it later... And don’t be a stranger okay?! If you ever need anything else, just give us a holler; and if we can help, then we’ll be happy to trade! Especially for more fiber! Difficult as it may be to believe…collecting fiber has actually become far more difficult and tedious a task for us than most other resources these days……and damned if it doesn’t seem like we need it to craft just about everything we use around here.” Picking up the bags, hefting them onto my weary shoulders, I felt emboldened by his unexpected extension of friendship; “Well…actually…there is one thing. I could really use a safe and out-of-the-way place to build a shelter for myself……if you know a good location where wild creatures, or other humans, won’t just demolish it the next day? …I’ve been trying to get a stable lodging setup for quite a few weeks now…but something always comes along and flattens it no-matter what I do…or where I build.” MeatStick looked at me with an intensely inquiring gaze…as though he were trying to discern who I fully was as a person... He then abruptly reached out and firmly grasped my left arm; pulling it towards him as he double-tapped the diamond implant below my left wrist. 122 122 ‘VROOOM!’ A holographic panel displaying my personal statistics appeared above my implant; which he then reviewed intently, before saying with some disappointment; “Quotient thirty-four eh? …Yeah…sorry…I can’t really use you in this state... But uh…if you want; it’d be okay with us if you built near the tip of the peninsula... We more or less own this whole stretch of land; and the peninsula’s point should be far enough out of our way.” As he let go of my wrist, an uncontainable excitement suddenly burst forth; “Really! You mean it?!” Taken aback somewhat by my intense enthusiasm, he simply replied; “Yeah… sure... Long as you don’t build too big…and long as you keep your distance from our no trespassing signs. Dangerous animals rarely show up around here, and few people come by, so it should be perfect for you to get a start.” Thinking back to the other, ‘no trespassing’, signs I’d seen near the start of the peninsula on its other side…and the small stone fort I’d noticed above them…I quickly glanced in that direction as I questioned; “What about your neighbor who lives on top of the peninsula’s hill? Will they be okay with me living here…since the place is already crowded between the two of you? …Or is that stone fort I saw another one of your buildings?” MeatStick seemed confused by the query for a moment…but then appeared to remember something as he laughed; “Oh! That’s just old Grognok The Bewildered’s place! Heh…Nah…he’d be fine with it…as long as you keep away from his signs. He’s just an old……mostly harmless…hermit, who prefers to live alone behind his complex fortifications. The guy rarely leaves his place anymore…prefers the solitude; and doesn’t like interacting with other people much. We tried to get him to join us a while back since he lives so close…but he stubbornly refused. I’d just stay out of his hair if I were you; then he won’t be a bother. If you do ever have the misfortune of getting into a conversation with him however; then I’d highly suggest you plead with him to tell you some stories from his past. Supposedly…he was one of the first humans to set foot on this island; and is one of an extreme few who are still around from that time! Getting him to tell you some stories, should distract him from whatever you did which might have angered him…and I bet they’d be fairly interesting for you to hear as well!” 123 123 A look of pride then swiftly covered his face as MeatStick continued; “Otherwise, if anyone comes knocking on your door, just tell them that you’re under our protection; alright? Long as you live on our territory, if someone messes with you, then that means they’re messing with us; and we’ll rush to the rescue! Oh…and ah…I don’t know if you know…but be careful sailing past that little islet out there. The island’s Alpha-Tribe has a heavily fortified base on it…with auto-turrets……and we’re actually in the middle of a tiny dispute with them at the moment. But…long as you keep your distance…they should be fine. Oh; and also……” I stood there…gratefully absorbing all the information he was giving me…simply overwhelmed by the moment… Though it was happening right before my eyes……I could barely believe it. ‘To go from the devastating events of just a single day ago…everything I’d worked so hard to build…swallowed up in an instant within the crashing maw of the deep sea…to now having someone strong who would not only allow, but even protect my existence?! Perhaps…just perhaps…I would finally be in a position where I could make some meaningful progress……and obtain the answers that I sought.’ When at last we parted ways…MeatStick back into his fort, and me back to my raft…we both had smiles on our faces; warm grins brought on by the prospect of having gained a friendly new neighbor. To Be Continued! As stated in the above introduction section, these first 14 chapters comprise just the very beginning of Florian’s story; what I would consider to be the “Introduction” for a series of varying events ahead. There are ups, and there are downs. There is progress, and there is setback. There is peace, and there is hardship. But always, there is the continual struggle forwards; always, the persistent act of survival! To complete the story of Florian’s journey, as it currently stands, there are another 86 or so chapters envisioned; as well as a final Epilogue chapter, to bring the story full circle. Will the rest of these chapters ever be written? Who knows? We’ll have to wait and see. It takes a long time to write and polish a story, though perhaps I might have a greater incentive to spend time working on them if I knew in greater detail the extent to which others might enjoy further chapters? Feel free to post a comment on this chapter if you would like to express to me whether you'd like me to keep going or not; and feel free to give me details on why you'd like me to post further chapters, or if not then even why you'd prefer I didn't post any more chapters. Constructive criticism is always nice. In the meantime; I'll be posting a Map of The Island that I put together, below this chapter, which shows all the major points of interest that Florian experienced throughout the entire 100 chapters or so of his story. This way you all can look upon the areas that you might get to read about someday, and anticipate the stories they might involve; or if the rest of the chapters never get posted then alternatively, you'll be able to look upon the locations of the stories you never got to read. Either way, you'll also be able to look upon it for reference concerning the locations mentioned in these first 14 chapters; if you were curious about their exact locations. Also, also; if anyone who has read this story wishes to experience more of the world which has inspired and influenced these true life events; then one need only search YouTube, along with the wider internet, for the video game: “Ark Survival Evolved” by “Studio Wildcard”. Or...if you happen to feel bold enough to do so...especially after all the events which have transpired surrounding this company over the last year...one might purchase the game itself; through the online PC hosting service “Steam”; or on any of the consoles which carry it; and create your own unique story! (Make note however that the Official Ark Survival Evolved Servers will be permanently shut down by the end of this coming week. So, if you are newly acquiring this game, you'll either have to play on unofficial servers; host your own unofficial server; play on single player alone; or potentially wait for the remastered release of this game as Ark Survival Ascended which may or may not release at the end of this coming October; and which may or may not have its own new official server network to play on. Also, just to make aware, the "free" mobile version of this game on the App Store and Google Play also does not have any official online servers for you to play on.) So, until a possible next time, keep on surviving! And I hope you will have a great rest of your day!
  2. HI!!! So.........bit of a devastating chapter last chapter yeah? ......Lost real-life weeks of hard work in a matter of seconds...lost nearly every structure, resource, and piece of gear acquired...lost the two tames we'd managed to get settled out in the middle of the ocean(which was actually the one thing I didn't mind; as with Ark's glitchy water physics and raft mechanics, they were a constant source of anxiety concerning the possibility of logging on one day to find them randomly glitched through the raft's bottom and drowned). Worst of all though, was that now Florian again found himself to be completely alone on this dangerously unpredictable isle... The one companion whom he had found, and who had stuck with him through many real-world weeks of trials and terror, Pqpe had himself succumbed to the unrelenting pressure of The Island's countless hardships and setbacks; preferring to be swallowed by the peaceful emptiness of the void. (Now, for the record, as stated previously; Pqpe was played by my real life brother. While the misfortunes and difficulties of the game did play a part in his decision to quit; the real reason why he finally came to that conclusion was that, at the time, he only had a laptop to play the game on and while it was a good enough one to play it on minimal settings...Ark was still severely wearing down his computer and causing it to overheat worse and worse every time he logged on. That, combined with losing everything so quickly and suddenly, made quitting the only logical course of action. He couldn't invest the continued and assured deterioration of his only computer into a game like that. He has since then acquired a proper and powerful desktop pc; and has played mmaaannnnyyyyy hours of Ark. Infact, I sometimes think he may be more into the game than I am now. BUT, none of those hours have anything to do with this story; as at the time he left, for lack of a computer that didn't burn his hands every time he logged onto Ark Survival Evolved.) Getting back to the tale at hand however, Florian wasn't about to give up just yet. It would take far more than losing everything he'd worked so hard on for weeks, and losing his only friend, in a matter of will-crushing minutes to cause him to resign himself to the void. As time and experience would show, for all the abandoned decaying thatch huts on the beach, there are many such individuals who find themselves upon the Arks. In his time upon The Island, Florian would encounter numerous people who chose to persevere against the immense adversity; even if that meant living homeless, isolated, naked, without a single thing to their name. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, I invite you to become acquainted with A Man Named Hulk. FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 99 99 Chapter 13 A Man Named Hulk I was alone……but I was resolved to continue fighting for answers. ‘After everything that had happened…I wouldn’t be content to simply waste away in the void.’ Having decided that I would need stronger protection, if I was going to live closer to the beach, I had spent the entire previous day hunting up and down the Southern shoreline for Giant Turtles. Using my remaining expedition raft as a temporary living space; I’d placed a bed upon it, as well as a campfire, and spent a day stocking it with strong wooden hunting spears. The Giant Turtles had become my chosen target, because; ‘although they were very thick-skinned, they were also slow and clumsy when on land; making them a vulnerable, if still time-consuming, prey to hunt.’ While I could certainly use their hide for crafting…and meat for food…it was their shells I was mainly after. The Giant Turtles’ spikey carapaces were made of a very hard, keratin-like substance…and I had a feeling; ‘that it would be just what I’d need, to increase my personal fortification.’ Unfortunately…I hadn’t had very good luck in tracking them throughout the day; and had only harvested three Giant Turtles worth of resources, to show for my efforts. I knew that I would need far more for my purposes; and that I needed the material fast! Being alone…on an open raft…near the coastline…I was extremely vulnerable; not only to wild beasts, such as Raptors and Carnos, but also to other humans. ‘I didn’t have any time to rest and wait for the much needed defense’; so as the pitch-dark of night had slowly crept in…I’d cautiously lit the campfire on my humble vessel, and continued the hunt deep into the nocturnal hours. Slowly prodding along the shallows with an extended wooden staff, I moved the raft along the water’s edge; keeping a sharp lookout for Giant Turtles amidst the eerie darkness. 100 100 I then saw a sudden flash of movement amongst the trees near the beach; and quickly moved to douse my campfire! ‘The thing had been far too small, and fast, to be something harmless…it moved as though it could have been a Raptor…or perhaps something worse.’ Huddled motionless upon my raft in the now complete darkness, I waited…in hopes that whatever it was, would simply pass by unseen. However; as my eyes began to adjust, I noticed what appeared to be the crawling figure of a large human man… …moving along on his stomach…slowly making its way down the beach towards my craft! In a panic, I swiftly moved to unfurl the sail; and let a gust of wind send me racing down the beach! Looking back, I saw now what clearly looked to be a six-foot tall human male jump up from the ground; and dive smoothly into the water after me! I wasn’t too worried about the potential attacker reaching me; ‘after-all, I’d escaped from a large Sarco on a raft moving at about the same speed…and a human couldn’t possibly swim faster than a giant alligator, right?’ Still, keeping track of his movements, my eyes began to widen with shock as I could see that he was clearly catching up to me…and fast! The man was determined; relentless! He was keeping an even pace that outmatched the speed of my raft; and never slowing down, even for a moment! I quickly moved to take hold of the rudder, to steer out towards deeper water, hoping that it would deter him…but just as I grabbed hold of it, the man suddenly grabbed onto the back of my raft; and pulled himself onto it! I fell backwards in fear; and sat there gazing up at him…frozen…wondering what he would do…wondering what he wanted... For a short while, the man merely stood there on the back of my vessel…dripping naked with long black hair, a large black beard, and deeply tanned skin……staring at me; while breathing heavily from the effort of his intensive swim. Without a word of warning, he then tightly gripped the implant below his left wrist with his right hand…and began screaming with intense pain as he pulled on it mercilessly; “AAAAAHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!” 101 101 With a squelching pop, and the sound of flesh tearing, he soon held his own implant in his right hand; as a river of blood began to gush from his left wrist! His voice soft with fatigue…the man threw his bloody implant into my lap, as he simply uttered; “Remember me.” The moment those words had left his lips, he dove back into the water; swimming towards land…after which, he took off down the beach at an unbelievable speed…especially considering all the blood-loss. Confused and shaken…I picked up the implant he had thrown to me; and double-tapped its diamond without thinking. ‘VROOOM!’ Despite having been separated from his body…the man’s implant still materialized a holographic panel; which detailed his personal statistical information, in English lettering; ‘Specimen Implant; Sample Number: One-Four-Four-Six-Zero-One-Five-Zero-Four, Male; Vernacular ID: Hulk; Species: Homo-Sapiens; Epoch: Seventy-Four; Attributes: Intelligence, Dexterity, Adaptability; Survival Quotient: Eighty-Four; Tribe Affiliation: None; Ark Variant: The Island, Thirty-Nine; Day: Six-Thousand Four-Hundred Seventy-Six; Time: One-Hours and Twenty-Six-Minutes; Temp: Seven Degrees Celsius; Health: Fair; Stamina: Extraordinary; Oxygen: Good; Hunger: Extreme; Thirst: Extreme; Weight: Average; Strength: Excellent; Agility: Extraordinary; Fortitude: Good; Crafting Expertise: Poor; Torpor: None.’ ‘VRUUP!’ I turned off the hologram…and sat there in perplexed contemplation… …as my heightened adrenaline gradually declined. ‘Hulk…eh? …Yes…a Hulk of a man indeed... What could he possibly have gone through…that would cause him to act in such an irrational manner?’ After a brief moment of rest to calm my nerves…I resumed the hunt for Giant Turtles; this time keeping my movements concealed by the ever-shifting dark.
  3. A Land of The Would Be Dead. A Science Fiction adventure of a group of high school friends that find themselves stranded in a prehistoric world of the past. Based upon the Vietnam War and the popular video game Ark Survival Evolved, they must learn how to survive in that strange new world as they look for some means of escape. As this is being published on the Creative Chat form of Ark Official Community Form and Facebook, I have had to remove all offensive adult language such a story would have as the Ark forum would automatically censor the offensive words into gibberish and Facebook would place me in Facebook Jail after blocking the story. There will be no such restrictions on the revised edition for the local Writer’s Club. Chapter 1 is currently an outline subject to revisions. Chapter 1. The Vietnam War. It is early Summer of 1965 when this unplanned adventure has started with a letter from Selective Service titled “Greetings.” My six friends from the high school football team received the same letter the same day that I got mine. This unexpected event had canceled our plans to start our own tree service business. We had just invested our savings in the equipment we had needed and just lined up our first job when Selective Service unexpectedly put us out of business. Oh well, it might be possible to start over once we had fulfilled our mandated tour of duty. As Quarterback of the high school football team and the leadership of Coach Rogers, the seven of us had conducted a most unreal season that lead to us winning the State Championship. That hard work had paid off with us winning every game with lopsided scores like 63 to 0. It wasn’t because we were bigger then all the other players in the other teams, it was because of the teamwork that allowed us to anticipate what plays our opponents were going to try so we could block them at every move. We were so far ahead of the other teams that only one touchdown was scored against us in the entire season, that being in our first game. Needless to say, all of the top collages and universities had their recruiters visiting the school in their efforts to sign us into their football teams, but, us seven farm boys turned them down. We has already made our plans to create our own business and saw no future in higher education under professional sports. Still, I think that our reputation must have followed us into our upcoming service to the military, first with the seven of us getting our draft notice to report for duty on the same day, and the interest Sargent Thomas at Selective Service showed in us the day we reported for duty that June 29, 1965. Of the 96 recruits that were processed through the center that day to be drafted into the army, eight of us were separated from the rest of the group and told that we were going to be sent to Fort Knox for a special training assignment. That group included my six close friends from the football team and strangely enough, the quaterback of the football team that had scored against us during the first game of the season. Sargent Thomas rode with us in the bus that was taking us to Fort Knox to conduct our basic training. We make two other stops to pick up twelve additional recruits on the all night drive to reach our destination with an additional stops to eat supper. We arrive at 4:AM at Fort Knox at the new recruitment station to start our day. It has been a long and tiresome trip with it being hard to get any sleep on the bus. Soon as we get off the bus, we are ordered to line up on the yellow footprints where the Staff Sargent in charge screams at us that our day has already started and we are late as usual. The first day is spent doing “Hurry up and wait” as we are assigned our bunks in housing, get shaved and showered, have breakfast, and make a trip to the barber shop to be sheared. Then, it is off to the quartermaster to pick up our clothes and back to the barracks to change into our uniforms. Of interest is that the 20 of us are assigned bunks together in a squad bay with Sargent Thomas. Normally, the new recruits end up assigned to the ancient wooden WW2 barracks of Fort Knox for their training. “This is interesting,” I think as we are being kept as a separate group for our basic training. As typical of the Kentucky weather during the Summer, it has been hot and muggy. Us football players, thanks to our football training and farming background, are able to handle the stress of the physical activity in the heat. Not so for three of the “city slickers” in our group of 20 as the three of them pass out from heat stroke on a forced combat march the day before graduation. We end up with a lecture on heat stroke from the base commander when they have to be sent to the hospital and one of them dies from a body temperature that exceeds 112*F. Still, Sargent Thomas was impressed with how we had handled the situation. Rather then have our entire group suffered punishment for leaving the three victims behind, we had organized ourselves on how to get them and their gear to our destination. So, it was with a surprise on Graduation Day, when he called for the seven of us, along with Larry, Scott, Eddie, and Mike to have a special meeting with Col Powell to ask us to join him for advanced training as a Special Forces unit. We accept that challenge by signing up for the training. In mid September, we had returned from leave. After an orientation with Col Powell, we shipped out by transport aircraft to a base located in the Southern Florida to start our special forces training in a true jungle setting. Some of that training involved us testing the use of specialized equipment. Most of it involved the 11 of us, under the supervision of Sargent Thomas in survival tactics as a recon force. It was challenging work, especially when we scared our superiors and were forced to live off of the land when we managed to vanish for a week in the Everglade Swamps. That had happened when we lost contact due to the nature of the training we were conducting and a week of some nasty tropical weather which made traveling through the Everglades dangerous forcing us to seek shelter where we could find it. Contact was reestablished when we spotted one of the search parties sent out to look for us while heading back. Due to the unexpected conditions we had to endure, we spent the following week recovering from cases of jungle rot. We also ended up having all of our clothing and web gear replaced with jungle fatigues due to mold damage to the cotton issue WW2 style uniforms. Fortunately, we had all avoided getting Malaria or Dengue Fever. We had survived that unplanned ordeal in good physical shape which surprised the medics that were treating us for the skin issues caused by over a week of constant dampness. Additional training took place when we were sent to the Philippines for advanced jungle training. It soon became obvious that the our final destination would be the Vietnam War when we received language training in Vietnamese along with advanced recon, sniper training, and special mission work. In November of 66, we were transferred to a secret remote operations base in Thailand where we started conducting covet operations under the command of Sargent Thomas into Laos for real. Our mission, to conduct surveillance along the Ho Chi Minh trail of Southern Laos and to plant listening devices along those routes. Those two week long patrols often involved camping out in hidden observation posts and hiding our listening equipment in the jungle along the trails. It was dangerous work given the constant random enemy activity along the route and the risk that we could end up on the receiving end of some B-52 bombing raid. January 26, 1967. We have been ordered to set up an ambush along the Ho Chi Minh trail close to the Cambodian Border. Dave has packed his sniper rifle for this mission with Henry to serve as his spotter. Intelligence has informed us that a high ranking NVA General is hiking the trail to inspect a supply camp recently hidden in the Parrot Beak area of South Vietnam. We have orders to take him out should we spot him. It had been a difficult task to find an observation point where there would be ample cover and distance to conduct this mission. Given that the Ho Chi Minh Trail has several path that could be taken in this area, we have had to attempt to observe the activity on as many trails near us as possible. It would be extremely risky if we had to quickly change vantage points to get into a position to take this guy out. With a division of NVA Regulars entering the area with him, the risk of being discovered would be much higher then with the normal traffic of VC Mules pushing their bicycles packed with hundreds of pounds of supplies. Traffic on the Ho Chi Minh that day became extremely heavy at daybreak. The NVA division we had targeted, was now moving through the area. “Is it possible that our target could be on one of the other trail,” Dave asks Henry in a whisper. “It’s possible,” answers Henry in a whisper as he observes the new activity with his binoculars. “Wait a minute, that may be him up ahead with that command group.” “I hope it’s not a decoy,” I whisper to the sniper team. “I have a positive ID,” whispers Henry after checking the photo he had packed with him with what he is observing through the binoculars. “When you are ready, take him out,” orders Sargent Thomas quietly. It seemed like an eternity before Dave started to squeeze the trigger on his sniper rifle. Soon, a loud crack from the high powered rifle shatters the air around the hidden patrol. The response of the NVA soldiers to this sound is almost instantaneous as AK-47 rounds go flying through the jungle in all directions. The NVA General, being some 300 meters away from us, collapses in a heap as a result of a fatal wound to his head. As the sound of the shot has echoed all around them in the jungle, the NVA, unable to determine which way the shot came from, are shooting in all directions. Orders are being screamed at the NVA troops to cease fire, then to fan out in all directions to look for us. “I got him,” whispers Dave. “Lets get out of here,” orders Sargent Thomas. We quietly move out to our pre determined rally point located deeper in the jungle where we can hide from the NVA soldiers that are now desperately looking for us. Desperate to find us, they are firing burst of AK-47 rounds in random directions in an effort to get us to shoot back. “Good, they don’t know where we are,” I think to myself. We are soon halfway to our rallying point when I hear a whistling sounds coming from overhead. Then, everything suddenly goes blank before I can look to see where it is coming from.
  4. WELCOME!!! For those of you who have played Ark Survival Evolved extensively enough on The Island map, particularly concerning the deep ocean areas, I'm sure you can guess where this chapter is going just by reading its title. That's the intent; you're already supposed to be feeling the dreaded anticipation of the events to come, if you happen to have an experienced enough background within the game to know what the title means. Don't worry though; reading through the chapter should be entertaining enough even if you might already have an idea of what to expect. For those of you who haven't witnessed the game comprehensively enough to be able to see what's coming based upon this single word, lets just say that the things I've expressed in previous posts show true to form in this chapter; 1) that you shouldn't get too attached because nothing lasts for long, certainly not forever, in wildcard's Ark; 2) especially since wildcard has become consistent over the years in their implementing of new content and "fixes" which only render a growing list of creative solutions, cool creatures, and fun experiences invalid; thus reducing the variety of freedom and enjoyment within the game. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, come follow me into the ravenous icy maw of The Island's watery depths! FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 94 94 Chapter 12 Leedsichthys I opened the door of our raft-house, to a brisk and sunny morning. Breathing deeply of the fresh sea air, I took stock of everything that we’d accomplished so far; during our time living on the ocean. It had been a little over three weeks since we’d first set sail… In that time, we’d shallowly explored the coastline along the entire Southern half of the island; making both mental maps of the landscape, as well as physical ones constructed of berry juice printed onto fiber-cloth canvases. As we’d explored the shoreline, we had managed to build a sizeable stockpile of resources; both through unlocking supply drops, as well as gathering by hand. We now had quite the large supply of ready to use spears… cloth clothing… hide water-skins… stone hatchets… stone pickaxes… slingshots… food… wood… thatch… fiber… hide… flint-rock… stone…and a few sparkling, metallic-ore filled rocks. In-fact…we’d even recently begun constructing bows and arrows; and learning how to use them. Through Pqpe’s experimenting, we’d figured out how to use the implant communication system; so as to keep in contact over long distances…and had also discovered how to open the implants’ information panel; which gave us greater access to its uses, such as officially registering as a tribe; ‘whatever that meant.’ By listening to the Island-Wide chat, Pqpe had managed to tame a couple of deadly Giant Scorpions; which he’d sentimentally named Sugarplum and Plumtail…both now acting as gentle pets under our care. We had expanded the size of our floating home…to not only include the initial boat-house, but also two exploration rafts and a creature holding pen; all of which were tethered together by long fiber ropes, in a square-like formation, to prevent them from drifting apart. 95 95 Using a building technique that I’d discovered from another individual living upon the sea, I’d even constructed a large…floating…stone-encased raft-house, to better protect our more valuable items from theft; mostly filled with hide and metal ore at the moment, it now floated far off the back-side of the crescent-shaped islet down South. Yes…it certainly felt as though I’d come a long way…as though WE’D come a long way…since first waking up naked and confused; upon the sandy shore of this mysterious island. Now that we had a secure and safe shelter to regroup at, a decent stockpile of weapons along with other resources to fuel our exploration, and had gotten in a good deal of practice dealing with the known dangers of this isle; I finally felt that today was the day…we would venture deep into the island’s inner regions…in search of its hidden answers! Just as I was about to head back inside, to wake Pqpe from his slumber, some movement beneath the ocean’s surface abruptly caught my attention. I watched curiously as a dark, shadowy form far below our house-boat gradually grew in size…until it became larger than the raft-house itself! Suddenly realizing what the figure must be; I barely had a second to leap from our floating home, into the cold ocean water, as a colossal fish-like mouth burst into the open air swallowing it whole! Its jaws clamped shut with a thundering crash of ocean spray…as it slowly sank back into the icy depths! The massive displacement of water created a powerful vortex as it slipped beneath the surface, which dragged me about three meters down into the murk. Opening my eyes as the involuntary movement ceased, I got a blurry look at the monster; while it struggled to finish consuming its catch amidst a cloud of slowly sinking wooden debris. It was indeed an enormous fish; that looked to be about a hundred and fifty feet long! I remained floating beneath the surface…stunned in absolute disbelief…at the size of the creature before me. 96 96 Its jaw appeared to be about twenty feet wide by twenty-four feet tall, with an eye as large as my whole body on either side of its head! It had two massive, forty foot long fins near the base of its cranium; and a sixty foot tall tailfin on its other end! Near the point where its lengthy tail connected to its colossal body, there looked to be a pair of fifteen foot long fins as well; with a twenty foot tall dorsal fin along its spine above them! Its whole body was covered in dark, blue-green scales; which camouflaged it near perfectly against the dark ocean water. Bubbles streamed from my mouth, as I reached desperately towards the creature shouting; “PQPE!” My scream muffled by the water, I quickly brought my hands up to cover my mouth and nose; as my panic-stricken brain abruptly remembered that I couldn’t breathe underwater. The creature, seeming not to care or notice my presence, then began to move back towards the surface with a wave of its powerful tail! Turning to glance towards the shimmering boundary myself…I realized what its next target would be, as dread swiftly filled my heart; ‘the Scorpions! Pqpe and I could just revive when we die…but what about the creatures?!’ In frenzied desperation, I tried with all my strength to reach them first; and free them from their soon to be coffin…but the colossal fish was too fast…and knocked me away with a casual swipe of its fin; sending me reeling even farther into the depths! From deep below…I watched in horror…as it crunched the Scorpion pen into splinters…leaving no trace of the creatures inside. My lungs feeling as though they were about to burst from lack of oxygen, I swam frantically towards the surface with all my strength! Reaching one of the still floating exploration rafts, I gasped deeply for air as I clambered aboard; and swiftly released its sail! The wind immediately catching hold, I steered towards land; as I looked back to see the enormous fish swallowing the other expedition raft with an earsplitting crunch! ‘In a matter of minutes… In a matter of minutes, nearly everything we’d worked so hard for over the past three weeks…was gone... And there had been nothing we could do about it.’ 97 97 Landing ashore, about a mile or so South of the swamp, the first thing I did was call out through my implant; “Pqpe! Are you okay! Are you there! …It’s all gone! …An enormous whale-like fish swallowed all our rafts whole! …I tried…but there was nothing I could do!” Tears beginning to stream down my face over the loss…a familiar male voice suddenly boomed over the implant communication, with an Australian accent; “Oh man! Sorry to hear that mate! Got visited by a Leedsichthys did ya? Yeah, they’re fairly passive and chill most of the time. Despite their colossal size, they only eat small fish and plankton…but for some reason, they go after rafts and boats like a raging bull charges a matador! Yeah, the deep ocean ain’t safe mate! Stay in the shallower water near the shore!” Looking at my implant through watery eyes…I realized that it was turned to the white setting……Island Wide chat. Slowly swiping until it showed green…I pressed down, and repeated my plea; “Pqpe! Are you there! Please…speak to me!” After a brief moment of silence…Pqpe’s voice finally came crackling through; “I’m sorry Florian… After everything that’s happened… Not being able to build a simple hut on the shore without someone murdering you for it… All that work we’ve went through trying to stay out of everyone’s way… All those materials gathered; structures built… My Scorpions gone; DEAD! …Now even floating out on the ocean isn’t safe, because of a giant fish that’ll randomly swallow your entire craft in one bite?! …I’m sorry Florian… I just can’t take all this…” An even deeper sorrow beginning to well up within me, at the realization of what he was saying, I called out to him again; “NO! PQPE! Please, stay with me! …Maybe your pets are dead…maybe we need to strategize another new place to build safely…but we can do it! …We can revive! …We can come back and try again as many times as we need to!” …Hearing nothing but a static hiss in response, I softly restated my plea; “Pqpe… Please… We can try again…” Pqpe’s voice sounded hollow, and devoid of all hope as he responded; “No… Florian… I just can’t…” 98 98 A brief moment later…Pqpe’s voice again flowed quietly through my implant, amidst a chorus of fizzling pops; “I’m not saying goodbye forever necessarily... Maybe I’ll decide to come back after a while, and find you if you’re still around…but for right now…I think I just need some alone time in the void... I can always come back from it anytime I want right? So…for now…I’m just going to let this monster digest me……and kill me… See you later my friend.” No-matter how many times I pleaded into my wrist after that…I was met only with silence. We’d come so far…just to be knocked back down to the bottom…and now; Pqpe had left me as well. Kneeling there in the sand beside my remaining raft…amidst sobbing convulsions…I once again found myself to be; ‘alone…’
  5. HELLO!!! So now we've got a full-on base going, complete with animals even, comprised of multiple wooden structures bobbing precariously upon the deep open ocean off The Island's eastern coastline. A bit unorthodox perhaps......and a bit unstable maybe...particularly concerning the creatures who can't swim so well if they happen to fall into the water; but all-in-all it worked pretty good for our situation, and the isolation(both from dangerous creatures as well as dangerous humans)greatly aided in our survival. That's one of the really big, cool things about Ark Survival Evolved; players can get really creative by manipulating the game's mechanics, and even better by exploiting its bugs. This was even more true near Ark's beginning; before wildcard implemented a series of changes which has since greatly limited many of the game's mechanics that allowed players to be so freely creative. This either through limiting or fundamentally changing a game mechanic to be less flexible and open to creative usage; or through adding creatures whose natures and/or abilities simply rendered a previous creative solution invalid. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, lets see how that early creativity plays out. FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 90 90 Chapter 11 Floating Stone A freezing breeze shook me awake; in the dim twilight of predawn. Keeping my blanket wrapped tightly around my shoulders like a cloak…I jumped to my feet, and rushed to locate its source. ‘The wood and thatch insulation…had always been enough to keep out the cold before... We hadn’t left any of the windows open... Could the raft-house have drifted into the far North during our sleep?’ I unlatched the windows and peered through them one by one, until I found the opening facing land. Judging by the island’s appearance…it seemed we were still roughly in the same position we’d been for the past couple weeks; ‘but then why was it so cold?’ Turning back towards my bed, I immediately discovered the reason. Right beside the top edge of my cot, near the floorboards, was a small human-sized hole! Without a moment of hesitation, I hurried over to closely inspect the damage; and to my surprise, I found many particular markings…which indicated that someone had purposefully dug this hole, with some kind of metal tool! Shouting a cry of warning, I vigorously shook Pqpe awake; “Someone’s broken into our shelter! Somehow, even way out here, someone has found us and chosen to break in!” Deathly startled, Pqpe firmly grabbed my arms to stop me from shaking him; “What! No way?! Dammit!” Pqpe sprang out of bed, and we swiftly began checking the rest of the house-boat for damage; or other signs of trespass! Perhaps it was fortunate for us, that we didn’t have anything in the way of true valuables within our modest shack; but indeed, we discovered that a few items were missing…mostly some bundles of hide and fiber. With a worried expression, Pqpe turned to gaze at the door; “The Scorpions!” He dashed out the exit and dove into the bone-chilling water; swimming frantically towards the floating creature pen! 91 91 I remained in the doorway; scanning the horizon for any sign that our thief might still be close by…but found no trace of movement against the dark blue backdrop. As Pqpe returned from the Scorpion coop, swimming much slower now, he shouted reassuringly; “The Scorpions are fine! Whoever did this…it doesn’t look like they bothered to break into the Scorpion pen!” As he entered the house-boat, dripping puddles all over the floor, I took a few basic supplies from the storage boxes…and headed out the door; “You stay here and warm up; maybe fix that hole. I’m going to hop on one of the scouting rafts, and take a look around…in-case the intruder is still nearby.” My hand firmly gripping the doorframe, I looked back over my shoulder; “Keep a watch out…he might come back, or others could show up if he’s told anyone.” With a simple nod in response, Pqpe began rummaging through the containers for repairing material; as I jumped onto one of our two smaller rafts, and readied it for travel. A quick unhooking of the mooring line, a swift unfurling of the sail, and off I went to hunt down a thief! Beginning my search by heading towards the South, I kept near the outermost viable sailing distance; so that I could scan the water all the way to the shoreline. After traveling about two or three miles in this direction…rather than catch a thief however…I caught sight of something truly astounding. Coming up on the horizon, near the outer edge of feasible sailing waters, was a large stone box…approximately the size of our raft-house…seemingly floating upon the water! Remaining on high alert, should anyone be living inside, I slowly drifted up against the structure…and closed my sail. Thinking first that it must be built upon the top of some enormous underwater mountain, I gazed searchingly into the water below. Seeing nothing through the rippling waves…I decided to jump in for a closer look; as curiosity had fully gotten the better of me. Swimming along the building’s smooth rock underside, I found myself entirely perplexed; as to how someone had managed to get such a big stone structure to float. And then…I saw it! 92 92 Through cracks in the construction, I vaguely noticed what looked to be carefully hollowed out pockets within its stone base; which contained not only large buoyant logs, but also huge hide balloons bulging with air! ‘Whether or not this was our thief’s dwelling…whoever lived here, had clearly had the same problems with break-ins; and managed to figure out a way to better protect themselves.’ Resurfacing, I saw that the box’s vertical twelve-foot walls seemed to be made of smaller stones; held together by some adhesive. Casually paddling around its eighteen-by-eighteen foot circumference…I couldn’t find any hint of doors or windows. Not wanting to hang around for too long, should someone hostile be lurking inside, I climbed back onto my raft; and resumed my Southward search…keeping the things I’d just learned prominently on my mind. Another mile or two of empty water…and I found myself traveling along the back-side of the small, crescent-shaped islet we’d noticed on our earlier voyage. While I remembered that the other flank, the one facing the main island, had been covered in a large metal fortress with turret-fortified defensive-towers; this edge, which faced out into the open sea, was clear of any man-made structures. It curved short and round…with a shallow sandy beach beneath a small, steeply elevating rocky hill; which was sparsely covered in various forms of vegetation. A few wild Stegos, Trikes, Parasaurs, and even a towering Bronto walked peacefully along its length; as if they had no fear for predators on this separated isle. And then it struck me…a bold, but apparently possible plan of defensive action…should we ever acquire anything actually worth stealing; ‘I’ll use that person’s methods for building a floating stone structure…and place it deep out in the ocean, off the backside of this fortified islet!’ It seemed reasonable to me, to assume, that few people traveled along the open sea; due to my earlier investigations…and that fewer still, would dare to travel near such a highly fortified…thus potentially dangerous…area; and for those rare individuals who did…I’d have walls of stone for them to contend with; should they desire to have a peek inside! Though the sun was beginning to dip past the middle of its daily arc, I felt eager to get a head start on this intriguing project; and docked beside the islet. 93 93 Weaving between a group of Parasaurs, I began collecting what materials I felt I’d need for the construction; while remaining highly alert, should the islet’s inhabitants notice my presence. Wood…thatch…stone……possibly fiber. Still, as the day began to transition into early evening, I decided it best to finish loading up what resources I could; and head back to the raft-house to give Pqpe my report. As I set sail in a Northerly direction, weighed down by the stone and wood I’d collected, plans refused to cease forming within my mind. ‘I envision a large floating stone-shielded structure…about eighteen feet by eighteen feet square…and twelve feet high…just like the one that other person had built! I’d have a single entry point…a hatch door in the center of the roof…and the only way to reach it…would be to float a ladder against the building’s side; so that you could climb up to it. Surely something like this, would help provide adequate protection; as we continued to build our stock of resources for the future!’ Passing by the floating stone building on my way back…I could see a male, human form silhouetted against the darkening sky. He stood upon the structure’s roof…and appeared to be tending to some plants he had growing in a few plots up there. Deciding to try being friendly, with someone who shared the same idea of a life on the sea…still hoping that he wasn’t our thief…I waved to him and shouted; “Hi!” The man glanced in my direction with a startled, jerking motion; then quickly ducked down, back into the safety of his stone-shelled house! I understood his caution; and distrust of strangers well…even more so, if he indeed was the person who’d broken into our raft-house. Not feeling the need to give my sociable greeting a second try, I simply passed by; wondering if Pqpe had managed to fix the hole while I was gone.
  6. WELCOME!!! So, through the past two chapters we've actually managed to retain access to a decent shelter; to a home. A friend has even stuck around longer than a couple minutes; providing much needed help, and rescue from loneliness. Still; in a video game where roughly fifty percent of the gameplay is centered around taming and using creatures, nine chapters seems a bit lengthy of a time period to go without having attempted to tame even one right? Well, remember that it took over seven chapters worth of difficulty just to get a roof to stay over my head. If managing to keep a few wooden boards held together for longer than a few seconds was that difficult, just imagine the difficulty of; finding a creature you want, figuring out what it eats, capturing it, knocking it out, figuring out how to tame it, keeping it safe while trying to tame it(from hungry critters and hostile humans), keeping it sedated while trying to tame it, deciding upon the perfect name to give your new friend(cause in this game you can even name your pets), transporting it back home after taming it, figuring out how to keep it safe once you get it back home, and making sure you remember to keep it fed so that it doesn't starve to death... Better start with something small and easy right? ...Like maybe a Dodo? ...Yeah...that's usually the typical first tame that someone acquires when they begin their early, meager attempts at befriending Ark's fauna... Probably would be a good, common sense, idea to start with something like that... To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, I dedicate this chapter to all the Sugarplums and Plumtails out there! FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 83 83 Chapter 10 Sugarplum and Plumtail I woke to the chilled air of early morning…and burrowed deeper into the warmth beneath my hide blanket. It had been a few days now since we’d made the decision to remain floating, about a mile or so, off the swamp-covered shoreline; which we presumed to be on the island’s Eastern side. We’d even made a few short trips to the coast…south of the swamp. We had managed to gather enough material there to construct a second traveling raft for Pqpe; as well as a few storage boxes for both of our simpler exploration vessels. Though; we had yet to travel very far inland. My eyes poking out from under the covers…I casually scanned the small room of our house-boat, to see if Pqpe had woken up yet. Seeing that his bed was empty…and finding no trace of him around the structure…I sleepily pressed my implant; “Hey Pqpe? Where are you?” A few seconds of silence…then Pqpe responded amidst exasperated breathing; and what sounded like…the clicking of insectoid mandibles?; “Can’t talk now! Busy!” Springing from my bed and rushing to the door, I asked again with a tone of concern; “What?! Where are you?! Are you in trouble?!” He replied swiftly and reassuringly; “I’m fine! Went to shore for a bit! I’m near the base of the large mountain to the North of the swamp!” Feeling as though I wasn’t going to get much, if any, more from him over the implant’s radio communication; I quickly stepped through the raft-house’s door, and onto my modest travel craft. After unhooking the mooring line…which was tethered to the boat-house…and unfurling the sail, I angled the rudder control so the wind would pull me in the direction of the massive mountain; which sat about a mile or two North of the large swamp. 84 84 As I approached the Northern edge of the marsh, I brought my raft into a course more parallel to the shoreline; rather than diagonal towards it. The wetland gave way to a huge, open, flat area of ground on its North; which very gradually rose into a large, forested hill-country farther inland. Just a short distance beyond this Northern edge of the mangroves was a big, rectangular, stone-walled fort; about fifteen yards in from the beach. Large banners were draped over its walls, which depicted a blue Star-of-David against a white background. Yet another huge fortification…one of a great many it seemed. Continuing down the mostly flat coastline, I soon came upon the towering mountain; which rose a couple miles or so up into the blue, cloud-speckled sky. The mountain’s steep, rocky slopes were densely covered; both by large boulders of varying metallic purity, as well as a number of different tree species. While its Southern incline mostly continued the previous trend of a gentle slant, down towards a level beach…which dominated the coastline as a land feature to its South…the mountain’s Eastern side gradually rose into a hundred and twenty foot high cliff-face; which followed along a rocky shoreline below. I began to scan the lower mountainside…urgently attempting to find any trace of Pqpe…as I sailed along this mile or so stretch of cliff-edged shore. I saw many Trikes…Stegos…Paras…Pteras…Brontos…and Giant Turtles…but no sign of human activity. Navigating around to the mountain’s Northern edge, I saw a large; mostly barren islet, separated from the main island by about a mile of deep ocean water. The islet rose into a short, wide mound at its center; and looked to be covered by a multitude of large rocky surfaces. Making note of the landmass for future investigation…I continued along the rocky coastline as it curved meanderingly inland; opening into a huge bay area at the mouth of a hefty river. The bay’s other side appeared to be covered in a series of short cliffs and plateaus; blanketed by a dense forest behind a wide, sandy beach…while the mountain’s Northern edge transitioned from the hundred-plus foot-tall cliff-face into a steep, rocky gradient; more sparsely covered in tall trees. 85 85 And then I saw it…Pqpe’s raft…landed securely upon the beach near a break in the forest, along the mountain’s steepening incline! Closing my raft’s sail to slow its movement, I gazed searchingly throughout the mountainside…and finally spotted Pqpe moving amongst some large boulders; near what appeared to be a couple of Giant Scorpions! Swiftly pressing down on my implant, I shouted out towards him; “Pqpe! I can see you on the mountain from my raft! …It looks like you’re being chased by some Giant Scorpions?! …Are you sure you don’t need any help?! …What are you doing?!” He responded with a noticeable hint of excitement; “Oh! Hi! Well…I’ve been listening to the rare sound-bites that come over the Island Wide Chat…and I heard someone say yesterday, that there were some Giant Scorpion creatures on this mountain…and that they could be tamed by using Narco-berry laced, spoiled meat!” Pausing for a moment, as I could see him weave through an intricate assortment of boulders to put some space between himself and the scorpions, Pqpe continued with his explanation; “…We haven’t been able to eat all the muscle we’ve been harvesting while hunting animals for their hide, and a lot of it has begun to spoil… So I figured, it’d be better not to let it go to waste! I took some of the black berries we’ve collected…the ones that produce a narcotic effect…and mushed them into the spoiled meat! Then; I headed out here, to see if what I’d heard would work…to see if I could get a Giant Scorpion to become my friend!” Shaking my head with disbelief…I shouted back in frustration; “Are you CRAZY! Not only is what you’re doing extremely dangerous…but you didn’t even ask for my HELP! And as absurd as it sounds…what if it does work?! What use will we have for tame Giant Scorpions?! Where are we even going to keep them?! I doubt they can swim!” Pqpe spoke calmly; “I didn’t want to waste your time if it didn’t work…and I thought it worth a try; rather than wasting resources... I think it is working too! They seem to like my spoiled meat offerings…and I think the narco-berries are making them calmer! For usage; apparently they have decently strong venom in their stinger, which can put people and animals to sleep! So maybe we can use them for defense against dangerous entities?” 86 86 I watched, as Pqpe appeared to dodge one of their stingers while he persisted; “As for where to keep them well…that’s where you’d come in; if I actually managed to get them tamed! You did such a good job designing the raft-house, that I figured you’d be able to build a floating pen to contain them! Heh!” Letting out a long sigh of irritation…I replied; “Fine…but we could have at least figured out some kind of floating pen first! Do you know how long it’ll take to gather the materials for, and build, such a thing out in the ocean?! And I suppose I’ll have to do it by myself; since you’ll be busy with the Scorpions?! ‘Sigh.’ I guess I’ll get started on it then... Let me know if you need any help okay?” Pqpe responded quickly and simply; “Roger, roger!” Reopening the sail, I decided to explore a little farther down the coast; before turning around and heading back towards a beach closer to the raft-house. Curving around the shoreline, I’d only traveled another quarter mile or so; before my eyes grew wide with terror as I watched a Tyrannosaurus-Rex suddenly burst forth from the trees, with an earth-shaking ROAR, as it chased a swiftly fleeing Parasaur! The monstrous beast looked to stand about twenty-one feet tall, upon two extremely powerful legs; each with a large three-toed foot, containing claws as long as my forearm! The creature had two little arms, each with a couple of relatively small clawed-fingers, beneath an enormous head; which appeared to be about half the size of its torso, and filled with razor-sharp teeth larger than my hands; all between powerfully crushing jaws! The large predatory eye on either side of its head seemed especially fierce, beneath its ridged bony protrusion; surrounded by an armor-like red-and-purple leathery hide; which covered a forty-eight foot length from the tip of its long tail, to the edge of its ravenous snout! In a panic, I called out to Pqpe through my implant; “Look out! There’s a large Tyrannosaurus-Rex just a short distance down the beach from your position!” In my own defense, I quickly steered away from the shoreline; so that the Rex wouldn’t be able to reach me, even if it noticed me. Although, it appeared to be particularly focused upon the yellow-green Parasaur running down the beach; away from Pqpe’s location. 87 87 After about a minute or two of silence on Pqpe’s end…he finally responded, seemingly unconcerned; “Thanks…I see it! It’s a good distance from me…and seems to be moving farther away…but I’ll keep a look out for it!” On that clearly over-confident note…with the Rex stomping loudly after its desired prey…I decided to leave Pqpe to his reckless mission, and headed back down the coastline; stopping at an area about a half mile North of the swamp, just as the sun was reaching the middle of its daily arc. There, I spent the better part of the afternoon and early evening; gathering all the wood, thatch, and fiber I’d require to supplement what materials we already had stockpiled on the raft-house…so that I’d be able to construct a large enough floating holding pen of some sort, for these potentially deadly pets; which Pqpe was deadest on acquiring. Loading the last of the resources I figured I’d need, the sweat heavy on my brow, I then made the long weighed-down journey back to the boat-house. Once I’d arrived at our slowly drifting home, I got right to work constructing the Scorpions’ enclosure. Though I hadn’t seen them up close…I had gotten a good enough look at them; to have a general idea of the minimum size required. Rolling a series of large, buoyant logs into the water so as to create a foundation; I lashed them together with fiber cord, as well as to the raft-house, so that they wouldn’t float away. I then attached a floor of rough wood boards with wooden nails; which measured about eighteen feet wide by thirty feet long. From there I built a wall of wooden planks, thatch insulation, and fiber ties all around the rectangular base; up to about twenty-four feet high, and placed a flat roof of the same materials over it…using wooden ladders as scaffolding to reach the desired height. The large, rectangular, box-of-a-raft wobbled somewhat awkwardly upon the gently bobbing ocean surface; but I was confident that it’d stay afloat. Finally…I constructed a huge double doorway about twelve feet wide, by twenty-four feet high on one side; along with a wooden ramp, which jutted out a short ways into the water from its bottom. As I didn’t figure in the need to move this structure separate from the main house-boat…I didn’t bother taking the extra time to fit it with a sail or rudder. 88 88 ~~~~~~~ I’d just finished securing the entry ramp, when I saw Pqpe sailing up with a couple of pacified Giant Scorpions on board. Slowing to a stop right beside the ramp, he turned towards me with a triumphant smile; “Nice work! …See? I knew you could come up with something to hold them, even way out here on the ocean! So, what do you think?” Finding an un-amused look on my face, Pqpe decided not to wait for a response; “The taming trick seems to have worked…they treat me like I’m their mother or something; even though they’re already fully grown! …They go wherever I tell them to…although it did take a bit of coaxing to get them onto the raft. …I don’t think they can swim very well, so they’re a bit scared of deep water... I got me a male and a female; named them Plumtail and Sugarplum! …They are kinda cute…from the right angle…when they aren’t trying to kill you…don’t you think?” The creatures looked to be about six feet wide, and stand about three feet tall at their torso; upon eight long, segmented legs. They seemed as though they might measure about twelve feet long…if their lengthy, upwardly curving tail and two large front-pincer arms were fully outstretched. Their pincers were about as large as my head, and torso combined; and they had a few extra spikes poking out along the tops of their claws, as well as on the larger segments of their arms. On their heads, the creatures had a pair of small two-fingered grabbers by their mouths; beneath a couple of dark, buggy eyes. The tips of their tails were like a large round ball with a sharp, slender stinger about the length of my forearm curving out from it. Their entire bodies were covered in an armor-like, insectoid carapace; with one having a bluish top above a greenish undercarriage, and the other a reddish back alongside a pinkish abdomen. Casting Pqpe a disapproving look, I replied with my voice full of skepticism; “You sure those living monsters aren’t just waiting for the right moment to kill you? And Plumtail and Sugarplum…what’s with those names?; they seem a bit sweet for waking nightmares... Male and female…how the heck you even figure that out?” With his smile just slightly diminished, Pqpe responded cheerfully; “Well…I wasn’t sure what to name them, and the tips of their tails look like toothpicks sticking out of giant plums…so I just went with it.” 89 89 Suddenly looking a bit flustered, Pqpe continued; “As for male and female …eh…um…well I can’t remember for sure now which is which; so I’d have to, ‘lift up their skirts’, so to speak and check again; but I think that’d be best done when they’re narcoed out... I think the red and pink one is the female.” With a resigned sigh, I unlatched the large wooden door and stepped through as it swung open; “Well in any case…you tamed them…so they’re your responsibility. I built their new floating home for you…so you make sure to feed them, and pick up after them. I don’t want to go anywhere near those sharp pincers!” After about a half hour or so of gentle persuasion, along with a good deal of trial and error, we eventually managed to get the two Giant Scorpions firmly settled into their new home. They didn’t seem to feel entirely confident on the unfamiliar wooden ground, as it moved jerkily beneath them above the passing waves. However, true to Pqpe’s word, they seemed to heed his every command; so long as he held a delectable piece of raw meat in his hands at least. Only time would tell if they’d actually be of any use I supposed. I just hoped that Pqpe would warn me in the future…before going after any new pets.
  7. HI!!! Well; in the previous chapter we actually managed to get to the end without any structures being destroyed, or anyone dying......I think that may be a first for this story. By this point I was becoming a bit more competent and beginning to attain a firm grasp of at least the basic principles within the game. Still a long ways away from truly discovering the underlying secrets of The Island and possibly finding a means of escape; but hey, in a game where what you've spent the past few real life days building can be completely wiped out in a matter of real world minutes, any amount of progress is something to be excited about; even if it's just a progression of learning how to play the game better. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, lets see how long Florian can stay afloat and ride the winds of this mysterious isle. FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 76 76 Chapter 9 Wind Riders! I woke early the next morning…and stretched my extremities beneath the patch-work hide blanket... The thatch mattress had been a bit prickly to sleep on…but it was a welcome comfort, amongst everything that had happened. Glancing around the gently swaying house-boat, I noticed Pqpe leaning against one of the open windows; intently staring at the holographic panel, which sprang from his left wrist. Emerging from the warm bed into the brisk morning air, I yawned deeply and asked; “You’re up a bit early huh? How’re things looking out there this morning? Did we drift much?” Pqpe continued to gaze at his holographic panel while responding; “I couldn’t sleep very well last night……and no, we didn’t move much… Hey, you know where it says ‘Tribe Affiliation: None’?” I stood up, and walked sleepily over to him as I answered; “Yeah? What about it?” Pqpe pointed to the statistic on his hologram and continued; “I think I know how to create a tribe; or…is it register one? Well, in any case, the holographic panel is interactive! If I touch the tribe affiliation statistic, it pops up with an option for me to create one; since I’m not connected to any...” Seeing that I was still half asleep, and therefore unable to fully understand the significance of this, Pqpe resumed; “I’m thinking that one of the implant color modes, might be a Tribe-Chat channel. White is apparently an island wide chat, as we’ve seen…I think Red is a local proximity chat…I tested it out last night while you were sleeping, and heard my voice coming from your implant; but didn’t get any random responses from other people…I was thinking Green might be for tribe specific communication, but wanted to wait until you were awake to test it. You’ve been here longer than I have, and you’ve more or less taken the lead on things so far, so I think you should be the one to create the tribe registration.” 77 77 Feeling a bit under-qualified, I gave him a serious look…then acknowledged; “Okay…if you’re sure?” Pqpe nodded in the affirmative, as I double-tapped my implant to bring up the hologram. I then navigated to the tribe affiliation statistic and touched it. The screen’s text swiftly changed to depict the words; ‘Create Tribe’, under which was an empty rectangular space above a keyboard of letters. ‘It wants me to choose a name?’ I looked towards Pqpe; “Since we’re living on a boat…how about ‘Wind Riders’? We use the wind to travel around…we’re flexible, and will go where-ever the wind takes us…also my last name is wind, so it works on multiple levels!” Pqpe simply nodded saying; “Sure; sounds good to me.” I typed in the letters, and touched a confirmation button. With a shifting of visuals, the panel quickly changed to display the tribe designation; ‘Wind Riders’, at the top of a screen which listed the members of the tribe…along with various signifying options concerning them. Seeing as the clan was newly created, it currently listed only me; with the title; ‘Tribe Leader’, beside my name. There were also instructions on the panel, for how to add more people to the list; “face your implant towards that of another individual’s implant, and press the ‘invite’ option when this screen is viewable on their display. The other individual will then have the choice of pressing either the ‘join’ or ‘ignore’ options, which will become available on your display.” We followed the directions just as they were described…and after a brief flashing of transferring energy between our implants, not only did Pqpe’s name show up on the list; but he could view the tribe’s information on his holographic screen as well. Pqpe pressed his hologram off, and began swiping through his implant’s color modes; setting it to green as he said; “There, now we should be able to keep in communication with each-other privately; without bothering anyone else. Let’s give it a go!” I turned my own panel off, and set my implant so that it acquired the slightest hint of a green hue; then pressed down on the diamond while speaking clearly into it; “Will this work?” ‘Will this work?’ Success! My voice echoed from Pqpe’s implant, without anyone else responding! 78 78 Suddenly filled with an excited energy, I rushed to the rudder controls shouting enthusiastically; “This is great! What do you say we head to shore, and give it a proper test by doing some inland exploration?!” Pqpe dismissed my fervor with a passive wave, and dropped onto his bed with a muffled creak; “Told you; I didn’t sleep so good last night. You can head off into the wild unknown if you want, but I’m going to stay right here; and try to get used to sleeping on a moving floor.” My eagerness now greatly diminished…I walked over to the storage containers, and began removing various materials as I asked; “How bout you help me build a basic raft real quick then? That way I can head back to the coast, and you can stay out here getting used to the waves.” Uttering a quiet grumble in protest, Pqpe rose from his bed and began sorting through the extra resources we’d gathered before beginning our initial voyage. With his help, it didn’t take long to construct a simple wooden floor…securely attached to a base of buoyant logs…with a steering rudder hooked to the back…and a sail-covered mast tied on front. Before the morning sun had crossed even half-way to the middle of its daily arc, I was speedily sailing off towards land; while Pqpe waved from the open door of our house-boat. Swiftly approaching the swamp-covered shoreline, which was closest to the location of our raft-house, I noticed the looming figure of yet another enormously floating metal tower; this one radiating with a green vitality. ‘That’s three different ones now I’ve seen…red…blue…green. Were there any more? What did they mean?’ No-matter their importance…it seemed getting to this one, would likely be far too difficult a trek for today; as it appeared that I’d have to make my way through the ever growing marshland before me in order to reach it. After only a few minutes of travel, I found myself gently coasting along the mangrove covered shoreline of the large swampland. The water here was green, with a thick layer of algae; and smelled of sulfuric methane. The area appeared to be mostly covered in a shallow blanket of water, with a large sandbar following along its ocean side; which opened in a few spaces, so that it was difficult to tell where the marsh ended and the sea began. 79 79 Peppered here and there, I could see the tops of large boulders sunk deep into the soft ground; so that they barely poked above the algae coated surface. Curiously glancing through the dense forest of lengthy mangrove roots, which acted as stilts coming from the water to support large trees above, I couldn’t tell how far inland the wetland persisted; but it seemed to cover an area of about two or three miles down the coast. The air hummed with the buzzing wings from thousands of insects, and sang with the varied calls from a multitude of other creatures; hidden deep amongst the steaming muck. Finding a very large spine of rock, poking a few feet above the ocean waves, I securely wedged my raft against it; so that it wouldn’t drift away…and hopped off with a splash into the cold, refreshing water. Swimming a couple yards through the gentle surf, I came to stand upon the unstable sandbar; a few feet from the mangrove jungle. While quietly reminding myself to stay alert for potential dangers, I heard a loud cracking of wood and quickly turned to look in the sound’s direction! A few yards down the sandbank to my right, I saw the giant greyish-tan form of a Paraceratherium; bending the trees as it squeezed between them, and stepped out into the open near the water’s edge. I wasn’t too concerned by its sudden appearance, as I knew that it wasn’t a carnivore, yet still; just the size of it made the creature something to be cautious of. The animal looked to be about thirty feet high, and forty feet long; with a large bushel of hair on the tip of its lengthy, skinny tail. It stood upon four massive elephantine legs; which rose like thick trees up to its body, covered in a thick leathery hide. The animal’s long, muscular neck carried its huge bulbous head; with a pair of squinting eyes beneath two pointed little ears. I watched carefully…as it bent its neck slowly down…and began taking long, deep gulps of water; apparently preferring the ocean’s clear liquid to the swamp’s algae encrusted surface. A loud screech then assaulted my eardrums, as a small flying figure suddenly swooped down from the branches above; aiming for my head! I ducked just in time to avoid the collision, and followed its path with my eyes as it flew off to my left. 80 80 It was a Dimorphodon; a relatively harmless creature about two feet long, with a three foot wingspan. It had two little four-clawed feet at its back, with a long skinny tail between them…a little three-clawed hand in the middle of each winged arm…a long, bulky head; which was a bit large in comparison to its body, with sharp little teeth filling its mouth…an almost cute, little predatory eye on either side of its head…and a thin covering of colorful purple and red feathers over its torso; as well as along its wings. While carnivorous, I was certain that such a tiny creature would prefer insects and small rodents to larger prey. However, it did seem possible, that a group of them might perhaps swarm larger quarry…especially if they felt threatened. Though the Dimorph had darted violently towards my head…it may have actually done so in sympathetic warning; as by following its flight to my left, I suddenly found myself looking down a tunnel of teeth! My muscles springing to action before my mind had even processed the danger, I leapt to the right and fell into a roll; narrowly dodging the swiftly clamping jaw! The creature had crept upon me so slowly and silently from the ocean, that I hadn’t even had the slightest hint it was there! Barely taking notice of what the beast was, I rushed to the water and dove towards the relative safety of my raft! The monster eagerly pursued me into its natural environment; and lunged with a crashing snap! It missed its mark by just a few inches, as I spun in the current of its rapid movement; while it swam past me propelled by its huge, powerful tail! Regaining control of my underwater position; time seemed to slow for just a moment…as I found myself looking at the largest alligator I’d ever seen! Despite my bloodily, and painfully, honed skills of situational awareness…it seemed I’d become the easy target of a previously prehistoric Sarcosuchus! 81 81 The beast looked to be about thirty feet long, and as though it could stand about six feet high. It had four strong legs; each with five webbed toes, which carried deadly sharp claws. Its extensive, muscular tail appeared perfectly suited for aquatic predation; and its long, slender snout filled with large jagged teeth; would be ideal for waterside ambush. Its bulbous nostrils, and pair of upwardly set eyes, would certainly allow it to move alertly; unseen beneath the waves, as it approached its target from a distance…and its deeply green, leathery hide would help camouflage the creature against the thickly green algae of the swamp. In desperation, I kicked and grasped my way through the water; knowing that my only hope for escape, however slim, was to reach the raft and unfurl its sail! The Sarco charged at me again through the twelve foot deep water; and barely missed catching my legs as I scrambled aboard the raft! It took a large bite out of my modest vessel’s back left corner, as I quickly untied the ropes which kept the sail closed; and let the wind take hold, while I pushed against the rock to free it from its lodging! The Sarco came at me once more, propelling itself out of the water in attempt to land on the raft, but missed its chance by just a few centimeters; as a strong gust of wind took me rapidly down the coastline, and out of its reach! With a heavy sigh of relief…my body shaking from the fear and adrenaline…I abruptly decided, that my little exploration trip would be done for the day. Turning the rudder, so that I’d be heading towards the general direction of the raft-house, I pressed down on my implant and pleaded with a shiver; “Pqpe! Can you hear me?!” A brief moment of silence…then clear as if he had been standing right beside me, I heard his comforting voice; “Yeah! Guess this really does work then? So…how’s your exploration going?” Another sigh of relief…and then I responded with renewed confidence; “I’m headed back now. I took a closer look at that swamp we passed by yesterday... Seems like a pretty dangerous place! I nearly got killed by a giant alligator! The raft…will need some repairs.” 82 82 Pqpe replied with a slight hint of concern; “Really? Hmm… Maybe we shouldn’t stay parked over on this side of the island then? If the nearest coast is that dangerous, it could be difficult to go ashore for resources? Although…there seems to be a lot less people living on this side as well…maybe because of the swamp? Well…tomorrow’s another day. We’ll figure out what to do in the morning eh?” With the sun slowly drifting into the start of late afternoon, I could just make out the shape of the raft-house on the blue-framed horizon, as I answered with renewed determination; “Yeah! We’ll figure it out tomorrow!”
  8. HELLO THERE!!! So...by now some of you may have been reading my chapters, and may have been wanting Florian to just get a basic shelter set up and get going with the actual adventure already! If this is you, then I feel you; because this is how I was feeling at this point in my time playing the game. Also; you may have noticed that I've been throwing a lot of secondary characters at you over the last few chapters, some named and some unnamed, but none have really stuck yet for any real length of time. Well; as those who have played Ark Survival Evolved on official servers for more than a few days, especially on PVP servers, knows...it's best not to get too attached to any buildings, tames, or even friends. A harsh world awaits those who appear on the Arks; especially for the ones who persevere. Still; this only makes every rare moment of peace that much more wonderful, and every rare moment of reunion that much sweeter. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, lets take a voyage out into ever deepening waters. FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 61 61 Chapter 8 A Life on the Sea I had spent the last day and a half rushing from one green pillar of light, in the surrounding area, to the next; swiftly plucking berries off bushes between them for sustenance. It had been absolutely exhausting work; due to the many tall, steeply forested hills in the region. However, it had been worth it; as I now had a sizable pile of fiber, thatch, wood, and pre-tanned hide which I hadn’t needed to go through the longer; more work-intensive; and additionally dangerous means of collecting by hand! I had also been fortunate, in that I hadn’t come across anything deadly…aside from a few Dillos and Raptors, which I’d seen far in the distance…then carefully avoided. All throughout my hill climbing, a plan had slowly been taking form within me…and now, I figured, I finally had enough material to see if it would actually work. ‘If I wasn’t able to keep a shelter standing on the land…then I would build one on the sea!’ Coming down from the hill country, with the latest batch of fiber and thatch loot-bundles cradled firmly in my arms…I felt more skeptical about my plan than optimistic. Still; with a hopeful enthusiasm I quickly crossed over a large sandy hill-of-a-beach, sparsely covered with bushes and small trees, then made my way over to the hiding spot where I’d been stashing my acquired materials. I’d buried the items in the sand near a large wall of boulders; which extended a short ways out into the sea, about a mile or two up the coast from Dab City. The shoreline here was scattered with massive rocks, as it sloped upwards into a large sandy knoll; a mostly deserted place, which I’d found ideal for keeping my activities out of sight…both from hungry carnivores, as well as from prying eyes. From my vantage point near the water…I had noticed earlier, I could see yet another enormously floating tower; far off in the distance, in what I presumed was a Northerly direction…this one glowing with a blue, rather than a red, energy. 62 62 I still hadn’t discovered their significance…if any. The spire hovered authoritatively above the peak of a massive snow-capped mountain; its form diminished and hazy with the distance between us. There were many smaller, forested mountains before it; which gradually transitioned into the steep, rolling hill country I had been searching within for supply drops. The colossal obelisk, which pulsed with red energy, itself loomed almost expectantly a few miles down the coast in an opposite direction from Dab City; seeming as though it were keeping watch of the settlement…and silently judging its progress. Though I was certain they’d be the same size up close, the red tower of course appeared much larger; with its vastly nearer proximity. Despite its imminence, to many of the locations at which I had recently revived, however…I’d decided to stay clear of the area for now; unsure of the towers’ importance…or usage…with all these good-sized human communities nearby appearing to hold little, if any interest in them. I had largely come to the conclusion, that it was the humans I needed to investigate first; ‘but to do that…I needed a secure and safe shelter, at which to rest and regroup.’ Dragging the materials out from their hiding spot…I spread them out onto the beach; organizing them into separate piles, so I could get a visual sense of what I had…and what I might yet need. I had plenty of thatch for insulating and reinforcing…plenty of fiber for lashing…plenty of wood for the upper framework…and most importantly; plenty of hide, which I planned to sew into a great sail, so as to harness the traveling power of wind! ‘I would still need to cut down a few larger trees for the pieces on the bottom…but otherwise, it looked like I was finally ready to get working!’ As I was planning my next steps, I suddenly heard the swift scrunching sounds of feet moving quickly across the sand behind me! “FLLLOOOOOORRRRRRIIIAANNNNNN!!” I turned in surprise, just as a large human body slammed into me; its arms tightly wrapping around in a fierce hug, as we fell to the sand amidst a flailing of golden locks! Seeing the man’s blue-eyed face, my terror-filled surprise quickly turned to a shocked relief; “Pqpe?!” 63 63 Standing up, and offering me a hand which I firmly grasped, Pqpe laughed heartily as he pulled me to my feet saying; “I thought I’d never see you again my friend! Giglieth and I…we died! We were in that void place you talked about! Well…that is…we weren’t in there together... I mean…neither of us noticed anyone else around. We were alone like you said, but were in there at the same time…somewhere.” For a moment, Pqpe took on an expression which seemed to suggest he were trying to comprehend something difficult to understand; then shook his head, as if to dispel the confusing thoughts, and continued; “Anyway, we both managed to revive near the wooden shelter somehow, and got there at about the same time, but we couldn’t find you anywhere! I thought we should wait for you or try calling out, but Giglieth…. Well, after losing two hard days of work right in a row like that…; he just couldn’t take it.” Pqpe lifted his hands and shrugged, as he continued in a sorrowful tone; “I tried to stop him…but he’d made up his mind. After a fit of loud cursing, and something about how it was; ‘unfair that the strong trampled on the little guy without a second thought!’, he just rushed into the forest without warning! I chased after him…trying to get him to calm down, and come back to the beach so we could think things through…but he just kept saying that; ‘it’d be better to be in the void!’. Well…I guess there’s a large swamp behind the hill we built near; cause before I could reach him, he had gotten himself between the jaws of the largest Alligator I’ve ever seen! …Suppose he got what he wanted...” Glad to have regained an ally…though saddened from having heard the fate of the other…I simply asked; “So then…I take it you and him saw the wooden sign our attacker left us?” Pqpe reached his right hand around to the back of his head and scratched resignedly; “Yeah…we did. Think that’s why he got so upset and ran off to kill himself…haven’t been sure of what to do since then. I’ve been dying to various things, and reviving around the island for the past day or so... Seen a lot of human-made structures… Tried my best to stay distanced from their occupants… Met a larger variety of terrifying creatures than I’d have ever wanted to imagine were real...” 64 64 Pqpe’s eyes then flashed with momentary excitement as he stated; “Found that floating tower you mentioned! I made it up the path you talked about, and got underneath it! There was just a large, metal platform with a small metal stand in its center; where the beam of light came from and shot up through its middle... I couldn’t figure out what to do with it…or how to get up to the tower itself…so I just left.” Pqpe scratched his beard thoughtfully while continuing; “I figure someone in one of these towns has got to know something, but I’m wary of just knocking on their front doors ya know... I think it might be easier to have a place of my own, and invite them over for a chat…so they’re the ones coming to me! Not sure how that’s going to be possible though…with them destroying every unfamiliar shack they see.” With a bright smile on my face, I placed my hands firmly on Pqpe’s shoulders and optimistically declared; “I think I’ve found a solution to that problem!” I described to Pqpe how I’d discovered the strange supply containers that dropped from the sky, and how to unlock them. Then I showed him the materials I’d managed to gather; and told him about my plan to build a house-boat…raft…of sorts, so that I’d have a safe place from which to venture forth far from anyone else on the island; “Also, with the help of the wind and a sail, it’d be somewhat mobile; so if we did run into any problems, there’d be the chance of being able to move to a new location; and hopefully avoid any issues! So, what do you think?” Pqpe looked a bit skeptical that we could get such a thing to float properly with such primitive tools…but with no better plan in mind, he grabbed my right hand with his and shook it saying; “It’s worth a try, my friend. I’m not so sure such a thing would work out long term…especially if the ocean’s currents here turn out to be strong, or if the water ever got choppy in a storm…but I can’t think of any better tactic to put a roof over my head, while staying out of everyone’s way.” With the parting of our hands, the long day of constructing began! Working together, we quickly fashioned a couple of simple hatchets from the wood and fiber I’d collected; along with some sharp rocks picked up from the sand nearby. We then located a few large trees, and swiftly cut them down with alternating chops; segmenting their felled trunks into logs of even length, which were then dragged to the water to form the raft’s base. 65 65 From there, it was merely a matter of taking the materials that I’d already collected; and using them to form the rest of the structure. We tied the large, buoyant logs together with strong fiber cords; and secured a relatively even floor of wooden boards to their tops; making a foundation that was about eighteen feet, by eighteen feet square. Using the thatch for insulation, as well as to plug up any holes which might let in water, we built a six foot tall wall of wooden planks; lashed together by fiber threads, all along the edge of this eighteen by eighteen foot base. We then placed a wood door held by fiber hinges at the back; as well as a few wooden windows secured with fiber latches, spaced evenly around the other three sides, so that we’d be able to see in every direction while steering the awkward vessel. A sloped roof of wooden boards was built over the top; which rose to about twelve feet high at the peak in its center, so as to give us plenty of headspace. Next, we secured a large mast on the front; and tied a huge sail, made from hide sewn together with fiber threads, onto its support beams; using strategically placed fiber ropes, as a means to open or close the sail from inside the house-boat structure. Finally; we lashed a wooden ramp onto the back, under the door, so it would be easier to climb aboard from the open water; and a wood rudder, connected to a steering lever, to provide basic directional control. After a day and night of unrelenting hard-work…at last it was finished! With the left-over materials, we made a couple of thatch-stuffed beds with wooden frames and hide blankets; some simple wooden crates to store supplies in; and some basic fiber-cloth clothing to conceal our nakedness from the burning sun. Our work still far from being done, however, we spent the entire next day collecting resources from the surrounding area; cutting down the smaller trees for wood and thatch; uprooting bushes for plant fiber and berries; gathering what flint we could from the rocky shoreline, for starting fires to warm ourselves on the chilly open sea; and even hunting down a few naïve Dodos with our bare hands for meat and hide. We stuffed all of these resources into the storage crates; as we were certain that we’d need this extra preparation, before beginning the long journey ahead. 66 66 That evening…after a meal of fire-roasted Dodo…we finally took our rest; both of us keeping watch in shifts throughout the night, in fear that we might lose yet another hard-sought shelter. Then…with the slow rise of dawn…it was finally time to set sail. ~~~~~~~ Pqpe stood on the sand with his arms crossed over his chest; “I hope this craft of yours will stay afloat, Florian. I’ve died a few different ways since waking up on this island, but I think I’d prefer not to try drowning; if I have a choice.” A cool breeze drifted off the ocean water, amidst the golden rays of early morning, as I smiled timidly at our rough patch-work vessel; “I’m sure it will. And, if it doesn’t, we can always try something else right?” With a shallow sense of confidence; we unhooked the fiber-rope mooring tethers, which we’d used to make sure the raft-house didn’t drift away on tidal currents, and unfurled the sails! The raft-house lurched sluggishly into motion, as the sail caught hold of a strong wind. I grabbed the rudder control, while Pqpe kept track of the sail’s roping and visual navigation through the open windows. Skirting carefully around the large boulders near the shoreline, I steered the craft in what I assumed was a Southerly direction. I figured that; ‘traveling south would be the safer option, considering all the snow I could see up the coast in the other direction. There might be more people living on the southern side of the island, rather than the north, due to this very reason; but right now it’d be far easier to survive in a warmer climate, versus a colder one.’ The raft-house glided fairly smoothly, with an occasional bobbing from the ocean’s waves, as we floated silently by the back-side of Dab City. From here, the town was just a large wall of stone; casting its back defiantly towards the open sea, as if rejecting its very existence. The people of the city seemed to be entirely focused upon what lay inland, rather than hoping for rescue from the direction of the open ocean; ‘a potentially important thing to take note of, perhaps.’ 67 67 We continued sailing a few miles down the coast…keeping at a distance of about forty yards from the beach…until we reached the curve of land which was dominated by the overbearing form of that gargantuan, glowing-red, metal tower. It floated there silently…aside from the quiet hum of pulsating energy…seeming to take no interest in our presence. The area was just as I had seen it before…excluding the absence of a Dillo, blocking the pathway up. For a moment, I considered landing the vessel…and heading up that trail to have a look around for myself; or at least steer through one of the wide passages, which brought ocean water in to flood the deep hole beneath, so that I could get a closer look. ‘But no; Pqpe had said that there was nothing of importance up there... For now, we need to get a better look of the island as a whole; while we still have light to see by…and find a good place to secure our floating shelter.’ I directed the slow-moving craft to the left…skimming around the large, separated hill of land; which held the single, giant claw-like spire of rock on the tower’s ocean side. As we came around, we found ourselves drifting into a large yet shallow river; which looked to be about eighty feet wide, and twelve feet deep. I thought for a moment…to try turning around, so as to keep our course along the island’s outer shore…but the current seemed determined to pull us in this direction. The land on our right rose to a great, forested, mountain of a hill; while the riverbank to our left sloped up into a shorter, milder incline. Variously sized herds of Trikes, Stegos, and Parasaurs could be seen all along the water’s edge; as well as a few Brontos, sticking their long necks out from between the nearby treetops. About a half mile in, we passed by a little waterfall; which tumbled precariously over a small rocky outcrop, spilling its contents into the larger river. Another half mile or so, and the waterway became split by an elevated sheer point of stone; bending off into the inner parts of the island to our left, while curving back out into the open sea on our right. With a spirit of adventurous exploration welling up inside me, I unconsciously began to angle our movement towards the left…but pulled hard on the rudder control, sending us turning sharply to the right, when Pqpe shouted in warning; “There’s a huge Spinosaurus down the river a ways to our left!” 68 68 ‘Spinosaurus…a terrifying alpha predator to be sure…and one which I’d sincerely hoped I wouldn’t encounter on this deadly isle of supposedly long extinct monstrosities...’ Arguably stronger than even the more familiar Tyrannosaurus-Rex, the Spinosaurus was definitely far superior when it came to swimming speed and agility; which meant there was no way I was going anywhere near one in a boat! From this distance we couldn’t get a very good look, as it hunted fish several tens of yards down the river; sending towering waves of water into the air with every pouncing splash! Based upon the other creatures running away from its general location, I estimated that it appeared to be about twenty-three feet high; with a large five foot tall, sail-like fin curving in a half-circle down the length of its back. The beast stood on four powerful looking legs with three long, deadly clawed, webbed toes or fingers upon each. It looked to be about fifty-two feet long from its lengthy crocodilian-like mouth, filled with sharp pointed teeth, down to the tip of its muscular propelling tail. There seemed to be a smaller fin running along the top of its head, between its two menacing eyes, and down the back of its neck as well as one on each of its front elbows; one behind each of its thighs; and a few on its tail. All of these details caused it to look truly threatening in its thick green hide, covered with orange splashes. Moving as swiftly away from the potential danger as possible, the waterway quickly widened and deepened significantly; as we found ourselves back along the island’s outer coast. Glancing in the direction we’d come, it looked as though the canal we had traveled along separated a substantial piece of land from the main island; turning it seemingly into a miniature islet of its own. Gazing upon its beach, we could see a wide scattering of dilapidated thatch huts…though no people were seen moving between them. ‘How often do new people like us wind up…confused and flailing…on the beach’, I wondered. Steering away from the islet, and continuing our course along the main shoreline, we rounded a steeply cliff-covered jut of land; and found ourselves sailing by the Republic of Mongo fort area. Out of curiosity, I looked to see if there was anyone staying at the courtesy shelter…I couldn’t tell if there were anyone inside the building, but the penned-up area was empty. 69 69 A short distance later, we passed by the beach where we’d built our first hovels…only to have them almost immediately crushed by a more well-equipped human, and their large mount; asserting an apparent territorial authority over the otherwise empty seaside... A wave of sadness washed over us at the sight, as a pit of anger formed silently in our stomachs…but there was nothing we could do about the past. Sailing speedily onwards, with a strong wind at our backs, we soon passed by the mouth of a large river; and almost immediately after came upon a long stretch of barren sand, covered in great crumbling towers of rock! The place seemed completely abandoned, aside from a few minor collapsing ruins betwixt the cracking pillars. About a mile or so of this; and the beach once again returned to a gently sloping, densely forested shoreline; with the occasional river flowing calmly into the unending ocean. We then came to a fairly large section, of relatively flat coastline; where it appeared as though a few different groups of people had built large stone-walled forts, nearly all along its length. Some had wooden docks poking a short ways out into the water, with empty rafts tied beside them; and a few even looked as though they had walled-off areas curving a good distance out into the ocean, for some reason. With no-one in sight to notice our passage, we decided to keep it that way as we quietly slipped by; making sure to remember this location for possible future investigation. By this time; the sun had begun to sink beyond the point of afternoon, into the early evening. Seeing as we were coming to a calm, open, empty area of ocean with the beach curving inward away from our position; we decided to close the sail, and let the raft-house float adrift…hoping that it wouldn’t move too much without the aid of an anchor. ~~~~~~~ Grabbing a few handfuls of berries each from the storage containers, we sat around a carefully designed fire-pit in the center of our apparently sea-worthy vessel; and had a mid-day meal. 70 70 His mouth still full…Pqpe began messing with the diamond-shaped implant below his left wrist, while loudly mumbling; “I’d been listening…to other people…speak through this thing…on rare occasion…while we were separated. I’ve even heard people say things like, ‘Ops, Wrong Chat!’…as if they could talk on multiple channels with it.” Finally…he swallowed, and then continued with his observation; “I’ve been doing some testing during our voyage, and I think I’ve figured it out! Normally…if you put your ear close enough to it…you can always hear an almost non-existent fuzzy hissing; kind-of like a hand-held radio that’s always turned on. But…if you press down on the white diamond hard enough, and keep it pressed, then it stops! And then…if I talk into it?” “Florian, can you hear me?!” ‘Florian, can you hear me?!’ Pqpe’s voice echoed from the implant below my own left wrist, just a split second behind his direct speech! Surprised…I pressed down on mine and responded; “Yep, I sure can! …This is amazing!” Almost directly after, an angry and unfamiliar male voice blurted from both our implants; “Stay Off The Island-Wide Chat You Noobs! We need to keep the channel open for Important Stuff!” Stunned…we just sat there… …I could hardly believe it…our first real reaching out into the mysteries around us; and someone had even responded! Though…it had been a somewhat irritated reception. Pqpe then raised his implant towards me, so that I could see it clearly, and resumed excitedly; “And look at this! If I press down on the white diamond, then slide my fingers lengthwise, the color changes slightly! It’s really difficult to notice…it still looks white, right? But look really closely! If you keep swiping, it goes from being a pure white…to having an extremely slight green tint…to having a barely noticeable blue one…then a light red coloring…and back to a pure white. I think these are the chat channels people keep talking about! White must be this Island Wide Chat…green something else…blue another one…and red... Here…let’s test it!” Pqpe grabbed my left wrist and brushed his fingers firmly across the white diamond, so that it acquired an almost entirely unnoticeable green tint; almost unnoticeable…but I could see what he meant, as my white diamond now had just the slightest hint of a light green coloring. 71 71 He then set his own to the same hue…pressed down hard…and talked into it; “Can you hear me now?!” This time……only silence came from my implant; and no-one else responded either. Curiously…I wondered aloud; “What would happen if you double tapped it?” I firmly pressed the white diamond of my implant twice in rapid succession and, ‘VROOOM!’, to my immense shock; a holographic panel approximately one foot by one foot square, materialized horizontally a couple inches above my left arm! Astonished…Pqpe did the same, and another holographic panel materialized above his implant! Examining mine closely, I saw that it had a large amount of what appeared to be personal statistical information on it; fortunately written in English lettering. ‘Specimen Implant; Sample Number: Eight-One-One-Zero-Six-Six-Five-One-Five, Male; Vernacular ID: Florian, Nine, Wind; Species: Homo-Sapiens; Epoch: Seventy-Four; Attributes: Intelligence, Dexterity, Adaptability; Survival Quotient: Sixteen; Tribe Affiliation: None; Ark Variant: The Island, Thirty-Nine; Day: Six-Thousand Four-Hundred Fifty-One; Time: Sixteen-Hours and Forty-Five-Minutes; Temp: Twenty Degrees Celsius; Health: Good; Stamina: Excellent; Oxygen: Excellent; Hunger: Sated; Thirst: Moderate; Weight: Average; Strength: Common; Agility: Good; Fortitude: Poor; Crafting Expertise: Poor; Torpor: None.’ The more I read…the more my mind swirled into a dazed confusion… …dumbfounded by the information I was reading. ‘Specimen Implant? …Sample Number? …Was I just some kind of lab experiment? …Tribe affiliation? …Ark Variant……Thirty-Nine? The number I’d remembered when I first awoke…a location marker? …Were there more places like this? …Day Six-Thousand Four-Hundred and…’ I pressed down on my implant for a moment…covering the holographic projection…and let go. ‘VRUUP!’ The holographic panel disappeared back into my arm… I looked over at Pqpe……he just sat there starring at his panel, with a blank expression. I reached across the fire-pit…placing my right hand on his shoulder…and said gently; “Don’t worry…we’ll figure this all out…Okay?” Pqpe…shaken from his stunned state…pressed down on his implant, causing his own panel to fizzle away... 72 72 After a brief moment, he slowly stood; speaking in a gradually increasing volume; “Yeah… Yeah. Let’s get moving, so we can see more of the island before nightfall… Feeling the cool ocean breeze on my face, should clear my head.” ~~~~~~~ A quick tugging of ropes and the sail swiftly opened, to welcome the wind once more! As we continued on our course along the coast, which I had guessed to have been in an Easterly direction for a while now, we soon noticed a small islet of land coming up on our right; which was separated from the main island by a large expanse of deep ocean water. Sailing closer, we could see that the isle appeared to be in a crescent shape; with the side facing the main island being open to the sea, so that it filled a shallow inlet lake in its center. The two pointed ends of the crescent were made of an extremely flat, sand-covered beach; which rose slowly into a sparsely treed, rocky hill in the middle of the islet’s curve. On first glance…I wondered if it might be a good spot to dock the raft-house for the night, and make camp. As we drew closer however…we could see that passed the inlet lake, at the base of the hill, was the formidable walled form of a large metal fortress. Furthermore; there looked to be two small points of land, barely poking above the water’s surface, a short distance in front of the inlet’s mouth; each of which had a tall metal turret tower built upon it…with banners draped down their sides, sporting the letters ‘WB’ in large white font; amidst a surrounding design of black and green. Steering well-clear of these forward turret towers…I knew for certain, we wouldn’t be stopping there for the night. To our left, we passed by a massive cliff wall…which I guessed to be about a hundred and twenty feet high…that towered over a large rock-covered beach. As we moved beyond the cliffs, the shoreline opened into a little bay area; with a large cliff-covered peninsula curving around its other side; which sloped gently to the water’s surface, as it pointed out towards the small islet on our right. 73 73 Built against the peninsula’s cliffs, facing the miniature bay, was an enormous rectangular stone structure; nearly as tall as the cliffs themselves! Surrounding the structure, at a good distance along the beach, was a wooden spiked-wall barricade; with a large wood gate on either side, to allow entrance into the fortified area. A fair distance down the peninsula’s point from this structure, positioned as though it were purposefully facing the direction of the small islet, was a large construction of wooden scaffolding about thirty-six feet high and forty-eight feet wide; which appeared to form the letters, ‘FU’. Of course…I couldn’t have known the true meaning behind this erected edifice. However…if the letters meant what I thought they meant…then judging by the surrounding scene, I gathered there must be something of a feud going on between the group living on the islet; and the one on the peninsula. Regardless of this being the case; I had a sense that the nearby area wouldn’t be a good place to hang around for long. Remaining distant from either side, we quickly navigated around the rocky peninsula; and headed up the steeply cliff-covered coastline in what I guessed was a Northerly direction, seeing as how we had now followed the shoreline in something of a half-circle route. Continuing onwards, the cliffs quickly turned into a dense forest of tall trees; which gave way to a small open grassland, before itself transitioning into an even denser swamp of mangroves. Gazing far into the distance…I could see an ever growing series of mountains, as the beach persisted into the frigid North. Finally…deciding this to be a good place to end our voyage for the day…with the slow dimming of the sun bringing on a calming twilight; there was one final thing that I wanted to see before closing the sail. Pulling hard on the rudder, I angled our course in a ninety degree path; straight away from the island’s coast! The vessel rocked violently with the sudden, and sharp change in direction; “What are you doing Florian?!” Pqpe wobbled slightly as he tried to keep his balance; “Sorry Pqpe! I should’ve shouted a warning first! …Since we don’t need to worry so much about dying…there’s something that’s been nagging at me this whole time…and I want to test it out before we close the sail for today!” 74 74 Attempting to find the words to clearly convey my train of thought, I continued; “See…with all these large groups of people living around the island…you’d think that at least some of them would have tried to build a boat and sail away right?” Taking just a moment’s pause to gather my thoughts, I persisted; “If nothing else; you’d think the ones who lived on the coast would have built some large fishing vessels to make use of the ocean’s resources... But, I’ve barely even seen a tiny raft tied to a rickety little dock; much less anything I could call a real ship! Almost all the fortifications we’ve seen today have had their focus entirely turned inland, despite being built near the beach! I’ve been wondering……just how far could we sail from the island’s edge?” With Pqpe returning to his look-out position near the front windows, we started by moving at a fairly fast pace. However…the farther away from the island we went…the slower we began to travel. The winds suddenly changed so that they blew towards the island, rather than away from; causing the sail itself to become an obstacle to our progress! I even felt the raft-house shift beneath me, as the underwater currents switched direction; pulling us back towards land! No-matter how I angled the craft, or from where I began moving away from the coast, we seemed only able to get about a mile or so out from the island’s shore; before being forced back by a combination of the wind and water currents. After an hour of fighting these natural forces…I finally concluded my theory; that leaving the island by boat…or at least by raft…would be impossible. At last, it made sense why little focus was being given to the ocean by the other humans living on the island. The small pit of despair growing ever larger in my gut…as this fact meant that rescue, or escape, from the island would be even more unlikely…still, at least one good thing did come of it; ‘floating out in the ocean would indeed be a perfect place to hide…’ With the oncoming darkness of night…we closed up the sail, and readied ourselves for slumber; while the gentle rocking of our house-boat sang us to sleep, with the calm splashing of ocean waves. 75 75 Both of us having become far too tired by the day’s journey to care about keeping watch in shifts…we merely hoped that the raft wouldn’t drift too far from its present location during the night.
  9. WELCOME!!! So, it's at this point in the story when I would very highly recommend you start by reading the previous chapters first. Otherwise, as the chapters go on, you're gonna start to feel a bit lost story-wise. This is especially true for anyone who might read my story that has not played Ark Survival Evolved before. However; if you haven't read the previous chapters first and choose not to, then I get you; I understand; you're a rebel and don't want to be told in what chapter order to read your stories. Just don't complain to me if you feel a bit lost, if things don't feel explained enough, or if the story seems a bit off. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, let's continue on with chapter 7! Or, as the case may be for some of you, start with chapter 7! FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 57 57 Chapter 7 Pillars in the Sky Having discovered that I could reappear from the void generally close to locations which I had been to before…with enough concentration…I decided to revive near Dab City. Looking down from the rocky cliff-covered hills beside it, I found myself considering whether to just walk up to the front gate and introduce myself after-all. ‘Humans could be deceitful…cruel…perverse; especially with unfamiliar newcomers.’ Despite being one myself…I didn’t trust them. ‘Still…not much I could do on my own. If safety and man-power were the reward…then it might be worth the risk.’ As I contemplated this, a flash of light off the corner of my peripheral vision caught my attention! I looked to my right; and saw a pillar of bright, purple light several yards up the coastline; high up on a hill. It flashed with lightning energy; similar to the beam I’d seen rushing through the middle of that enormous floating tower! The purple ray extended from the ground, high into the sky; farther than my vision could reach! As my eyes followed up along its length…I could just make out the form of a large, metal object; slowly descending through its center… Swiftly scrambling to my feet; I sprinted across the steep, rolling hills…hoping to intercept the entity as it reached the ground! Approaching the base of the purple beam, I watched as the object descended into a sparse covering of trees and bushes… …It was a large, metal, diamond-shaped structure; which looked similar to the implant on my left wrist. Appearing to be about four times my height, and three times my width, with four vertically pointed wing-flaps set equally distanced around it; along with eight large, metal panels rapidly encircling it; which were perhaps held by some kind of magnetic energy. 58 58 The object’s sharply pointed bottom sank a few feet into the ground, as it finally stopped its descent; though the eight flying panels continued to swiftly circle it. The metal diamond’s structure appeared to pulsate with purple light, as the beam continued to encase it…although the flashing pillar seemed to have shortened now; tapering off in a sharp point, just on the edge of my vision. I walked around the structure curiously…but carefully; having absolutely no idea as to what it might be. Then, I noticed a small diamond-shaped indent about a fourth of the way up on one side; it looked to be about the same size and shape as my implant! The eight metal panels still whizzing around, I timed myself carefully; so as to jump passed between them without getting hit! There was about four feet of space between the object and its circling panels. I walked up to it, and placed my right hand onto its smooth metal surface. It felt warm; but not hot…vibrating with an energy filled hum... I then reached up with my left hand, and placed its implant against the diamond-shaped indentation; wondering if such a straight-forward approach would actually work. A second later, a computerized feminine voice suddenly spouted from hidden speakers somewhere within the structure; “Survivor Quotient Too Low! Level Thirty-Five Or Above Required To Unlock!” ‘Survivor quotient? …Level Thirty-Five? …Unlock?’ …I had no idea what it was talking about, but one thing was clear; ‘it seems I won’t be able to open it’, whatever it was... Cautiously jumping back through the rushing panels, I noticed another pillar of light up the coast; a ways out on the beach...this one green. It flashed violently amongst a flock of startled Dodos; which began to franticly disperse. Vigilantly, I rushed down the steep hill and ran along the beach towards the beam! Just as with the purple one, a large object of the same description slowly descended through its center; until it came to a stop, after sinking a few feet into the sand. The only difference; was that this one pulsed with green light, rather than purple. 59 59 Slowly I circled…until I saw another, similarly designed indent and then…warily…I jumped between the spinning blades! Reaching up the metal surface, I again placed my implant against the indentation; after which a computerized feminine voice spurted; “Survivor Quotient Acceptable! Now Unlocking!” Startled, I stepped to the right as a door in the structure’s side suddenly fell open! As it fell…the eight flying panels simultaneously moved upwards, while they spun, and attached themselves to the top of the object; finally coming to rest. Gingerly, I stepped to look into the now open container; just as a few bundles of fiber, thatch, and already tanned hide abruptly rolled out from inside! Picking up the loosely tied packs, now even more confused than ever, I realized with growing curiosity what the large metal diamond was; ‘it was a supply drop!’ Unexpectedly, the computerized feminine voice again uttered from somewhere inside the vessel; “Self-Destruct-Sequence Now Initiated! Please Step Back!” In a panic, I quickly grabbed as many of the packages as I could; then rushed off a short ways down the beach, to hide behind a large boulder! A moment after I’d ducked behind it; the diamond-shaped supply crate disintegrated into a pile of metal ash amongst a powerful, yet somehow tightly contained, explosion! The green pillar of light then vanished along with it, as I now stood there with an armful of already prepared and ready to use resources. Perplexed…my mind racing with the possibilities…I suddenly felt as though I may had found a way out of my little man-power dilemma… ‘If a single green supply drop had contained all this…then what if I were to find more of them?! What might the purple ones contain?! If a person were to find enough of these…close enough to them…then they’d be able to function at a fairly decent capacity, even if alone!’ I knew that finding fast resources and other supplies wouldn’t solve all my problems however; ‘there’s still the issue of finding a safe place to build a shelter... With all these larger collectives laying claim to portions of the island…and with the relatively safer beaches apparently being highly contested areas of traffic…it might be difficult to find a place, where what I’d built wouldn’t be easily demolished the next morning…’ 60 60 Still…with a plan gradually forming in my mind…I carefully hid the materials I’d found amongst some thick vegetation; and enthusiastically ventured off to find more green pillars of light!
  10. HELLO!!! So, we covered a lot of ground in the previous chapter huh? Finally got to meet some other humans, that is to say some other players, face to face. Not really too friendly were they? I realize that I hadn't been clear on this before, but by now it should be obvious that the Official The Island Server 39 that I played on was a PVP server. When first starting to play the game, I knew that PVE was an option and that it'd probably be safer and easier to start on. However, I always figure that PVP servers on games like these offer a more realistic experience; and therefore not only a more challenging, but also a more interesting one. Given the option, I will usually tend towards PVP servers; not because I enjoy PVP or intend to engage in it, but simply because of the realism and excitement that they bring over PVE. I also played the game on PC; if that helps provide some extra context. Well, for this chapter, I would like to dedicate it to my brother Daniel; who was my main man through chapters 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12; after I introduced him to the game and got him to come join me. In life it's often nice to know that you have someone whom you can count on to be there to help in times of need; when playing the game Ark Survival Evolved, especially on a PVP server, this is certainly no less the case. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, I present to you Chapter 6; what I would consider to be the true start of my journey upon The Island. FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 49 49 Chapter 6 Build, And, Rebuild! Having acquired a healthy fear for the human element, I’d spent the night in the trees; after a supper of hastily picked berries. As the pitch-dark of night gave way to the leaf-filtered golden-rays of a new day, I climbed out from the thicket; and headed down towards the beach…wondering if I should just start knocking on some doors…and hope that whoever answered, would be friendly towards a random stranger. Approaching the beach, I began to notice the faint scent of smoke…mixed with…cooking meat! My stomach began to grumble, while my mouth pooled with saliva, as the delicious aroma grew stronger and stronger the closer I got to the shoreline! Just as I was coming to the edge of the trees, I heard a couple of male voices; locked in a fiercely loud argument! Wary of the potential threat…I crouched silently amongst the concealing bushes…and watched carefully, as a couple of grown men stood over a slowly burning campfire; making tug-of-war with a piece of seared steak. The man on my left, stood about six feet high; and was covered in glorious muscles incased within a sheath of lightly tanned skin. His hair flowed freely in the wind; like a majestic golden field above deeply blue eyes, and an equally majestic golden beard. The man to my right, stood about five and a half feet tall; with similarly bulging muscles cloaked in a finely chiseled, bronzed-ebony. His hair, a messy brown tangle of curls, overhead a pair of brown eyes; and an equally curly, brown beard. Both wore simple, fibrous coverings; similar to my own. As I inquisitively hid there amongst the ferns…the man with brown hair continued their argument with a loud angry shout, seasoned by a slight Spanish accent; “I killed and skinned the Dillo; so I should get the last piece of meat!” 50 50 The other man responded angrily with a sharp tug; “Yeah, but I made and figured out how to light the campfire! Plus, I constructed the spears you used to kill it with; and the clothing you used to wipe the poison out of your eyes when it spat at you! You didn’t even have to hunt the thing down! The beast was just a few yards down the beach! I’m sitting here doing all the work…when you just take what you need and run off!” Hesitantly deciding to take the chance they wouldn’t skin and cook me as well…I slowly stepped out from my hiding place, and addressed them with a gentle yell; “Why don’t you just split it?!” Startled, the two men suddenly dropped the meat in unison; and it fell into the fire…quickly smoldering into a blackened charcoal. Their surprised expressions turning quickly to ones of anger, I swiftly attempted to defuse the situation; “Uh… There’s plenty of game around here! Dodos pop up like weeds…and they’re really easy to catch! Let me borrow one of those spears, and I’ll help you get some!” I then stretched out my right hand towards them in a gesture of cooperation saying; “The name’s Florian. Happy to help!” They looked at me sternly for a moment…then the brown haired man grabbed my hand and shook it; “My name’s Giglieth. Another pair of arms for hunting sounds good to me.” The blond haired man then took my hand as well, and shook it firmly saying; “My name’s Pqpe…sorry, I can’t tell ya much more than that. Can’t seem to remember much beyond this morning; must have hit my head pretty hard, or something.” Feeling the embrace of a kindred spirit at last, I readily stated; “Yeah; me to! I’ve got some kind of amnesia…can’t remember anything before waking washed up on the beach a few days ago.” To which Pqpe heartily responded; “Right?! Last thing I remember, is waking up in the sand next to this lazy basstard! He can’t remember a thing either! There was no-one else around…so it seemed beneficial to work together.” Giglieth then abruptly grasped my left hand, and pulled my arm taut! He pointed excitedly to my wrist exclaiming; “Look! He’s got one to! I told you! We must be on some kind of lost island reality show or something! Must be hidden cameras all over; and these things track our position, so they know which ones to switch on!” 51 51 Realizing how little time they’d spent on the island in comparison…my face then turned somber, as I began relaying to them all my experiences up till this point. Their eyes grew wide as I described the void; and how I’d returned after death…wider still as I described all the fantastic creatures I’d encountered; both deadly and majestic. Their faces then took on a serious expression…as I described the floating tower; and all the human fortifications I’d seen…becoming especially serious as I mentioned the tribal individuals, who had almost killed me. By the time I’d finished; we were all sitting around the campfire…as it slowly smoldered into a pile of ash. “So”, Pqpe began; “what do we do then?” I turned to face him with determination in my eyes; “We find out what’s going on here! I don’t know how exactly…but it’d be easier with more people helping! With all the other humans I’ve seen, and still a lot more of the island to explore, there must be someone who has the answers!” Giglieth then stood up in a hurry; “Let’s just go ask someone then! You said there was a fort nearby… The Republic of Mongo! Let’s go ask them if they know anything!” I shook my head; “I don’t think it’ll be that easy…All the people I’ve seen so far have either been savages, or heavily fortified with intent to keep strangers out. Whether they know anything or not, I don’t think they’ll speak freely with just anyone who shows up asking questions.” A look of defeat on his face, Giglieth whined; “What do we do then? Huh?! Just curl up on the beach and wait for a dinosaur to eat us?!” “No!”, I declared; “We keep doing what I’ve already been doing! We explore…we wait…we watch…we learn about the island and the people living here. We learn how to communicate with these implant things…It may take a long time…but, we just need to be patient. Death isn’t an obstacle here; and because of that, neither is anything dangerous…We just need to take our time…and ease ourselves into this. Eventually…if we keep searching…we’ll find the answers.” Pqpe nodded in agreement…after a minute; so did Giglieth. Whatever the obstacles ahead of me…it seemed that at least I was no longer alone. ‘First thing’s first’, I thought; ‘We need a base of operations…a shelter to come back to and regroup at from the hazards of this deadly isle.’ 52 52 At my direction, we began assembling a basic thatch hut. Pqpe showed me how to construct a simple axe; using a sharp rock, sturdy stick, and some plant fiber to lash the two together. All three of us working in unison, axes in hand, we worked quickly to mow down the smaller five and six foot trees in the area; amassing a small pile of materials to use in our construction. Taking the sturdy wooden poles made from their trunks, I tied them together with plant fiber from the bushes to make a solid foundation; approximately twelve feet long by twelve feet wide. Continuing in the same fashion, I constructed a wall and ceiling frame; which rose about six feet above it. Giglieth’s stomach rumbling, he suddenly took off with a wooden spear in search of those alleged Dodos; leaving the rest of the building to Pqpe and I. Utilizing the thatch gathered from the trees, and using still more plant fiber, we began filling in the frame with tied together bundles of thatch to create the floor; walls; and ceiling. The final touch was a thatch door; held to the wall by fibrous hinges, so that it could be pulled open or closed as the situation required. It may not have been much…but after a full day’s work, we had ourselves a basic shelter to keep out the rain; and the screeching Dillos. The sun beginning to set with the onset of night…Giglieth abruptly returned with two dead Dodos in one hand, and the now bloodied spear in the other. Gathering around the campfire, Pqpe showed me how to start it by striking flint and metal rich rocks together to produce sparks; which fell upon a pile of dry, fibrous kindling. The fire rose slow, but strong; with dancing orange and yellow flames, as we added larger sticks to feed the small inferno…a ring of small rocks; the only barrier set to contain the flying embers, so that the entire hillside would not be set ablaze by its burning hunger. Having finished gutting, and plucking the feathers off one of the Dodos, Giglieth stuck a sturdy staff of wood down its throat; and held it over the fire…slowly turning it as it cooked, while Pqpe and I readied the other bird. 53 53 With the Dodos cooking up nicely…to a crispy golden-brown…a mouth-watering smell of fire-cooked meat filling the air; the notion suddenly struck me, that I hadn’t eaten anything for about a week…aside from a few meals of berries. As the juicy strips were passed around…I felt grateful, that this would be my first real repast after arriving upon the island. The Dodos’ meat melted in my mouth. It tasted like a juicy, fatty chicken; and was much appreciated after the past week’s struggles. Finally…after putting out the fire…we all climbed into the shelter; and retired upon separate beds of piled up thatch. It may have been scratchy…with little support…but it was the first bed I’d slept in, since waking up in the sand; and to me…it felt like a luxurious cushion of feathers. With a roof over my head, and newfound comrades by my side, I closed my eyes; falling asleep peacefully for the first time in a week… ~~~~~~~ …A loud rumbling! …The sound of thatch being torn apart; and wooden beams breaking! …A heavy weight slammed forcefully against me, so that I flew towards the trees; hitting my head hard against a large tree-trunk; sending me back into a state of unconsciousness, before I had even woken up! …And a loud ROAR!! ~~~~~~~ The next morning, all three of us awoke amidst a pile of broken timbers; and thrashed thatch. We had all been flung into the trees, and knocked unconscious, before even being allowed to wake from the commotion. Though we were all miraculously alive…the shelter we had spent so much time on the day before, was completely demolished. Walking amongst the rubble…Giglieth knelt amidst the strewn thatch; his hands clenching, and his face turning red with anger. Pqpe merely stood by the trees; a look of severe discouragement on his face. Giglieth then raised his fists to the sky and shouted; “All that work wasted! How are we supposed to find out what’s going on, and get off this island, if we can’t even keep a simple shelter up for more than one night!?” 54 54 I stepped towards him…hoping to provide some encouragement; “At least we’re all still alive…And together.” Giglieth yelled back; “And what good does that do us!?” Looking around the destruction…I noticed many large, three-toed claw impressions in the sand. Pointing to one of them, I exclaimed; “Look! A large carnivore must have come across us while hunting during the night! It must have been trying to get to us, and wrecked the shelter in the process! It’s a miracle we’re all still alive!” Pqpe and Giglieth came over to look at the imprints while I continued; “All we have to do is build a larger, stronger structure with defenses…like spikes or something! If we make it so that it can withstand the larger dinosaurs; then we should be fine!” Looking a little skeptical…Pqpe and Giglieth agreed to give it a try. All throughout the day, we went about cutting down the larger trees near the beach for stronger building material; and clearing away the bushes for more fibrous lashings. We had to be more careful cutting these taller trees down; making sure to carve strategic felling cuts so that they’d fall where we wanted them. Afterwards, we chopped the felled logs into the lengths we wanted; and set them aside in a pile until ready to begin building. It was extremely exhausting…back-breaking work; but with a seemingly endless supply of fresh, cool water just off the beach…and an abundance of stimulant inducing white berries…no-one seemed to complain much. Giglieth spent the majority of the time off hunting down Dodos and Dillos; both for food to fuel our chopping, as well as the hide; which he figured we could use to make stronger ties, for defensive bracing. As I began setting up the wooden frame…using a combination of fibrous lashings, and wooden nails pounded into holes that had been carefully drilled out with a sharp rock…Pqpe began splitting logs to make the siding. Giglieth meanwhile began using the creatures’ brains to make a quick, rough tanning of the hide he’d skinned from a small pile of Dodos and Dillos he’d been accumulating throughout the day. As the floorboards, wall-siding, and ceiling-panels were carefully being put into place; Pqpe began carving the ends of a few long sturdy logs, which he’d left uncut, into long sharp points; to be used as spiked-wall fencing with which to encircle our shelter. 55 55 Once the door had been securely placed on its fibrous hinges, we began digging a deep trench in the sand around our wooded cabin; to place the large wooden spikes into…angling them so that they pointed outwards, toward any potential enemies. With the jagged fence in place, we securely lashed all the sharp poles together with strong hide straps; and filled in the trench. The finished wooden structure measured about twelve feet wide, by eighteen feet long, and twelve feet high in a rectangular box. There was a single wooden door at its front; with a deadly looking ring of spiked fence poles forming a defensive wall all around…except for a small opening where the entrance was. Just as before……it wasn’t much. Still; ‘Surely this structure would keep us safe…as we strove to decipher the mysteries of this island.’ And moreover; with the three of us working together, it had only taken a single day to build! Exhausted…and with the dark of night long since upon us…we all clambered into the shelter; pulling the door shut with a satisfyingly secure sounding thud, then latching it closed for the night. Once again…we all drifted gradually off to sleep…thinking that we’d have a sound night of peaceful dreams… ~~~~~~~ …Wood creaking…cracking…splintering! The sound of large wooden shafts being forcefully removed from the ground! A loud…painful…screeching ROAR! I awoke to the ceiling and walls of our shelter beginning to cave in, with small cracks becoming large fissures, as something big and heavy continuously pounded against it from the outside! In a shocked panic, I quickly scrambled for the door and opened it; just to be impaled through the chest by a sharp claw as large as my leg! Sliding off the claw…back into the crumbling shelter…I gurgled blood in disbelief, as I suddenly died without even having seen our attacker… ~~~~~~~ Reviving from the void, I found myself upon a familiar looking beach; just as the golden rays of a new morning were beginning to peak over the horizon. ‘My efforts had succeeded’; I knew I was close to where our shelter had been built! 56 56 In extreme desperation, I had tried hard as I could to revive as close as possible; so that I could get back to the shelter quickly, and search for my friends! Dashing down the beach; I sprinted just a few yards, and around a small bend, before coming to stand before the wreckages of our first and second lodgings! Whatever had attacked us…was long gone…leaving behind only a fresh set of large, three-toed claw prints in the sand... Picking through the devastation…I couldn’t find any trace of my friends, or my old body; aside from some torn shreds of clothing…and spattered blood. Then, to one side of the carnage, I saw a small wooden sign pounded into the ground; with some hastily written letters on it, in brushed white paint. I walked carefully over to inspect it… The sign read simply; ‘Keep off MY Beach Noobs! I use this path for Meat Runs!’ …It would seem that our attacker hadn’t been a wild, ravenous beast after-all…It had been another human…riding some giant dinosaur; who was asserting their territorial authority, by knocking down our modest accommodations. No-matter how much work we did building, and rebuilding…it seemed we would never be welcome to shelter here. Even worse…it meant that; ‘no-matter where we went…it was very likely we’d run into the same problem.’ In quiet despair…I sat there amongst the wreckage for an entire day…hoping that either Pqpe, or Giglieth, would return; and we could regroup with a new plan…but neither of them showed up. As the desolation of the day darkened into the sorrow of night…it seemed that once again; ‘I was alone.’
  11. THE TIME HAS COME!!! I would like to dedicate this chapter to all of the Veteran Players of Ark Survival Evolved, well all the chapters that I have and may write concerning my story really, who played the game during the time between its early access launch and its so-called "1.0 full release"; (aka when wildcard decided to go back on their promise for no good reason and split the servers into "Legacy" and "New"; slowly deleting the legacy ones and not allowing us to even transfer character progress over to the new servers.) That was the original ASE vs ASA divide which killed the game for many players; including eventually for myself. Although it wasn't on a scale anywhere near what this modern death march is. Anyways; moving on to a more positive note; those Original Veteran Players, especially the ones who played on the Original Official The Island Server Number 39, made the game so much fun for me to experience; and made my story so interesting to be a part of; far more than anything that I could have seen or done alone in single player. Whether through ups or downs, friends or foes, progress or setbacks, I would not have had nearly as much fun or found the game nearly as interesting without them. All of their actions no-matter how small made the game world that I experienced what it was; and drove the story that I played a small part in. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, I offer this chapter and all chapters of my story in dedication to all the Original Veteran Players of Ark! FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 40 40 Chapter 5 The Other Survivors With all the dying, and reviving I’d done in different locations around the island…it seemed highly improbable, that I wouldn’t have noticed at least some evidence of human activity before now... Apparently however…it had just been the luck of the draw. I now knew that there were other humans of some kind living on this island. I had heard their voices…and one of them had killed me. I also had a clue as to how I might contact them; by using the diamond implant beneath my left wrist, somehow... My first instinct, after having learned of their existence, was to do just that but; ‘by the way they talked…it seemed as though they knew more about me, than I knew of them.’ Explicitly designating a section of the island as a; ‘Noob Zone?’ …A; ‘Newcomer Area?’ Labeling me a generic, and seemingly widely understood term of Humanoid-Class-Identification; ‘Beach Bob?’ They clearly knew far more about what was going on with this island than I did…may have even been here for years before I arrived. Given this possibility, and their seemingly superior attitude towards; ‘Beach Bobs or Janes’, it was difficult to be sure of how they would treat someone new. All of this carefully considered…I made the decision that some reconnaissance was in order, before I formally contacted anyone. Not knowing how large the island was, and knowing well the potential dangers within it, I determined the fastest way to perform this reconnaissance…would be to intentionally die and revive…until I happened to be lucky enough to wake up on someone’s doorstep. ‘Bit of a painful way to move around perhaps…but certainly the swiftest’; I had become somewhat numb to the agony of death by this point anyway. 41 41 So…I began purposefully killing myself. Falling off high cliffs to break my neck; allowing carnivorous beasts to devour me; deliberately angering Trikes and Stegos so they would skewer me with their spikes; so that I could quickly pop up around the island in the chanced hope that I might stumble upon some indication of other humans being nearby; until finally… …I revived upon the beach in deep shadow. Thinking at first that it might be night, I looked up into the sky to find the sun shining brightly overhead; amidst a light blue backdrop with the occasional white, stringy cloud floating by. Seeing nothing dangerous nearby…I casually turned around, to face out away from the island, in the direction of the open ocean; curious to discover what was casting such a large silhouette. I had been expecting to see an exceptionally large boulder…or some other huge landform, sitting a short distance out into the water. Instead however…I found myself standing just fifty feet away from a massive walled city! My eyes widening, I stood there in awe; my mouth hanging open with astonishment! Never had I thought to find something like this! A small make-shift camp of some kind perhaps…a few little wooden huts sure…but nothing like this! The towering walls of the city looked to be about seventy feet high; and seemed to encircle an area approximately one-quarter of a mile long, by one-tenth of a mile wide. It appeared to be made of huge, cut blocks of grey stone; and looked to be built upon an enormous sandbar, which ran parallel to the shoreline; a fifty-or-so-foot stretch of ocean water rippling between it and the mainland where I stood; utterly transfixed... Roughly in the middle of the wall, on this side of the city, I could see a gigantic main gate; made of huge wooden planks held together by metal bracing; which was as tall as the wall itself, and about forty feet wide! A large stone bridge extended from the base of this gateway, out over the moat-like inlet of water, to rest upon the sandy beach beyond; connecting the city to the rest of the island. As I began to slowly walk towards the main gate I noticed a large flag, made of white cloth stretched upon a wooden frame, was stuck into the ground on either side of the walkway; each of the flags had words on them, written in splotchy black paint. 42 42 Approaching the bridge, I could see they were scribed in English; and silently read what they said. The flag to the right of the passage posed the odd query; ‘Got Dabs?’; while the flag to the left boldly stated; ‘Dab City!’. As I stood there wondering what a; ‘Dab’, was; I suddenly heard the loud, squealing creak of the main gate slowly opening its massive doors! Slightly startled, like a frightened animal, I quickly scurried away a short distance down the beach; lying flat on my stomach, to hide amongst a thick covering of bushes. I watched in curious anticipation, as the immense entry screeched fully open... Then, a moment later, I observed as four individuals rushed out from the city; swiftly moving across the bridge while shouting a unified battle cry! They all wore animal-hide leather clothing. Three of them carried long wooden spears, similar to the one I had made, with back-up spears tied securely behind them; while the fourth carried a wooden bow, with a quiver of arrows firmly strapped to his back. To my great wonder, I saw that two of the individuals rode upon saddled Raptors; their fierceness only intensified by the directing of their human masters! Another of them trotted deftly upon a large grey Wolf with a menacing gaze. Judging by the human who rode it…the Wolf appeared to stand about six feet tall, and eight feet long; from the tip of its wet, snarling nose to the end of its bushy tail. It moved quickly upon four, strong legs; each with a set of deadly sharp claws. Its two pointed ears swiveled alertly as its long, insulating fur rippled in the air; flowing past while it sprinted to the front of the pack! Perhaps the most surprising of all however…was that the fourth individual bringing up the rear; was riding upon a large, red, Carnotaurus! They charged fearlessly up the steep, grassy incline of the large hill in front of their city; and quickly disappeared into the forested knolls beyond. ‘Perhaps they were a hunting party headed out to procure some fresh meat for the city? Or a raiding group sent to deal with nearby rivals?’ Who could say?... As the behemoth sized gate began groaning closed behind them, I slowly stood…wondering whether it would be a good idea to introduce myself. 43 43 Instead…I turned around and scrambled up the sharply inclined mound, the sun hot on my back, to the top of an eighty-or-so-foot-high cliff; which overlooked the beach near the city. From this vantage point, I could just see over the seventy foot high walls into what lay beyond... I observed the roofs of many large, stone buildings; with a fenced in area between them, containing a small variety of dinosaur-like creatures. There appeared to be what looked like a small field of various crops growing in one corner of the compound as well; with the occasional human form moving from one place to the next, completing their different tasks. It truly was a fully realized, if somewhat primitive looking, city; operating efficiently on this strange island. With this impressive sight in view…it was then I decided, that I still needed to know more before making contact. ‘If there was one city this well developed on the island…then surely there could be more. Were there different separated groups? Warring factions?’ If there was a political hierarchy, then I needed to know more before diving too deeply in. ‘Get accidentally affiliated with the wrong group…and it could severely hinder my chances of discovering what was going on here...’ Deciding to do more searching around, I let myself fall freely from the cliff…my arms outstretched like wings…and angled myself so that I’d land head first to break my neck; swiftly severing my contact to life. ~~~~~~~ I revived upon a large, flat beach; with a soaring cliff towering a hundred or so feet above, all along its length for as far as I could see. Large boulders were strewn about the area from the base of the cliff, to a few yards out into the ocean’s water. The surf crashed gently against the rocks, as gulls cried loudly amidst the shining blue sky. Most notably however, was that I had revived right next to a large stone building; which rose about forty feet up from the sandy ground! It was a square building made of cut rocks, cemented together with mud and thatch; appearing to measure about sixty feet wide by sixty feet long, with a large gated door on the side facing the ocean. The gate was closed, and there were no windows to peer through, yet…somehow the structure gave me the impression, that it had been abandoned. 44 44 As I walked around its walls, and then further still down the beach, I found a few such large stone buildings; with some smaller wooden structures built between them…and still fewer tiny, thatch huts built between those. It almost seemed as though some well-developed group, or groups, of people had built the stone buildings and then abandoned them for some reason…then some smaller group or groups, had decided to erect wooden structures of their own amidst the large stone fortifications; possibly using them as extra protection against the island’s dangers, but had long since abandoned them as well…then a few lone individuals had come along with the same mindset, and built simple thatch huts amongst the larger wood and stone buildings; but had since moved on themselves…leaving a beach covered in empty ruins... ‘How long had people been living on this island…and how many…to have built such structures, just to leave them abandoned?’ As I briefly considered picking up where they’d left off, by making these abandoned structures a temporary shelter for myself, I then noticed one potential reason for their abandonment; charging towards me from a short ways down the beach. A large Raptor was sprinting in my direction; its eyes fixed squarely on its next meal! Having no reason to stay any longer…and nowhere to escape to from this ravenous beast…I let the Raptor take me in its claws as it pinned me to the ground with a familiar thud. It clamped its dripping jaws around my head, and severed my spine with a jerking twist; time to revive again. ~~~~~~~ I revived upon a beach which gradually turned into a sixty foot high cliff, sparsely covered in trees, to my left. To my right were two large, wooden billboards with English lettering on them. The billboard on my left, a short ways inland, stated clearly in bold white paint; ‘Be Advised! You are now entering The Republic of Mongo! Be Mindful of the Turrets!’ Looking past the billboard, I could see that the beach transitioned into a large hill made of cliff-edged plateaus; with wide pathways winding up to its top. 45 45 At the hill’s summit sat a large stone fortress, with what appeared to be small turrets of some kind peeking out over the edge of its walls; their metal glinting sharply in the bright sunlight. All along the pathways leading up to the fortress, as well as a few yards distanced on either side of the plateaued mound, similar billboards could be seen with white paint; depicting what I assumed was the same proximity warning, to anyone who might be traveling by. The billboard on my right, sunk securely in the sand, declared proudly in white paint; ‘Republic of Mongo Newcomer Courtesy Shelter! Please Be Respectful!’ Just to the right of the billboard was a wooden bridge, traversing a twelve foot deep inlet of ocean water; about thirty feet or so over to a small peninsula, which ran parallel to the mouth of a narrow river as it emptied into the sea. A few yards past the far side of the walkway, was a decent sized wooden building; with sparse square windows, a tiny wooden deck at its front, and a steeply sloped wooden roof. It could have been compared to either a large one-story house, or a small hotel. Beside the structure; a small area encircled by a tall wooden fence, with a large wooden gate could be seen near the building’s entrance. Two saddled Parasaurs were making soft honking noises, while peacefully grazing within the penned up space…it appeared that the courtesy shelter had a visitor or two. Encouraged by the welcoming billboard, I briskly walked across the wooden passage; and began making my way towards the shelter; eager to ask whoever was inside some questions…and hopeful that they’d be willing to answer them. Then I hesitated; and looked down. ‘What would they think of a random naked man, suddenly walking up to them…and rambling about how he had amnesia, while asking them why the laws of death no longer seemed to apply?’ Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I walked even faster…past the shelter…down the length of the peninsula, in search of bushes so that I could at least make a half-ways decent covering for myself. Unfortunately, the bushes and trees were very sparse on this rocky peninsula; so it seemed I would have to search the main coastline for materials. 46 46 Reaching the inland end of this long point of land; I came upon a large stone bridge, that spanned across the river which ran alongside the peninsula; two large stone towers framing the walkway’s entrance on either side. Due to its proximity…it seemed very likely that this bridge had also been built by the Mongo Republic. Looking across the water…the river appeared to be about sixty feet wide; and disappeared behind a bend of sheer rocky cliffs as it snaked its way inland. On the other side was a large, thickly forested hill; with an equally thick undergrowth of bushes. Enthusiastic about the future for the first time in what seemed like many days, I confidently walked across the bridge; the hard stone warm beneath my bare feet. Making sure to keep my eyes alert for any potential dangers, I saw a few wild Parasaurs grazing in the bushes near the tree-line; a few Trikes making their way down the shore; and the occasional Dodo, which seemed to pop up almost everywhere on this island; but nothing too hazardous. Having made my way to the lush covering of bushes, I began tearing into them; collecting their fibrous, leafy tissue so as to make a simple covering…much as I had before. ‘Better than nothing’, I thought. Focusing a bit too much on my work…and forgetting to keep looking around…once I had gathered a large armful of fresh fibers, I suddenly heard an uproar of loud tribal yelling directly behind me! Turning around slowly…I found myself face-to-face, with three deeply tanned individuals. There were two muscular men of average height, with a near equally muscular woman between them. The men carried long wooden spears, while the woman wielded a wooden club. Each of them wore simple loincloths; and their hair was black as a raven’s feather. For a moment I stood silent…frozen…unsure whether they were friend or foe. Her expression stern, the woman then slowly…silently…lifted her club; and brought it back down hard upon her other palm in an aggressive gesture. My body now moving on instinct, in fear of what they might do to me, I quickly dropped the bundle of fibers; and bolted down the shoreline! Hearing the men grunt with effort, spears swiftly whizzed passed me as I ran; barely missing their marks! 47 47 With nowhere to run, in desperation, I abruptly turned to the right; and dove into the ocean water…swimming far out, and deep down, in attempt to hide myself in its cooling depths! More spears sank passed, as I went farther…deeper…barely sliding by my shoulders and then……I waited. All that time in the void had gotten me used to the sensation of not breathing... Given the right incentive; it seemed I could hold my breath for quite a long time… The spears having ceased; I stopped swimming down, and looked back to see if they were following me. Fortunately…they were not. It seemed whatever they may have wanted with me, it wasn’t worth a deep dive; ‘they probably figured I’d have to come up for air at some point anyway.’ So I waited… One minute… Two minutes… Three minutes… Four minutes…… After a while, my lungs began to scream in protest; and I was forced to make the decision either to surface…or drown! Still thinking I might have a chance of getting some answers from whoever was staying at the courtesy shelter, I began franticly moving my arms towards the surface; choosing this time to grasp at life! Amidst the rippling waves, I burst through the ocean’s veneer; gasping deeply for life-giving air! Treading about ten yards from the shore…I surveyed the coastline as far as I could see in either direction; and as far inland as the trees would allow…attempting to determine if my tribal attackers were still somewhere waiting for me... Seeing no sign of them, despite my thorough searching…it appeared they had found their prey to be a little too much trouble for it to be worth their time; and had left. Cold…mentally shaken…I gradually made my way back to the beach; my earlier sense of encouragement evaporating, as my recently acquired fears had proven true; ‘it seemed that carnivorous dinosaurs…and murderous beasts…weren’t the only dangers on this island.’ Sloshing through the shallower water…I stepped back upon the warm sand with a deep sigh; my muscles quivering from the exertion of having run and swum so far; so fast. ‘At least it turned out…I was a pretty good swimmer.’ 48 48 Making my way cautiously back to where I had dropped the fiber…I found that they had taken all I had collected. With another deep sigh, but being undeterred, I more watchfully began collecting bush fibers again; hopeful that whoever possessed those domesticated Parasaurs, would be more civilized than the humans who had just attacked me. Completing my task without further incident…it had become evening by the time I finished crafting my modest garment; and made it back to the Republic of Mongo’s newcomer courtesy shelter. Amidst an odd mixture of disappointment and relief, I found both of the Parasaurs gone; along with whoever had owned them.
  12. HELLO!!! I would like to dedicate this chapter to all the innocent creature tames that have been killed within Ark Survival Evolved over the years. I don't mean the ones who were sent into battle by their war hungry masters, or those who died a valiant death defending their homes. No; I mean the ones who were mercilessly, or in some cases accidentally, killed while set to passive and therefore were unable to defend themselves or even run away. Those innocent creatures who had just been heeding the command of their master, minding their own business, and didn't have an aggressive bone in their bodies. Such deaths have been the source of great pain within the game; not only for those who lost beloved pets, but also for many who had mistaken the creature for a threat; only to discover too late what they had done. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, I offer this chapter in dedication to all those innocent tames. FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 34 34 Chapter 4 A Tower in the Sky And The “Noob” Mistake I revived upon the island in yet another new location. I stood to find myself on a wide, sandy beach; sparsely covered in familiar berry bushes and beach trees, which extended quite a ways inland before gradually transitioning into a gently sloping grassy hill; which itself transitioned into a sparsely treed, moderately sloping knoll with a denser forest behind it. To my left, the beach extended in a fairly straight line as far down as I could see; with a fifty or so foot high cliff gradually rising above, and running alongside it…many large boulders could be seen piled at its base. Far off into the distance, I could see a large sandbar running parallel to the coastline; and connected on one side, so that it created a small lake-like inlet of ocean water. To my right, the beach curved around and out of sight after about forty yards; so that I starred upon a seemingly endless expanse of water beyond it. The shore on this side rose even more gradually into a small, sparsely treed, grassy mound; and as my eyes followed along its incline, they grew intensely wide with surprise…as I saw what appeared to be just a short distance beyond it; ‘an absolutely enormous…metallic…floating tower…with a large beam of red light pulsating in lightning flashes of energy; which shot up from the ground through its four-pronged hollow center!’ The beam of red light converged into a smaller, more concentrated shaft of energy as it left the tower’s sharply pointed summit; escaping into the endlessly blue sky. Most interesting of all though…was that on two of the tower’s four sides, approximately two-thirds of the way up, was; ‘a large diamond-shaped symbol…which precisely resembled the metallic diamond-shaped implant below my left wrist!’ 35 35 At last! I had found something which might provide me with some answers! I decided right then and there that; ‘I had to reach the tower at any cost!’ After all the suffering I had been through…after all the brutal deaths…I felt I was owed an explanation! However…though the tower appeared to be quite close…I knew that looks could be deceiving when it came to large, distant objects. From this position, there was no telling for sure how far away it truly was; and with so many dangerous creatures inhabiting the island…there was no guarantee that I’d be able to make it, before getting killed again... With the shoreline in that direction curving out of view behind a hill, it made it difficult to gauge distant threat as well. ‘What if I found myself confronted with a Carnotaurus?; or an Utah-Raptor?; or a Dilophosaurous?; or some other dangerous beast?’ With that in mind, I determined that a little preparation was needed before I attempted this trek. ‘It was time that I made a weapon!’ With no time to lose I strode quickly over to a weak looking sapling, which was a little taller than myself, and bent it; twisted it; until it snapped off at its base! Swiftly I tore off its leaves, and broke off its straggly branches; until I had a nice, straight staff of wood about as tall as myself; and as thick around as my wrist! I then picked up a solid, sharp looking rock from near the cliff; and began scrapping it vigorously against one end of the wooden rod; slowly sharpening it into a long and deadly point. After about a half-hour of diligent effort, at last, I had a sturdy spear! With a weapon finally in hand, I wasted no more time in making my way towards the gigantic floating tower! I followed the beach’s curvature alongside the water’s edge, as I cautiously made my way towards the tower; figuring that it’d be safer being in the open where I could see for long distances, rather than try to cut through the concealing forest up the incline. Fortunately however…it turned out that it wasn’t much farther away than around the bend of the hill; just another forty yards or so down the coastline. 36 36 As I made my way around the curving sand…I could see that the tower appeared to be floating over a very large, circular hole; which seemed to have been cut out of the shoreline, so that the ocean’s water had come flooding in to fill it as a huge circular inlet. The cavity’s steep, vertical sides were made of the hard rock it had been carved from; except for the edge touching the ocean, which was open; apart from a separated piece of land between two channels, that allowed the water into the unnatural inlet. Four large spires of rock rose around the mainland side of the pit; curving like claws up towards the floating tower in its center. Each of the pinnacles seemed infused with an equally alien looking technology, which resembled that of the tower itself; like-wise pulsating with red energy. There was also a fifth; similarly looking claw-like spire of rock upon the large, separated mound of land on the crater’s ocean-facing side; which pulsated red with infused metallic technology. As I continued to make my way towards it…I could see a large, platform-like pillar of the same rock; which rose up from the center of the water filled inlet, towards the base of the tower. I couldn’t tell for certain…from my vantage point a ways down on the beach…but it looked as though there were some sort of metal podium on top of that central rocky pillar; with a concentrated ray of pulsating red light flowing from its center, up through the hollow middle of the floating tower. I wasn’t sure how…but I knew that; ‘I had to make it to that point of light!’ Traveling farther along the coastline’s arc, towards the base of the circular inlet, I noticed what appeared to be a gently sloping path; beginning on the beach near the bottom of the excavation, and continuing upwards as it followed along its inner edge. ‘Surely that path is no natural feature’, I thought; ‘it must take you up to the top of that central pillar of rock somehow.’ With renewed haste, I ran towards the assumed pathway quickly as I could! My steps suddenly slowed however…as I saw the deadly…bloodthirsty form of a Dillo, blocking my way. The Dillo was standing right at the bottom of the path, which I suspected lead up to the tower! Memories of my deaths flooding to mind…I just stood there for a moment; hoping the Dillo would move along to some other locale. However…despite the fact that I was close enough for it to have seen me…it just kept standing there; casually swinging its tail, and looking around unconcerned. 37 37 This Dillo…wasn’t moving. It wasn’t even coming to attack me! It was as if it were purposefully blocking my way; daring me to try and get past it! ‘I was so close!’ I screamed in my mind with bitter frustration! ‘I have to get to that tower at any cost! I need answers! Nothing is going to stop me!’ I gripped the spear tightly in my hands, and charged towards the Dillo! ‘It was Time for Revenge!’ Yelling a battle cry; I was surprised to see the Dillo not take even the slightest bit of aggressive action, as I plunged the spear deep into its chest! The Dillo let out a painful and surprised sounding screech as I, not wanting to give it the chance to strike back, quickly pulled the spear out; and stabbed it straight up through the roof of its open mouth…burying the pointed end deep into its brain tissue! With this, the creature went limp…sliding off the end of my spear, as I angled it downwards in adrenaline induced exhaustion... Breathing heavily…I stood there for a moment; the creature’s blood slowly dripping off the red-soaked end of my spear... ‘I had done it…...I had done it! I had actually managed to kill one of these vicious beasts, and get revenge for all the suffering I’d been through!’ It was at this moment…as the victorious thought entered my mind…that I felt a sharp pain swiftly slice through my neck, from one side to the other; severing my head from my body, and sending me back to the void of death. ……again………I had died again…… With no warning and within a matter of seconds, I had been torn away from my moment of triumph……sent back to the empty void that always seemed to await me... But still. I had finally managed to take revenge, and kill one of my enemies! Even the pain of another sudden demise, couldn’t take that fact of conquering achievement away! I had absolutely no idea what had killed me this time but; ‘if I could come to kill even one of the deadly monsters on this death-filled island, then surely…surely…I could manage to learn how to kill them all in time!’ Despite not having managed to reach the tower, and obtain the answers I was due, I quickly revived upon the island; with my spirit un-dampened, and my will to survive born anew! In a flash of blinding light, once again reappearing on the island, it was then; that I heard what may have been the most terrifying sound yet! 38 38 “SHHIITT!! DAMMIT!!” The familiar male sounds of the English Human language reverberated foreignly in my ears, as I heard them for the first time since finding myself washed upon this island of death! In a hopeful panic, I jumped quickly to my feet; swiveling my head franticly in attempt to find the source of the words! Yet…although I had once again appeared upon an open-sandy-beach, which stretched for miles in either direction…and though the sound had seemed loud enough to have been said right beside me…I could see no-one. Beginning to wonder if all this isolation and trauma had already begun to cause my mind to crack, I suddenly heard a second male’s voice respond calmly to the first; in an Australian sounding accent; “What’s the matter mate?” Startled, I fell backwards into the ocean water with a splash! The response had also sounded loud and clear enough, I could’ve sworn the person had been standing right beside me! But…there was no-one for miles. As the first voice began to respond to the second…it was then I realized…the sound was coming from the metallic, diamond-shaped implant embedded into the flesh below my left wrist! Dumbfounded…I stared blankly at the implant, as the first voice bellowed out in a furious tone; “ANOTHER EFFING; BARE-ASS NOOB; JUST KILLED ONE OF MY DILLOS!! I turn away from it for two seconds, to grab it some meat, and another RANDOM BEACH BOB COMES UP; AND STABS IT IN THE FACE!! I’M GETTING SICK OF THIS CRAP!!” A heavy weight suddenly settled upon my heart, as I realized that the random murderous ‘Beach Bob?’ had been me... The Dillo I’d just killed…hadn’t attacked me on sight…because, apparently…it must’ve been a tame one. Somehow…this person must have managed to condition the Dillo not to attack humans. It hadn’t been purposefully blocking my path…it hadn’t been taunting me and my weakness…it had merely been heeding its master’s instructions to stay, and wait until he had returned… Guilty tears sprung to my eyes, as I heard the second voice answer back in the same calm manner; “Well, that’s what you get for hanging out on the beaches mate. I keep tellin you; ‘They’re called BEACH BOBS or BEACH JANES for a reason.’ I keep tellin you; ‘The Southern Beaches are called NOOB ZONES for a reason.’ Rando Noobs can’t help being Noobs…that’s why we call’em Noobs... 39 39 …If you don’t want your dinos to get killed, then stay off the beaches; or command your tames to be aggressive with strangers.” The first voice merely grumbled in response…and then once again, there were only the sounds of the breeze and the ocean waves; with a random sea-gull call mixed in... A flood of emotions, which I had yet to experience in my time upon this isle, began overwhelming my senses! ...A mixture of Guilt; Sorrow; Sincerely Tentative Hope; Intensely Burning Curiosity; and a Cautious Dread, as the until now given-up-hope-for realization slowly set in that…; ‘There are Others?!’
  13. WELCOME!!! In the previous chapter, chapter 2, I recounted the second time that I spawned upon The Island......Just like in chapter 1, I didn't last very long huh? Ah, but so is life within the domed environments of Ark Survival Evolved when you are fresh and new am I right? Speaking of which, this next chapter will consist of an anthology of my many first experiences with death and deadly creatures upon The Island. It took more than a few tries for me to figure out how to survive more than a few minutes with all manner of hungry predators racing to devour everything in their paths every time I spawned in. So, with that being said, if reading an anthology of early death scenarios within Ark isn't your thing then I completely understand and will not be offended if you decide to skip this chapter. The next chapter, chapter 4, is when the story really starts to actually take off anyways. It's when I figure out how to survive more than 2 minutes. On the other hand, if reading about other people's sufferings is your thing, then I gladly invite you to an anthology of my early painful experiences within this deadly deadly game. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game; and to Mourn the ever-delayed approach of its Death; lets reminisce upon the typical early game experiences that most people have when they first become acquainted with Ark Survival Evolved. FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 20 20 Chapter 3 An Island of Death I found myself back in the void…surrounded by the senseless nothingness…; this time contemplating whether I was better off here, or on that unknown and deadly isle... No-matter how hard I tried to reach out with my mind towards some other location…any alternative place…it seemed as though it, or the void, were my only options. I still could hardly remember anything beyond its sandy shoreline…so perhaps that was why. Perhaps I needed a solid enough memory of some place to travel to it from wherever, or whatever this void was… No-matter the reason……a seemingly eternal existence with absolutely nothing but my own thoughts…or a nearly completely unknown, and potentially painful island seemed my only choices. And so…despite a fair amount of hesitation, due to thoughts concerning the very likely chance of such sudden pain-filled death…in the end; I decided that the warm sandy beaches, cool rippling water, juicy tasty berries, and even the bloody agonizing deaths were preferable to an eternity of absolute nothingness… I reached out towards the island with my mind once more; and prepared myself for the shock of needing to breathe again… …In a flash of light I appeared on the beach; lying on my stomach; with my feet in the water; and gasping for air. This time however, I wasted little effort; as I brought myself quickly to my feet and surveyed the immediate shoreline. I hadn’t noticed it upon my second arrival here, as I had been far too distracted and mentally overwhelmed, but this time I noted…that my muscles weren’t nearly as stiff as they had been upon my first time waking up in the sand;…furthermore, I didn’t feel nearly the same crippling pain of thirst or hunger either... It was almost as though my new body somehow remembered my previous experiences; and had become stronger with each revival. 21 21 I didn’t have time to contemplate the thought however, as I needed to be alert! Something dangerous could appear at any moment! This beach was similar to the one which I had first materialized upon, though it still had its noticeable differences; giving cause to believe that I was yet again in a different location on the island… By the position of the sun, it seemed to be sometime in the evening…though it was difficult to say due to not knowing which side of the isle I had reappeared on… As I gazed far down the beach to my right, it became abundantly clear that inferring the time of day truly was the least of my problems however…as I spotted a pair of large, menacing beasts; which were preying upon a group of terrified Dodos. Although they were quite a ways away…even from this distance, I knew that they were of the same species which had killed me after my first revival; and though the creature which had killed me when I first awoke upon this dangerous island had certainly turned out to be very frightening…it was when I clearly saw the visage of this beast…that I truly became terrified. Their physical features were unmistakable to anyone who knew even the tiniest amount of prehistoric knowledge. They appeared to stand about ten feet high upon two powerful, three-clawed hind-legs; limbs which looked built for extremely fast sprinting speeds. They looked to be about twenty feet long, from deadly snout to lengthy whip-like tail-tip; their two slightly smaller, but still very powerful, long-fingered…three-clawed arms appeared designed for dexterity and pinning strength. Their long, rounded mouths filled with jagged little teeth…used for tearing into the flesh of their victims; their orangish-green, or bluish-green scaly hide; their perceptive and intelligent, forward set predatory eye upon each side of their heads; the long tuffs of feathers upon their arms, the ends of their tails, the tops of their heads, and following along the spines down their backs; and of course the very large…as large as my entire forearm…curved, raised, inner claw upon each foot… …THEY WERE RAPTORS!! Suddenly overcome by an all-consuming fear, I bolted into the trees before me; in the timid hopes that they would conceal my presence! 22 22 I ran as far and as fast as I could! Dodging around tree trunks; stumbling over the underbrush; slowly becoming more and more exhausted with an ever increasing incline beneath my feet; my only thought being a desire to put as much distance as possible between myself and those apparent Utah-raptors! The deeper into the trees I went…the more difficult it became to see; as the sun’s light was ever more hidden behind a thickening canopy of leaves. It was then that I began to notice large boulders sparsely mixed in amongst the trees as well; and once I felt that I could run no farther, I chose a smooth looking one to gratefully lean against. The hard surface felt cool and refreshing to my exasperated body. Gasping for air…my legs wobbly with exhaustion…I didn’t know if my panicked flight had really done me any good. It was likely that those two Raptors hadn’t noticed me, and were now quite some distance away sure…but I had used up all my stamina in the process… Fatigued…and potentially lost deep in a dark, unfamiliar forest…it didn’t seem I was any better off than I had been on the beach, near those terrifying monsters. Just as I was wondering what my next course of action should be, I suddenly heard the crashing sound of large footsteps coming towards me! I quickly looked around and saw the form of a large creature slowly, but determinedly, making its way through the trees in my direction... At first I thought…hoped…it might be a relatively harmless Stegosaurus; but even in the dimmed light, I could make out the frightening truth of what it was as it came closer... My spirit sank as I saw the fourteen foot high, and twenty-eight foot long from nose to tail-tip stature; its thick armor-like, greenish-black hide; its two powerful, three-clawed hind-legs; its two extremely small, and stubby, four-fingered front arms; its huge, large as my entire torso, oval-shaped head filled with razor-sharp teeth…and attached to a thick, sturdy neck; and of course…its two big, thick, long as my entire arm…horns protruding from the top of its head……it was a Carnotaurus. 'A CARNOTAURUS!!’ I quickly turned with intent to run, but this rapid movement only alerted the Carno to my presence! While the dimmed light of the forest may have concealed my true form against the large boulder…it now knew that I was something small, which could easily become food! 23 23 The Carno let out a loud, menacing roar and began charging towards me; bashing its sides against the trees, as if to push them out of the way while it passed between them! In renewed terror, I ran as fast as I could; attempting to weave amongst the trees to use them as cover! Despite the tall, thick trunks slowing the Carno down however…I found it too difficult to keep up speed in my weakened state; and after only a short distance…the Carnotaurus had caught up to me... In mid-run the Carno bent down, and snapped me up in its jaws; my head and torso fitting almost perfectly within its mouth, while my arms and legs dangled out from between its teeth. The Carno then lifted me up amidst a muffled scream, and crunched down; breaking the bones of my hips and shoulders, while piercing the flesh so that streams of blood ran into its throat. My limbs broken…my body drained of energy and trapped between its jaws…I could do nothing now but wait for death… For what seemed like hours…but was more likely just a few agonizing minutes…the Carnotaurus continued to chomp while holding me up; breaking apart my body so that it could more easily swallow its meal, while somehow missing all my vitals so that I remained alive and conscious…my screams subdued within its jaws... Finally…I succumbed to the blood-loss…and the relieving embrace of death took me away from the pain. ~~~~~~~ After a brief time of weighing the pros and cons, I again revived upon the island; this time finding myself lying on a sunny beach, that sloped up to a small grassy area; which was sparsely populated by bushes and trees. The grassy plain rose to something of a short cliff above the beach…up to about forty feet high at its peak…to my right while it sloped upwards more gradually to my left. Variously sized boulders, some of them quite large, and sticks or logs were strewn along the shore in either direction. Seeing nothing dangerous…I promptly walked up the short and steady incline to the peak of the grassy area; so as to get a better view of my new surroundings. 24 24 Peering farther inland…there appeared to be a dry river-bed, with a forest covered hill beyond it. Looking down the beach in either direction…the small grassy plain turned into a sparsely populated forest which thickened as it deepened... There were plenty of bushes for berries, but surprisingly little animal life for such an open area. I saw a few Triceratops and Stegosaurs grazing in the open grass; as well as a few Parasaurs far off in the distance to my left, grazing near the tree-line…but there seemed so few for the size of the open prairie… As I stood there, casually wondering why there weren’t more creatures nearby…and feeling relieved that there were no Raptors or Carnos far as I could see throughout the immediate area…I suddenly heard a quiet, rustling slither coming up from behind me. Before I could turn to see what it was, there was an abruptly loud hiss; followed by a sharp pain which sunk deep into my left shoulder! “Ahh!” I screamed in agony and surprise! Without hesitation, I began running; the now much louder rustling slither almost keeping pace behind me! As I ran, I looked back over my shoulder to see what had attacked me; and my eyes grew wide with terror as I saw what it was... It was a Gigantic Snake! Though I didn’t have the best view of it while looking over my shoulder through distressed, fear-filled eyes, the snake appeared to be about forty feet long and as wide around as my body at its thickest point! Its head alone looked to be nearly as large as my torso! Its scaly dark-green skin with large, lighter colored circular designs had kept it camouflaged well amongst the grass; so I hadn’t seen it coming in my initial survey of the area! A large frill, split at its top and bottom, also wrapped around the back of its head; and I could see two large fangs protruding from the roof of its mouth as it chased after me! It was like an extra-large boa…a titanic boa……A TITANOBOA! Now knowing the horror of what it was, and seeing that its determined slithering speed was nearly enough to keep up with mine, I put every ounce of strength I had into moving my legs as quickly as possible! However…despite my terror-filled efforts…after only a few seconds…I rapidly began feeling myself getting slower, rather than faster. 25 25 It felt as though an immense wave of fatigue was abruptly washing over me... My breathing became labored……my legs began to feel like wet, wobbly noodles……I felt all my adrenaline induced strength leave me, and found it difficult to even keep my eyes open…. Finally…after having run only a few meters…I collapsed in a daze…and found that it took all I had merely to remain conscious… Lying there in the dirt…I felt a slow trickle of blood flow from the wound on my left shoulder. ‘The sudden, sharp pain following the hiss……the fangs protruding from the snake’s mouth………a bite?’ Even within my foggy state, I managed to understand that the Titanoboa must have injected me with some kind of tranquilizing venom. A second after this realization popped into my mind, I felt the Titanoboa slide onto my paralyzed body…and wrap its scaly form around me… There was absolutely nothing I could do, as I felt it squeeze the air from my lungs……and the life from my body. ~~~~~~~ Again I revived upon the island; the sun shining bright directly overhead. I found myself at the mouth of a fairly good-sized river as it left the island’s interior, and emptied its waters into the ocean beyond. It was difficult to say for sure…but I guessed that the river was about forty meters across at its opening; a bit too far to traverse, considering that it looked to be some amount over twenty feet deep near its center. There were large, tree-covered hills on both sides of the river and continuing down the beach in either direction. A variety of plants and animals also decorated the waterway’s edges, as far inland as I could see. Far off down the river I saw small herds of Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Parasaurs, and Phiomias; as well as scattered Giant Tortoises, small flocks of Pteranodons, a great multitude of scattered Dodos; and even farther into the distant inland, I saw two great Brontosauruses arching their tree-like necks into the river for a drink. Truly…it was a tremendous sight to behold; which would have amazed and dazzled me…had I not been so distracted by thoughts concerning all which had happened up till this point. 26 26 ‘I had died four times now... Each time brutal…each time painful... Yet somehow, defying all the laws of nature which I was aware of, I had now revived upon this mysterious island four times as well; and in four different locations...’ ‘I had no memory of any time before first waking up upon the beach of this isle…gasping and starving…aside from my name, and the number Thirty-Nine... I had knowledge of language; general knowledge of tools and concepts of civilization; knew the names and general natures of many of the plants and animals that I had seen, as though having learned them somewhere beforehand…’ ‘There were Dinosaurs on this island…creatures that should be long extinct according to my memory... Each time I revived, my body seemed to remember its previous experiences and felt stronger; faster; more capable of handling the dangers of this isle...’ ‘And then there was the diamond-shaped, metallic implant that I still had embedded into the flesh of my left wrist…with the white diamond-shaped crystal in its center; sparkling as it reflected the sun’s rays... Amidst everything else…this mysterious implant was perhaps the most intriguing……and the most concerning.’ Seeing nothing dangerous for as far as I could see, I began walking along the river while pondering all these things…keeping a careful eye out for any hidden dangers as well. The sun was hot upon my naked body; yet a cooling breeze drifted from the river’s surface, keeping me in a state of comfort. A chorus of animal sounds filled the air along the water’s edge; various creatures going about living their normal daily lives…not a single one seemingly concerned about, or interested in my presence; despite the fact that as a human, I should have appeared as an oddity to them. It certainly still felt strange to me…seeing all these huge, prehistoric beasts that shouldn’t exist. Still…this casual stroll was at last a welcome period of peace, after everything else that had happened. Having walked for what felt like about fifteen minutes or so, I then saw a strange looking…motionless dark patch in the grass nearby; and decided to investigate. I walked towards it slowly…carefully…in case it might be something hazardous sleeping... 27 27 As I approached ever more slowly, my hands quickly sprung to my face in a desperate mission to plug my nose; as a putrid smell began to assault my nostrils! The stench grew ever stronger the closer I got…and once I had finally gotten close enough to see what the form was…I realized why. What I had discovered wasn’t so much something dangerous, as something which might attract danger; a dead…fly-infested…Phiomia... I wasn’t sure what had killed it; as I couldn’t see any rips or tears in its hide. ‘Perhaps it had simply eaten something poisonous? Still, no-matter the reason for its death, the smell of its rotting meat would surely attract a predator of some kind’; so I promptly spun away with the intent of putting a fair amount of distance between myself and the carcass. Nonetheless, as if to prove my theory, something roughly the size of a basketball-with-wings unexpectedly slammed into my face while I turned around! The impact caused me to loose balance, and I stumbled backwards; falling onto the Phiomia’s head, and cutting my right hand on one of its sharp tusks! I looked up to see what had hit me, and found a small army of Giant Bugs staring back at me! ‘…GIANT BUGS!!’ There were fifteen or so Giant Dragonflies buzzing around me and the carcass; each of their segmented bodies appearing to be about a foot and a half long, from their buggy eyes to the tips of the stingers on their tails; each of their four wings looked just as long, and every one of their six legs was lengthier than my hand! On the ground there were ten or so Giant Ants slowly crawling towards the carcass and I as well; each of their segmented bodies also looking to be about a foot and a half long, with six legs each lengthier than my hand, and pinchers longer than my fingers; their lengthy antennae moving about in search of the rotting meat’s position. I stood up and began moving slowly away from the dead Phiomia; hoping that their true target was the rotting carcass, and they would ignore me. Most of the Giant Dragonflies did land upon the Phiomia; ravenously tearing into its hide with their sharp mandibles. Unfortunately…a few of them continued to swarm around me; likely drawn by the scent of rotting meat, which had gotten on me as I fell onto the carcass…they began attempting to land on and bite me! 28 28 Likewise, most of the Giant Ants kept crawling towards the Phiomia; vigorously burrowing into the soft flesh of its stomach to satisfy their hunger; but a few of them persisted in pursuing me…nipping at my feet with their giant pinchers! I began flailing my limbs in attempt to ward them off! Kicking and swatting as hard as I could to knock them away! No-matter how much I swatted or kicked however, they persevered; driven by an instinctual need to feed…viewing my feeble attempts at defense with little concern. Fortunately; their combined, buggy attack was more annoying than actually painful…but gradually, I began acquiring a multitude of shallow inch-long cuts all over my body. Eventually…I decided to just make a run for it! I took off as fast as I could; figuring that a little distance and chase would cause them to lose interest…considering that there was a perfectly good, unmoving target nearby! However, it seemed not even this would shake their focus from me! The Giant Dragonflies were so fast that they managed to nearly keep pace; so that every time I stopped to catch my breath, it wouldn’t be more than a few seconds and they’d be upon me again! Meanwhile; the Giant Ants, while much slower, also kept up the chase…likely using their extremely powerful sense of smell to track my path! After a few minutes of this…in desperation, I thought to try using the river as protection. ‘Normal sized ants and dragonflies usually don’t swim so well…so surely, these ones wouldn’t follow me into the water either?’ While still running at full force, I leapt into the river with a splash; and paddled out to where it was about ten feet deep! Then…I turned back to see what the giant insects would do…and was relieved to find that they had finally given up their pursuit! The Giant Ants merely stood on the river-bank; waving their heads from side to side, as if they had suddenly lost my scent. Meanwhile…the Giant Dragonflies flew a short ways out over the water but then, as if they too had lost track of me, turned back towards land and flew off. “HaHa!” I shouted back at them. ‘Victory! At last I could have peace again!’ And then…before I even knew what was happening……I was dead. 29 29 An uncountable multitude of sharp pains suddenly began signaling over my entire body all at once! I watched in pain and confusion, as the river all around began to bubble and churn; while turning thick and red with my blood! And then…shortly before I lost consciousness…one of my attackers leapt from the water aiming for my face! It was a large, roundish fish about the size of my torso; its scales a menacing deep, muddied red; and its wide, opened mouth filled with razors for teeth! It was a huge Piranha! The fish took a chunk of flesh out of my right cheek and then…fortunately…due to a combination of the pain and blood-loss…I blacked out. ‘While taking shelter within the river from the vicious giant insects…I had unexpectedly been killed within the time-span of just a few seconds…by a swarm of some kind of Mega-Piranha…’ ~~~~~~~ I revived upon the island in a RAGE!! Having become entirely ticked-off with all these cheap, sudden, and painful deaths; I was determined to survive! From the beach, I immediately sprang to my feet and got on the move! I kept myself at a casual jog; slow enough so as not to expend all my stamina, should I suddenly need to transition into a sprint, but fast enough to keep me quick on my feet; and provide a head-start should I need to begin running! I remained highly alert; constantly looking around in all directions for dangers both hidden and obvious! It was imperative that I spot every possible threat quickly and from a distance, so that I might have the opportunity to out-maneuver whatever it may be! I even snatched berries off bushes while on the move for food; to keep up my stamina; resigned never to relax my guard for a rest until I had found a truly safe, and protected place to squirrel into! The sun was high in the sky…so I presumed that it must be about mid-day; meaning that I had roughly half a day to find a high, difficult-to-reach outcropping, which predators couldn’t climb to…or a small cave that predators were too big to enter…or perhaps a tall and sturdy tree with a large enough branch, high enough so predators couldn’t reach; or really anything that could be made defensible, from the monstrously deadly beasts I had so far encountered…as well as all those which I surely yet hadn’t. 30 30 I kept to the beach for awhile…the sand hot beneath my feet…as the fairly open shoreline provided good visibility; both for spotting potential safe-havens, as well as predators. Unfortunately…I found nothing for caves, outcroppings, or tall sturdy trees; and when I saw a Raptor some distance down the coast…I took that to be my cue to begin searching more inland. Quickly turning into the trees, long before the Raptor had seen me, I began making my way up the shallow incline! I jogged ever deeper into the thickening forest; weaving amongst the trees and large rocks; never stopping or slowing for even a second! Within this darker…more visually confined environment, I had to keep an even sharper eye out for potential threats. I spotted many Stegos, Trikes, and Paras cautiously grazing amongst the trees…as well as some Raptors and Carnos leisurely hunting between them. The latter two I avoided with the greatest stealth I could muster, while the former three I used as cover; hoping that any nearby predators would go after them, instead of me. My half-baked plan at this moment, was simply to make my way up to the top of a large hill; hoping to find a sturdy enough tree to climb, so that I might get a better view of my surroundings. ‘Surely I’d be able to see something useful’ ,I hoped; ‘and then be able to plan from there.’ As I began climbing steeper inclines however, I started to notice that my movements were slowing. While I had gone at an easy and steady pace…keeping up my energy with a horde of berries…I could feel myself becoming fatigued due to a lack of water. Considering the heat, and the distance I felt I’d traveled by this point; I supposed it was understandable that the juice of the berries hadn’t been sufficient in keeping me hydrated. Fortunately, just as my thirst was about to start gnawing at my stomach, I came upon a little creek of clear…cool water; flowing atop a rocky river-bed. I hadn’t yet found a truly safe or protected place…but my dehydration needed to be dealt with, if I was to continue my search. Therefore, still remaining highly alert, I decided to have a short rest; and knelt down beside the cooling water... 31 31 The sunlight filtered gently through the trees around me; as the sounds of softly rustling leaves, and peaceful bird calls, floated on a light breeze... Cupping my hands into the clear liquid…I kept a watchful eye as I brought it to my lips for a drink; the crisp, refreshing taste immediately reinvigorating me; causing me to feel as though I could do anything!...that perhaps, this time…I might elude the fate of a painful death! As I continued to kneel there…sipping the cooling water from my palms…a curious little creature suddenly popped up on my left side; seemingly out of nowhere! Its abrupt presence startled me for a moment, but its small stature and non-threatening movements quickly put me at ease. The animal had a proportionally long neck and exceedingly long, skinny tail; in all looking to be about three feet in length, from nose to tail tip. It stood about one foot high upon two lean, well-toned, three-toed hind legs; and had two much smaller, three-fingered front arms…its somewhat delicate looking hide a soft bluish-green; which would provide excellent camouflage amongst the nearby shrubbery. It had a long, narrow mouth filled with tiny pointed teeth; and three long feathers sprouted from the top of its head. The creature didn’t appear frightened of me…but more so cautiously curious…as though it were trying to figure me out. It kept to about a three foot distance from me; bobbing and tilting its head, while making quiet chirping sounds... Its inquisitive, beady little eyes; and playful feathers poking up from atop its head…actually made it look quite cute. Peaceful as it appeared however…the entire scene began to gradually remind me of my first death upon this island... The beast which killed me then, had acted similarly shortly before slaughtering me... Although; this critter looked different…and was much smaller… So if it did become aggressive, I was certain that I could fight it off. If it came down to it…it seemed very plausible that with some quick movements, I could grab the creature by its head; and wring its neck. The thought even crept into my mind, that this species might provide a reasonable source of meat for my own food needs... Becoming curious myself…I reached out towards it with my left hand, to see what it would do… The creature looked at it and sniffed around as though expecting food…then finding nothing, it returned its gaze to me. 32 32 As it did so, another animal of the same species suddenly popped out from the underbrush nearby; and began sniffing my hand as well! Startled, my hand retreated to my side; and I stared back with a greater caution... That second creature had been hiding so closely nearby; and I hadn’t even had a hint that it was there! Just as I was wondering how many more of these critters might be lurking nearby…a third jumped out to join its friends; then a fourth, and a fifth! …It was then that the name for this Dino abruptly bubbled to the forefront of my mind…causing a cold shiver of dread to reverberate throughout my entire body......... They Were COMPIES! Knowing full-well the danger I was in, I stood up slowly and began backing away; never taking my eyes off their deceptively cute stares. It was then that I noticed I had become surrounded! While I had been focused upon, and distracted by, that first Compsognathus; ten more had stealthily come up from behind…blocking my escape! They had cornered me in a half-circle; with the creek being my only means of exit. Having no other choices, I slowly…carefully…and without averting my gaze from them…began walking backwards across the slippery creek-bed... The first few steps went well; and they didn’t appear to be following me across. The creek was only a few meters wide, and barely half a foot deep at its deepest point; ‘if I could make it to the other side, and step foot on solid ground…then even if they began chasing me, perhaps I could out-run them.’ This shallow hope was short lived however, as I suddenly slipped upon a loose rock; falling backwards hard into the water! In an instant, having seen their opportune moment, all eleven Compies leapt onto me in a pile; and began tearing mercilessly at my flesh with their tiny teeth! Adrenaline surging through me, I tried with all my strength to shake or push them off; frantically flailing my limbs, and rocking my body from side to side; but there were simply too many holding me down! The more they tore into me…the more the creek ran red with my blood…and the more my muscles began to weaken from the damage... I screamed in agonizing horror; every painful, torturous second feeling like an hour; as their tiny bites were too shallow to cause any vital harm! 33 33 Finally…my muscles gave out from the tearing and blood-loss…and my body lay limp beneath them... It was at this point that one of them showed some measure of mercy…as it dug its way into my throat…and severed my jugulars; thus ending my life. ~~~~~~~ Despite all the terror and pain that I had so far endured…I was determined to survive upon this deadly isle…even if for no other reason than the fact that I COULD try again…; and that the senseless void remained my only other option... So I revived once more upon a warm sandy beach. This time, even before I had begun to stand up, I noticed the form of a menacing beast standing over me. With a sudden, threatening hiss…and the rattle-snake-tail-like vibrating of the spiked frills upon either side of its head…I knew it to be of the same species which had killed me when I first appeared upon this island…; a Dilophosaurus. Before I could even attempt to stand, the Dilo spewed its green gooey venom out from its throat into my eyes. I felt a familiar feeling of searing pain, accompanied by blindness, shortly before experiencing the agony of having my throat ripped out. And just like that…before I had even had the chance to stand up…I again was dead.
  14. HELLO THERE ARK COMMUNITY FORUMS PEOPLE!!! ......Or, I suppose, whoever else might wander into the little digital space within the vast internet that contains my little story. I don't know who you are, or where you've come from, or where you're at in your life; and I won't discriminate. Everyone is welcome to come join me for a bit of story-time; and my hope is that at the very least it will provide you with some mild entertainment. So the first chapter, the previous chapter, depicted my very first login and spawn into the game Ark Survival Evolved all those many years ago. What I personally think is so cool about that chapter, as well as all the rest that follow, is that the events described happened in exactly that order; and that the retelling of those events describe my thoughts, feelings, and how I viewed the game during that time as I played. The first chapter also depicted my very first death within the game.........I didn't last very long......huh? WEEEELLLLLLLL......MOVING FORWARDS! Chapter 2 continues directly onwards; depicting my opinions, emotions, and perspective on the events that followed. Therefore, to Celebrate the Existence of This Game; and to Mourn the approach of its Death; lets see what happened next......shall we? FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 12 12 Chapter 2 Death and Revival …I found myself in a dark emptiness devoid of all my senses... I could see nothing; hear nothing; taste nothing; smell nothing; and even feel…nothing… In-fact, I couldn’t even feel that I had a body or the sensation of moving it. All there was……nothing... And yet; I did know that I existed. I may not have had any senses physically, but mentally I could think and be self-aware of my own being. Beyond that however…I didn’t have much of a memory. The last thing I could remember was……was dying! I had been killed by some ferocious beast, which had resembled that of a DINOSAUR!! The images of pain and blood flooding fresh to my mind, I began feeling a bit of panic as I wondered where I now was! ‘If I had died…then…was this the afterlife? But what was this?! Where were the golden clouds? Or perhaps……… the fiery ones...’ All there was……was emptiness... ‘Was I in limbo? Would I be stuck here forever? Was this actually all that the afterlife was? Perhaps……had I not even fully died yet, and this was just some kind of temporary dream-state created by my brain?’ …I puzzled over these questions for what seemed like days…for there was nothing else to do but puzzle over them…although, it could have only been minutes; as there was no way of telling time. At first, once the initial anxiety had subsided, this served merely as a way of passing said time…it was all I could do and; ‘if I had done nothing at all then’, I thought, ‘surely I would go insane.’ But then suddenly, amidst the empty darkness, I began to notice a change! When I would think of nearly anything else, there would be only the void consuming all my senses…whenever I began to think about the island that I had died upon however, there would almost appear to be a small glimmer of light; far off in the distance… 13 13 Observing this, I began to think more and more about the island. Of the soft warm sand…the un-salty water…the bushes…the trees…the berries. Gradually…the small glimmer of light grew before me into a wobbly, unstable image of the beach upon which I had been killed! There still was nothing else…but I could actually see something! Desperate for the cool taste of the water, for the warm feeling of the sand, I reached out frantically towards the image with my mind; grasping anxiously at the light with mental fingers! And then…… ……in a flash of blinding light I awoke, naked and afraid, upon a warm sandy beach; with the ocean water gently caressing my feet… I gasped deeply for air as the sensation of needing to breath suddenly returned to me! In a disbelieving shock, my hands immediately sprung to my neck; and began searching for any sign that it had been ripped open! Finding nothing, I quickly brought myself to a kneeling position; and began feeling all over my body for signs of the cuts and tears which the creature had made as it killed me. Despite my frantic searching however…there seemed nothing. For a brief moment I knelt there…in a state of dazed confusion…as I attempted to make sense of what had happened. There I was…washed up naked on a beach……bright sunlight shining down upon my head…with little memory beyond that of my own name just as before; yet; ‘I had died but now was alive?! Had it all just been a hallucination before? Was this now actual reality, and my experiences previously just a fever-dream brought on by getting shipwrecked and washed up on some beach; perhaps after having recently seen a movie about Dinosaurs?’ Fortunately…or perhaps unfortunately…I didn’t need long to discover my answer, as I suddenly felt the ground shake beneath me; followed soon after by a gigantic cylindrical foot, crushing down into the sand mere inches in front of me! In a startled panic, I quickly scooted backwards into the water and looked up! At that moment…despite my amnesia…the Jurassic Park movie’s theme-song sprang loud and clear to my mind; as my sight slowly followed the long, greyish-blue, wrinkled neck of an enormous quadruped up to its bulky head filled with huge flat teeth! Teeth; which were casually grinding up a mouthful of leaves taken from a large palm-tree nearby… 14 14 The towering creature’s physical features were unmistakable. The four long legs as thick as huge tree trunks…the large bump on the top of its head, containing its nostrils…the tiny spikes running the entire ninety or so foot length of its back, from head to tail tip…and its lofty, seventy some foot height… I could hardly believe my eyes…but there I was sitting mere inches away from a BRONTOSAURUS! For a fleeting moment, I discovered that I couldn’t summon the strength to move; paralyzed by the shock and awe of this overwhelming creature before me! It was therefore fortunate that, despite its immense stature, the beast clearly preferred vegetation over meat. The Bronto simply continued to calmly chew its meal of palm leaves; seemingly unaware of my spec of a presence. However…with feet as large as my entire body…it didn’t need to be interested in eating me…to harm me. As if to emphasize this fact the Bronto then shifted its weight slightly, so as to gain a better angle upon the next set of leaves, and brought its left-front-foot down upon the ground I had been kneeling on just a moment ago! This was enough to break me out from my frozen state, and I quickly jumped to my feet! Having a healthy respect for its enormous might…I crept carefully around to the Bronto’s back; keeping a watchful eye on its feet and gently swinging tail, which itself was as a large swaying tree-trunk…ready to send me flying should I happen to cross paths with it. Still, dangerous as standing near the Bronto may be…the sound of its earth-shaking foot-steps would surely alert me to any sudden movements; so I knew that I needn’t be too overly cautious of it. Therefore, once I felt that I had gotten far enough out of its immediate range of movement, I warily turned my back on it; to view the rest of my surroundings…and I again was stunned!; this time by the variety of wildlife I saw before me! I found myself looking at a slightly different beach than the one I had died upon before. All around were the same types of trees, bushes, and rocks that I had seen earlier; as the ground sharply sloped up into a gradually thickening forest sure. However, while the previous shore had been relatively straight with the waterline as far as I could see in either direction; this one instead dipped inwards slightly, to create a kind of miniature cove. 15 15 The inward curvature of water was perhaps about thirty meters wide, by a hundred meters long down the length of the shoreline. Still further contrary to the previous beach which had been mostly empty of faunae, aside from the bird and murderous beast, this one was teaming with wildlife! And every single one of the relatively carefree seeming animals was unquestionably a DINOSAUR!! I was fairly certain that none of the creatures I saw were Carnivorous. So…after only a brief moment of hesitation…I began walking cautiously down the beach; marveling at, and naming all the animals I could see. There was a small herd of about three or four Triceratops, peacefully munching upon some bushes near the tree-line. Their sturdy stature of about fourteen feet high, and twenty-eight feet long, from beak to tail-tip looked very intimidating with their four stout legs; blackish-brown armor-like hide; hard beak-like mouth; huge plate-like frill, lined with spikes, ringing around the tops of their short necks; and three long, prominent horns; with a shorter one on the nose, and two longer ones on the forehead. Now and then, one would let out a snort; to clear their nostrils of dust or plant fragments. Not far from them was another small herd of three or so Stegosaurs; all casually crunching upon similar bushes. While they didn’t look quite as intimidating…I knew that they were no less dangerous; with their similar stature of about fifteen feet high, from the bottoms of their feet to the tips of the largest plates upon their backs…and twenty-eight feet length, from their beak-like snouts to the tips of their spiked tails; their brownish-tan armor-like hide; their long surveying necks; four stout legs; and twin rows of hard triangle-like plates running the length of their spines, from head to tail, gradually ranging in size from about that of a human finger on their heads…reaching large enough to conceal a crouching full-sized human at the peak of their backs…and again down to the size of a human finger by the end of their tails; which held six large spikes with which they could impale any creature that dared anger them. I made sure to give both of these Dinos a wide range of distance, as I didn’t feel like taking the chance of accidentally upsetting them; and subsequently getting skewered by one of their large spikes or horns… 16 16 Continuing down the beach, I saw many Parasaurolophus rooting around and grazing in either the bushes or shallow ocean water with their almost duckbill-like mouths. They stood about twelve feet high when fully upright, and appeared to be about twenty-one feet long from head to tail tip. Their greenish-black hide seemed thick, though not quite as thick as that of the Trikes. They stood upon two three-toed, muscular hind-legs; which seemed powerful enough to get them going in a hurry should any predators approach. Their two front legs were only about half the size, and appeared more as arms with a four-fingered hand upon each; although, their movements seemed to suggest that they used them for feet at times as well. A pair of small spikes protruded from each shoulder, as well as from beneath their chin; and a short, ridged frill followed down the entire length of their spines. But their most prominent feature was the large, backwards-curved, almost fin-like horn; which extended from the backs of their heads. They continuously produced soft snorting or honking sounds, as they kept in communication with the rest of their kind around the coastline. Rooting and snorting along beside them were four or five large pig-like creatures, which I somehow knew to be called; ‘Phiomia’. Their fat…lumpy…bumpy bodies caused them to look far less intimidating than they actually were; despite their eight foot high and eleven foot long stature. They had four stout legs; a greyish hide; an almost cute little tail with a tuft of fur on the end; and a face which looked like a mixture between a pig and an elephant; with a floppy little ear on either side of its head…and two long tusks protruding from the roof of its long, yet stiff, elephantine snout-like jaw. Scattered amongst all these other animals was a traumatically familiar one as well…a multitude of multi-colored Dodos waddled and chortled throughout the entire beach; while casually plucking berries off the many bushes which littered the shoreline. ……Needless to say…I felt quite dwarfed and overwhelmed by all the creatures around me………aside from the Dodos of course. Not to mention the fact that this was all still such a shock! To have washed up alone and naked on an unknown shore! To be surrounded by all these large animals which, far as I knew, should be long extinct! To even have died and somehow come back to life! …I felt so tense with anxiety I could hardly move... The only thing keeping me from panicking at this point…was the relieving thought that at least all these Dinos which now encircled me, seemed to be Herbivores. 17 17 Then suddenly, I heard a loud whoosh of air followed by a thud upon the sand behind me! I turned around so quick in fear that my feet slipped upon the lose grains, and I fell hard to a sitting position! With no strength to run and nowhere to run to…I tried to control my nervous shaking, as I found myself faced with yet another potential threat! As I sat there in anticipation, trying my best to keep from screaming out of fear, I found myself staring back at the large socketed eye of what appeared to be a Pteranodon! From my perspective on the ground…the bird looked quite menacing; with a pointy beaked head as large and as long as my entire body, filled with tiny jagged teeth! It had a pointed bony protrusion, about half the size of its beak, also extending out from the back of its head…perhaps used as a counterweight to help balance its huge bill…along with a large split ridge, which followed the length of said bony protrusion to about halfway down its beak. It may not have appeared to have the best depth perception, with only a single sunken eye on either side of its large head, but that didn’t provide me much solace with its approximate nine foot height…and massive bat-like wings; which looked as though they may have had a full wingspan of twenty-five feet or more! The thin, almost soft looking, membrane of skin upon its wings betrayed the bird’s strength; as it stood on two muscular, five-toed hind legs with sharp claws upon each that appeared to be about as long as my fingers! Its blueish-grey hide, from its head down to its bony…tailless…tailbone, looked as though it would provide expert camouflage against the clear blue sky as it hunted from above! The Pteranodon then shifted its weight…resting even more of it upon the clawed, three-fingered hands of its wings…as it bent down still lower to get a closer look at me. For a moment…I thought this would be it. Another murderous creature would eat me alive…and I’d be sent back to that dark void… However, after just a few seconds of inquisitive gazing, the Pteranodon looked away uninterested; and began walking casually towards the water, while making peaceful singing chirping sounds… Such a sudden, cooling wave of relief washed over me; as I let my anxiety weary body fall back and sink into the soft, comforting sand. It was in that moment of respite that an applicable piece of information came to mind; ‘despite being Carnivores …Pteranodons primarily ate small to medium sized fish, and not larger creatures such as myself.’ 18 18 Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the event…I slowly stood…and walked over to a small, jagged boulder near the water. Carefully, I leaned against it with the intent of gazing relaxingly upon this unbelievable shoreline before me…only to be shaken yet again, as the stone suddenly began to move! I quickly put some distance between myself and the supposed rock; as I watched it sprout four, sturdy, five-clawed legs…a little tail…and a long, stretching neck with a round beaked head; which was about as large as my torso! …It was a Gigantic Tortoise! The animal looked to be about seven feet tall, ten feet long, and with a shell diameter of about six feet. The entire top half of its shell was covered in jagged spikes, and there were some smaller serrated plating atop its head as well. The dark-brown color of its covering had made it look very much like a large boulder; before its lighter colored, tan appendages had come out from it… As I stood there…unsure whether this new species were friend or foe…the Tortoise leisurely swung its long neck around to look at me for just a second; before turning away, and slowly making its way into the water…a course of action which I very much appreciated, as its beaked mouth looked large and strong enough to snap my whole head off in a single bite! While continuing to stand there, overcome by my surroundings, I didn’t have much time to further contemplate my situation; as the air was abruptly filled by a chorus of loud honking sounds coming from the many Parasaurs, which were scattered throughout the beach! It caused me to feel a great sense of concern, as it seemed like a sound of distress! But; I hardly had the time to turn to one side before a large, orangish-green blur suddenly slammed hard into my body; knocking me down onto the sand below! I didn’t even get a good look at the creature, as its movements were too fast! 19 19 Before I had time to think…it had pinned me to the ground…and gripped my entire face in its jaws. All I could see were rows of jagged teeth, making their way down into a slimy throat; and all I knew, as it swiftly severed my spine with a quick jerking motion, was that this monster was far larger than the one which had killed me before. And just like that… …I again had died.
  15. HELLO ARK COMMUNITY FORUMS!!! I have finally created an account for these forums for 1 reason and 1 reason only: To Post My Personal Story Within The Video Game Ark Survival Evolved! Some of you may remember, or perhaps not at all, that some long while ago wildcard put out a request to the Ark Players encouraging them to post their stories of their experiences within the game......Welp...I've finally managed to finish at least the first 14 chapters of my story...so, I've decided that with the game supposedly soon coming to an end that now would be as good a time as any to do so. Many of you may not think much of my personal story, as I'm sure that it'll echo the similar experiences that most of us have had playing this once amazing game that so many have loved, but I think my story is interesting enough to write about and share; and I've had a lot of fun writing it; I like it; and that's all that really matters. So, to Celebrate the Existence of This Game; and to Mourn the approach of its Death; I've decided that I will try to post at least 1 chapter of my story each week for the next 14 weeks until I've posted all 14 chapters that I so far have completed. While chapter 14 is FAR from the end of the story that I one day hope to entirely complete, it is what I have gotten to so far after discovering that writing a good story takes a LOT of time; and I felt that the end of chapter 14 was a good stopping spot even if I never end up finishing the rest of it. Sooooooo..........I guess.........here we go on this crazy ride? FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 1 1 To Whoever Finds This Journal To whoever finds their way into the Overseer’s lair…and discovers this journal…I hope that it may be of some use to you. I do not seek to gain sympathy with these writings…nor even necessarily to impart knowledge…but merely to give an account of my experience; in the event that it may serve some usefulness to whomever reads it…even if that may only be to fill empty time. This journal contains a series of events which depict my journey, to the best of my recollection, since first awaking upon the mysterious island. It does not contain years or dates; for the nature of the island, combined with the properties of the void, made it impossible not only to know when the events occurred…but even over what length of time they transpired. Though it is likely that whoever finds this book will be far more experienced than I…still, I must warn that it is not for the faint of heart; as I go into minutely descriptive detail…so as to convey the seriousness of these moments. Hardship and loss are no stranger to those who survive and persevere…a constant companion have they also been for me. Should you happen to overcome what finally blocked my path…and accomplish that which I could not do on my own…then I wish you good luck on discovering the answers you seek. Contained within the index of this written work, I have also amassed a collection of applicable notes and dossiers from other survivors who had come before me; a richness of reference that I hope will serve you, as well as it has served me. May you find a path forward through the fog of enigma that surrounds us all; and discover a way to escape whatever prisons you may find yourself in… 2 2 Chapter 1 Naked and Afraid In a flash of blinding light I awoke, naked and afraid, upon a warm sandy beach. The ocean water gently caressed my feet as I lie there in a daze; unable to remember anything beyond how to breathe and wiggle my toes… I groaned softly in agony as I slowly explored how to move my stiff body. Grasping desperately at the delicate grains, my hands sunk deep into their warmness. The cooling ebb and flow of the water at my feet, along with the cozy white sand beneath, were my only comfort as I sluggishly rose to my hands and knees. I gasped for air as my muscles gradually recalled how to support my weight! Moving into a kneeling position, my eyes adjusting to the bright mid-day sunlight beating down upon me, I tried urgently amidst panicked breaths to remember anything about where I was; who I was; how I had gotten here! Carefully, I surveyed the shoreline before me in the hopes of seeing anything familiar; but there was nothing to be found beyond the typical beach landscape. As I gazed helplessly upon the many unparticular palm trees, bushes, pebbles, boulders, and seashells that sloped gently up towards an ever deepening; and ever more complex forest of mixed tree species…I began to remember the words and uses for various objects…but; nothing about who or where I was. I then rose slowly to my feet…my only course of action, it would seem, to choose a direction and walk down the beach in search of anything that might help me. Perhaps I might find the wreck of some ship run aground…or a crashed plane that tore a path through the trees…or even a lifeboat of some kind which might have carried me from a sinking vessel…anything which might tell me more about how I had gotten here… It was then that I noticed a diamond-shaped, metallic object implanted deep into the flesh just below my left wrist! 3 3 The skin around it looked red and irritated…as though it had just recently healed and regrown around it. I quickly gave into my impulses and scratched it; both to relieve the sudden itchy sensation, as well as to feel the smoothness of the intricate metal…so that I might assure myself it wasn’t a hallucination. There was a white, diamond-shaped crystal embedded into its center as well; which seemed to glow faintly with some kind of latent energy…though I reasoned it must have been the sunlight reflecting off its mirrored surface. Still…as my fingers lingered upon the expertly cut gem…a name suddenly whispered into my consciousness; ‘Florian, Nine, Wind’; as well as a number; ‘Three……Nine; Thirty-Nine’. The name felt so familiar that I knew it must be my first, middle, and last name! Florian…my name was Florian! A great wave of relief washed over me as at least I had remembered my name! It gave me hope that perhaps more of my memory might return; given enough time. As for the number however…I had no idea what the numeral Thirty-Nine might represent. ‘Perhaps it was my age?’ I couldn’t be sure but…I didn’t feel quite that old. ‘Perhaps it was part of the serial from a plane or some other vessel which had carried me to this place?’ ……I didn’t know. Just then, a terrible gnawing sensation gripped and twisted my stomach! I doubled over in pain as the dry empty feeling inside threatened to consume my entire being! Thirsty! I was deathly thirsty as though I hadn’t drunken anything in days; and…hungry! I was so terribly hungry that I felt like gnawing my own foot off!! Franticly, I tossed my head from side to side; scanning the beach for anything which might relieve this pain…but there was no food of any kind to be found, and no water besides the ocean at my back! In desperation, I looked at the cool clear liquid; marveling at the deep, refreshing blueness as it stretched on towards the horizon. ‘I couldn’t possibly drink ocean water……wasn’t it full of salt? …Didn’t drinking salty water only cause a person to become more dehydrated and hallucinate?’ “Gwah!” I let out a pained groan as the dry, cramping sensation within brought me to my knees! I didn’t care if the water was salty! I didn’t care if drinking it would only hasten my death from dehydration! The pain was simply so great that I would do anything to escape it! 4 4 Amidst the intense pain…I crawled out into the water a short ways to where it was deeper and, like an animal, plunged my face into it; quickly gulping down as much as I could! With every recession of the waters I would take a breath, and with every gentle wave I would let it fill me until it receded again... After a few repetitions of this, I felt the gnawing pain within leave; replaced instead by a refreshing coolness. I then rose to my feet once again, to stand calf-deep in the ocean’s waters; a profound sense of confusion filling my every thought as the pain slowly subsided… A deeply concerning sense of confusion…for the water had not even had the slightest hint of a salty taste! In-fact, the water had been more pure and delicious than I would have ever thought possible… Looking out towards the horizon…straining my eyes against the bright reflection of the crystalline waters…I expected to see the hazy indication of a shoreline far out on its edge. ‘Surely…if this water was so fresh…then it must be a lake and not the ocean after-all!’ I thought. However, strain as I might, all I could see was a seemingly endless plain of blue all around. As I continued to stand there, straining my vision to its limits, I began to feel a bit weak and light headed. A new twinge of pain then gripped my stomach, as I remembered not only had I been extremely thirsty; but hungry as well! Giving up on my search for an alternate shoreline, I made my way back out of the water in hopes of finding anything which might be edible. ‘If the ocean water was fresh and safe to drink…then perhaps the large leaves of the bushes might be safe to eat?’ I mused. ‘Or’, I seemed to recall; ‘some types of tree bark were edible’; if only I could find a way to boil it until soft enough to eat. Although, at this point, even sand and pebbles sounded tolerable; if only it would relieve my hunger pains, as the ocean water had my thirst. Fortunately; as I rummaged through the many bushes, collecting their leafy fibrous tissue with intent to try it out as a meal, I was overjoyed to discover a sparse variety of berries growing upon many of them! 5 5 There were very few growing upon each individual bush, but the shoreline was so thickly covered with them that I soon had many handfuls of differently colored berries; all sorted into small piles. There were six colors in all; white, black, red, yellow, blue, and purple... I was wary at the possibility that some, or all, might be poisonous…but considering my intense hunger, and the fact that they seemed my only option as searching the palm trees had yielded no sign of coconuts…I was willing to take that chance. Kneeling down, and with just a little hesitation, I ate a blue berry first; my muscles tensing up as I instinctually prepared for the potential poisoning and……; to my great delight I sat there in a shocked state of drooling bliss, while feeling the rich sugary juice flow over my tongue and down my throat! Certainly the taste had been enhanced by my extreme hunger, but it was a most delectable berry and I felt no ill side-effects after having eaten it! In a ravenous flurry I stuffed my mouth full of the remaining blue berries, having no care for the sticky rivers which flowed freely from my bulging cheeks, and fully enjoyed every last bit of their juicy goodness! Afterwards, still hungry, I turned my eyes to the red berries... Repeating my actions with even less hesitation, I found them to be just as delicious; though with a slightly different, somewhat tarter taste. Having eaten both the blue and red berries, I no longer felt so hungry; though decided I may as well test the other colors, so I would know which were safe for eating. ‘Such knowledge would surely be very useful; considering they might be my only source of food for a long time.’ I tried the yellow berries next. They were also good…though not quite as good, with a slightly blander and less sugary taste. The purple berries however were far better than either the blue or red; with a deeply rich, syrupy juice which coated the mouth in a delectable gooey delight! And then, all that remained were the white and black berries… 6 6 I tried a white berry first. It tasted somewhat salty; almost as I had expected the ocean water to taste earlier. Otherwise, it didn’t seem to have any other side-effects at first…but I then felt a sudden surge of energy combined with an extreme thirst! Quickly, I ran back into the water and drank many handfuls before the feeling of dryness subsided! ‘Apparently…these berries could produce a stimulant surge of energetic alertness…similar to the effects of coffee…but made one extremely thirsty.’ Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any other side-effects. Deciding to avoid these in the future I then turned my attention, somewhat more hesitantly, towards the last of the six colors; the black berries... The first four hues had been very good for eating, but the white had certainly not been agreeable. Not life-threateningly dangerous perhaps, but still not so good to eat. ‘So then…’ I hesitated. ‘….what might the black berries be like?’ Still, determined to do a thorough testing of all six colors, I carefully placed a black berry into my mouth and…bit down slowly. In contrast, this berry was quite juicy; and had a syrupiness similar to that of the purple berries…though with a tarter taste closer to that of the red. However, shortly after eating just the one, I began to feel quite drowsy… Apparently, in contrast to the white berries, these seemed to produce some sort of a narcotic effect... The black berries may appear better for food than the white ones…though it was very clear they would cause me to pass into a deep and uncontrollable sleep; should I eat too many at one time. Therefore, understandably, I decided to avoid these for eating as well. Although… I did question their potential use for knocking out, and capturing, small animal life for food; should I happen to find signs of any. My thirst and hunger finally sated; my mind gradually growing calmer from the effects of that black berry; thoughts concerning the potential capture of animals and the uses that doing so might serve, led my mind to thinking of the fur or feathers which covered many. This…in turn…caused me to suddenly realize the fact that I, myself, was naked! Of course…I had known I was naked since the moment I gained consciousness, but the pains of thirst and hunger…as well as the initial confusion laced panic…had overwhelmed any concerns for clothing. 7 7 Once again looking down the beach in both directions, I briefly questioned the need for clothing; as the sun was quite warm and, to my dismay, it began to seem increasingly unlikely that I would encounter any other people here… Still; deciding to be optimistic of either rescue, or reconnection with other stranded survivors, I delved deep into the bushes once again…this time to collect an armful of their fibrous leafy tissue; from which to construct the best semblance of a garment I could manage! Weaving the leaves and fibers into a rough, primitive covering actually wasn’t as difficult as one might think; though it was quite time consuming... The weaves and knots took some trial and error to accomplish with my fumbling, uncoordinated fingers... The process of twisting and tying such small fibers, into coverings large enough to conceal my various regions, also took no short amount of time... Even so, through many setbacks and a fair amount of frustration, I managed to complete my task! ~~~~~~~ When finally I had managed to make a covering thick, and sturdy enough that I was certain it wouldn’t easily fall off; the bright golden light of mid-day had turned into an ever deepening shade of evening red... Seeing that it would soon be dark, I briefly considered finding a cozy spot to lie down within the still very thick covering of bushes along the tree-line. However, with my desire to search for clues concerning my sudden appearance on this beach ever rising, I instead decided to explore a short ways down the shoreline; while there was still light to see by. The softly warm sand beneath my still bare feet was a comfort amidst the swiftly cooling evening air. Keeping a watchful eye for anything that might be useful in my current situation, I began to notice what appeared to be many traces of small animal life. Tiny imprints in the sand; which looked as though they might have come from tiny feet. Torn up leaves upon the bushes, and smashed berries on the ground…even a few droppings. 8 8 Just as I began wondering where and what these creatures might be; I heard a quiet chortling coming from the nearby undergrowth. It sounded almost like a mixture between a turkey gobble, and a chicken cluck. Excited, I quickly turned towards the direction of the sound; in hopes of seeing whatever it might be! Unfortunately, the vegetation was too thick for me to see the animal from the beach. So, since its call didn’t sound in any way threatening, I decided to creep carefully into the brush; in attempt to find it! Fortunately, the creature wasn’t very far away, and I soon found it waddling about; casually snapping berries off various bushes. It was a strange looking bird; with proportionally tiny wings…a plump body about the size of an overinflated basketball…and a large head, with an equally large beak. The poor little thing didn’t appear as though its anatomy would ever allow it to fly... The bird knew I was there watching as it waddled a mere foot or two away, but didn’t seem easily frightened or concerned with my presence. It was a somewhat ugly looking bird; standing about two feet high with its fairly large, and unfocused eyes; but…in an innocently cute kind of way; with a beautifully colorful covering of thick, fluffy feathers! After a minute or so of watching, I became curious as to whether it would actually let me pet it; considering that it hadn’t run away despite me being so close. So slowly, I crept closer through the undergrowth…and stretched my arm out towards it. Without so much as a wiggle of acknowledgement, the bird simply continued to nonchalantly snap berries off branches; as I brushed my hand gently against its soft feathers. However, even though it hadn’t made any indication that it had disliked my petting, after merely a few strokes it seemed eager to waddle slowly away beyond my reach… Desiring to continue feeling its soothing warm softness, I crept closer once more to touch; as it began eating from another bush. But, after only two strokes, it again waddled off; even though there were still many berries left upon the branch it had been eating from... I supposed that perhaps though it appeared tame and unconcerned…still it didn’t like being bothered while it was eating. 9 9 As I continued to watch…taking mental comfort in its velvety feathers; while resting my body upon the soft, sandy ground…a thought slipped into my mind…a thought which caused me to chuckle quietly... I realized that my head was still very foggy, but even so, looking at the bird…if I hadn’t known any better… ‘I could’ve sworn it was a Dodo.’ That couldn’t possibly be however; because the Dodo bird had been declared extinct for hundreds of years to my recollection. Still……‘what if it was a Dodo? What would that mean?’ While pondering the odds of having washed up on an unmapped isle where the Dodo had managed to survive extinction, and where somehow the ocean water had managed to lose its saltiness, I suddenly heard a different kind of quiet rustling in the bushes nearby. I was a bit startled by it at first; but since the bird still didn’t appear concerned, I figured it wasn’t anything dangerous. ‘Perhaps it was another of its kind, come to join in this birdie’s feast of succulent berries?’ This naïve assumption was a bit careless of me however; I should have realized from my own interaction with this bird, that it was no good judge of imminent threat... A moment later, I heard a menacing hiss; followed by a high-pitched screeching, as some new creature suddenly pounced from the nearby shrubbery! To my shock, it landed hard upon the bird; wrestling it to the ground, and closing its jaws tightly around its fragile neck! With a swift and skillful twist, it snapped the bird’s neck; bringing an end to the struggle…and in my horrified dismay…then turned to glance in my direction. In a fearful panic I scrambled to my feet and ran towards the ocean; my every step sliding in the loose sand as I stumbled in frantic flight! When I had gotten to the water’s edge, I swiftly turned back to see if the creature had followed me; and saw it standing there a mere four feet away…looking at me with a curious gaze. I froze; unsure of what to do as there seemed nowhere really that I could run to for safety…and further, the creature itself simply continued to stand there; bobbing and tilting its head inquiringly, while making odd chirping sounds…as though it wasn’t quite sure what to make of me... 10 10 Now, it wasn’t the size of the creature which concerned me; as I myself attempted to figure out what IT was. For while the bird had stood about two feet high, this new animal perhaps stood only around three feet high; although it did appear somewhat hunched over, as it continued to quizzically stare… Neither was the fierceness of its look necessarily what concerned me at this moment; as it almost appeared cute with its innocently inquisitive gaze. No! What concerned me most, was that by the entirety of what little logic I did possess within my mind at the time; ‘this creature… this creature shouldn’t exist!!’ For it had the appearance of a DINOSAUR!!! The animal had a very long tail; and looked to be about six feet in length from tail tip to nose. It had two lengthy, powerful looking hind legs; upon which it stood with a pair of smaller, though still strong looking, arms up front; each appendage having three long-clawed fingers or toes with which to make use of that muscle. Its mouth was filled with tiny razor-sharp teeth, and it had a beady little eye upon either side of its head. Two prominent frills rose stiff along the bridge of its extensive snout; and its entire body was covered in a scaly orange-green, reptilian hide. By all typical definition…it looked like the long extinct Dinosaurs which had become a favorite of movies and video games in the modern era! As I continued to stand there, shocked at the appearance of this creature, it began to slowly raise its body while quietly hissing... Then…when it had reached its maximum height of about four feet or so…a pair of bright, orange-green splotched, spikey frills suddenly sprang out from either side of its head; and began vibrating like that of a rattle-snake’s tail! I back-stepped slightly in surprise; but continued to face it, for fear of what it might do should I turn my back and run! Then, without further warning, it shot a glob of thick green goo out from its throat; which hit me square in the eyes! I swiftly brought my hands to my eyes, and began rubbing them franticly as the goo had caused an intense burning sensation! 11 11 Continuing to rub my eyes desperately, I then heard the dreadful sound of the creature’s shrill screech; shortly before feeling its weight slam hard into my chest! I fell to the ground…landing hard upon my back…my head touching the ocean’s water; just shallow enough that my mouth stayed above as its waves rippled in and out around me… …The unbearably intense burning of my eyes kept both my mind and vision blurry…as I felt the pain of the creature’s claws piercing the skin at my hips and shoulders; while it positioned itself to keep me pinned down… Overwhelmingly terrified and shocked with disbelief…frozen by pain and horror as well as held down by its weight…I could do nothing but lay there; as I felt its jaw close securely around my neck. I felt it clamp down hard…its teeth slicing easily through the skin and meat. And then…with a quick jerking motion…it ripped out my throat... As it began gnawing on what it had ripped off, I simply lay there; choking on my own blood as I felt it gush out from my neck... And then……blackness…
  16. 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.
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