1920s: Anna's Jungle Adventures Continued

-

 

The next day Anna spend some time finding a new guide and restocking supplies, then she head straight back out into the jungle. The new guide is a bit better when it comes to helping her excavate, but he too proves useless in the jungle and soon gives up and leaves her alone. This time, Anna is prepared. As she writes in her exploration journal: 

March 25, 1921: 
Both guides have given up on me, but I have not, and the jungle hasn't either. Today I faced real dangers, a jaguar even, and I withstood the test of the forest. It has found me worthy, as have I, and I will go at it alone if I cannot find someone trustworthy enough to come with me. I will find that temple or give my life to the jungle trying!


March 27, 1921: 

I have found the Omiscan Royal Baths! It's beautiful enough to make you cry. And to think no one has set foot on these grounds in hundreds of years. It's daunting. The entire system of man made waterfalls still work, keeping the water in perfect condition and safe for swimming. Perhaps I shouldn't have, but I could not help but to take a swim. It was the most refreshing thing I have done since arriving here and for the first time in days I feel clean and refreshed. I will make this my campsite for the night, before pushing further into the jungle. Still no fish, but I have plenty of provisions still.


March 28, 1921: 

Today I pushed on. I found what has had to be the royal orchard. There was an artefact there, of some significance, and I excavated some objects that I will examine more closely when I return to what I now think of as my home. But most importantly I can confirm the myth of the sacred fruit. They are berries that grew all over the orchard, and they truly to lift your spirits when eaten. I do not believe they are magical, as people here used to, but I will bring samples back home and offer to the science institute for further testing. On a personal note, it's getting lonely here. I do miss having company and will feel fits of homesickness. Not so much for the place, I do love it here, but for the people. A guide would have been nice even if it was just someone to talk to, but I will not give up until I find what I am looking for. A lot of backtracking today otherwise. The entrance to the temple was not from the baths. 


March 30, 1921: 

 I found it! The hidden Omiscan temple. Months of work and preparations, but I found it, and it's so beautiful that I cannot stop staring! The day is already waning and I know it would be careless and potentially dangerous to explore the temple after the night has fallen. I must wait until tomorrow. I have made my camp here, outside its walls and save the temple for tomorrow. I do not have long, my provisions are running dangerously low, and I must make sure I have enough to return through the jungle. Still, I cannot turn back now. I will establish excavation sites and see how far I can get into the temple tomorrow, map it for future visits. Then return to civilisation to stock up on supplies before returning here. Perhaps get a dog. The loneliness of being alone in the jungle is getting to me. I feel it dampening my mood even when it should be at its highest. A dog would be welcome company. And more loyal than any guide. But that is for later. Tomorrow the temple awaits me, and I will be the first to set foot in its halls for centuries.


March 31, 1921: 

Today I made my push into the temple. It's secrets are carefully guarded, traps were to be found everywhere. I made careful documentations of each and every fantastically crafted mechanism and how they worked before moving further, disabling trap after trap as I went along. There were a few mishaps, a few times when I thought I was done for, when my pulse raced and I believed the temple would swallow me and leave me forgotten in its halls. But I pushed on, I trusted my logic and my instinct and I reached the core of the temple. I, Anna Whittaker, reached the most sacred room of this ancient place, where no one has been since Omiscan times. Now I must leave this place. It's with a reluctant hart, but I must return before my supplies run dry. I will stock up, rest, and catalogue my findings, then return for a second time to the temple. The trip should be easier, as I know the way now, and then I can unearth its remaining treasures.


As she returns to her house she takes the time to write to her sister, and to send her copies of her journal: 

Dearest Alice, 

I did it! I actually did it. I send to you a copy of my journals from my trip. Take good care of them, as I hope to publish them on my return. It is good to be back in civilisation again, if for no other reason than to see and talk to people again. I don't think any place has ever seemed more beautiful than this little village center on my return. The people here are so friendly, and though the lack of a guide in the jungle means I have not yet mastered the language, I manage to make myself understood most of the time. I asked if there was a letter from you in the bookstore that also handles all mail, but the owner said that there was none, but that I shouldn't worry. Postal services here are apparently known to be slow. 

I do hope you are getting my letters, and that you are well. I miss hearing from you, and long to know how you are. A part of me wishes you were here, but I also know you would hate every minute of the trip where I enjoy the struggle. I have learnt more about the culture here, and the more I learn the more at home I feel. They have the most amazing soft fabric shoes that I think I now own in every imaginable color. 

I think I will stay in the village for a few days before returning to the jungle. Make sure all my artefacts are authentic and catalogued and packaged before I head back out. And get a dog. I really do need some proper company here. 

Your loving sister, 
Anna 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Whittaker Saga: the setup

-
Image
 I  was vastly inspired when reading the decades challenge, and as a history teacher, I could not stop myself from giving it a try. Of course, true to my nature or refusing to do things by the book, the first thing I did was break the rules. How? By creating as my protagonist a single, working woman living on her own! Gasp! Why? Partly because a story popped into my head, but also, partly, to honor the many women who - by choice or necessity - actually worked, and worked hard for their living in the 1890s. We tend to forget them, but the working women were there - from the hard working farmers that we often downgrade by calling wives, as if they weren't an essential part of the economy of the farm, to the working class women working as domestic help or in the factories where they were only payed half of a man's wages.  So with that, I introduce Abigail Spencer, a single, working, middle class woman in 1890s Willow Creek:  As middle class there is only a few jobs avai...
Read more

An interlude: The 1940s, WWII-gameplay and the latest family tree:

-
Image
As we go into the 1940s, I thought I'd take the time to reflect on what this new decade might mean for gameplay. The 1940s were, naturally, dominated by WWII. In the US this is especially true after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. Things that are reflected in the original rules of the challenge by feeding sims cow plant cake and sending them to live elsewhere. Anyone who read this story through WWI knows that's not how I play. So let's take a look at the facts and figure out what this will mean for this particular story and my gameplay: WWII: going to war (or work) and deaths. In the US 16,1 million men were either drafted (10 million) or volunteered (6 million) in WWII. Yet what did that mean in relation to the population? According to the 1940 census, there were a total of 65 million men in the US, of which 35 million were between the ages of 18-45 (draft-age after the Pearl Harbor attack). So in other words, 16 million men out of a pool of 35 million. Tha...
Read more

1890s: Starting out in a new town

-
Image
After moving into her small house, getting some chickens and some simple crops to extend her pay, Abigail started her life and work in Willow Creek. She likes her students and quite enjoy her work as a teacher:   Still she is a bit stressed about fulfilling her aspiration, and finding love when it's entirely inappropriate to be the one to initiate flirting is apparently hard! But she tries, and she has met all four eligible bachelors at this time. She met Joseph while taking a stroll in the park. They got along quite well and enjoyed a game of chess together:     They have really hit it off and quite enjoy each other's company, and after Sunday service in church, Joseph even flirted with her for the briefest of moments before becoming friendly with her again.   In general, Abigail is really happy about Sunday services. It's a great place to meet all the people in town, the reverend is nice, and holds good sermons (although the congregation is very bad at l...
Read more