Jim moved through the woods carefully, stepping over logs and around trees, head turning to double-check that there were no monsters or predators stalking him as he went through the forest on a straight shot to the Ubarion Peninsula that he'd been tasked to map. While walking, he also made sure to keep an eye out for game so he had fresh meat for dinner that night.

"Glad I don't have to go through those mountains," Jim muttered to himself as he walked through the forest in the grip of early summer. "It's bad enough having to deal with summer heat, I'd hate to have to deal with thin air and loose rocks."

Walking deeper into the forested land, Jim turned part of his attention to his new gear that he'd bought for this mission.

Deep Quiver: A quiver enchanted to hold 500 arrows at once. It will present no more than twenty arrows as visible at a time. Has also been enchanted to protect the arrows within from breaking.

With a new quiver that could hold so many arrows, Jim was confident that he wouldn't run out anytime soon as he mapped the Ubarion Peninsula. Additionally, since it only showed twenty arrows at a time, it was around the size of Jim's starter quiver and fit snugly at his hip while his pack rested comfortably across his shoulders.

Bag of Colding: A bag of holding that has been altered to keep fresh produce and meat cool so that they do not spoil. Cannot hold items that are not food.

Even though it was more expensive than a typical bag of holding, the bag of colding was something that had Jim the most excited. With it on his hip, he was able to stock up on fresh vegetables, meats, and fruits for his future meals. Sadly, the part about not holding non-food items had Jim buying a new pack and, interestingly, a portable seasoning box.

Enlarged Rucksack: A framed backpack that has been enchanted to hold twice the space within itself than it would show on the outside. Store items carefully, so as to not puncture the sides and destroy the enchantment. Has also been enchanted to cut the weight within in half.

Since it was physically and magically bigger than his previous pack, Jim's new rucksack had him wondering if he'd even need to use it, but then he decided that it was better to take it with him, so he could bring back skins, trophies, and anything he found on his trip. His final purchased item was one that he was more than happy about.

Boots of Striding: Leather boots enchanted to prevent chafing, blisters, and soreness, aid in keeping balance, and maintain dryness.

"These boots were made for walking," Jim joked as he examined the worn leather tops of the calf-high boots that hugged his feet.

"Alright Jimmy," he said to himself. "Let's see if we can't get out of this forest by nightfall."

"I see a river over there," Jim muttered to himself as he drew a map from the treetop that he sat carefully in. "This forest is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Mountains look like they're about four miles to the north. Is that a village?"

Squinting into the distance at the curling smoke that he could barely make out, Jim answered his own question.

"Nope, it's a camp of some sort," he said. "They're close enough I can see if they're friendly, see about getting a safe place to sleep tonight. Problem is, that's southwest of me and I need to go southeast. Best to just suck it up and keep going."

Tucking his journal and pen away, Jim prepared to descend the tree and continue on his way. By his guess, he had almost four hours of strong daylight left, and close to four hundred miles to go.

"This is going to take a while," Jim muttered as he scaled his way down the tree. "At least I'll have plenty of time to work out more Glyphs I can use on my arrows."

Back on the ground, Jim checked his compass and turned the correct direction before continuing on his way.

Making camp for the night was something that Jim was happy enough to do as he sat back contentedly by his small fire and looked up at the stars that peeked through the forest's canopy above him.

"I don't know how far I came today, but I hope it was more than twenty miles," Jim muttered to himself as he massaged his calf and tried to pick out the constellations in the sky. "Wonder if there's a north star in Astrana? There's gotta be something, right? Maybe a south star or something."

Waiting for his dinner of skewered meat and vegetables to finish roasting, Jim pulled out his journal that he'd decided to turn into a map book, reexamining the covered and mapped route he'd taken.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"That tree I stopped at was a godsend," he said as he bent the book enough to make out the marks he'd made by the firelight. "Wish I knew what sort of camp that was back there, it was in a clearing, so I don't think it's bandits, but there's no telling. Those wolves I saw were in this area, shame I only saw them when they passed through that clearing in the trees. This big pine tree is weird, there's no other pine trees in this forest. Why is that one there? Maybe I'll have time to check it out; be cool if it was a dungeon or something."

"On second thought," he decided, remembering Pear and his current issues, "maybe it would be better if it wasn't a dungeon. I don't have time to get stuck somewhere for weeks. I've got a job. A really nice job."

"Hope I can catch a ride from someone at that river," Jim muttered to himself as he traced the dual lines he'd made that marked the river's location and route. "I think it was flowing the right way. If it wasn't, then I can have a good source of clean water and fresh fish, not to mention what else is in the area. Could be a fast way to escape if something's after me."

As the meat on his skewer browned and sizzled its way to perfection, Jim made sure to fill in the larger area of his map, marking it carefully as forest and doing his best to plot the parts of the trees that looked thinner than the rest.

"Really hope that I can find something like that tree again," he said quietly as his pen filled in more of the mapped area he'd gone through that day, hoping he'd manage to increase the mastery of his Cartography skill. "Be really nice to be able to make a map of this forest so I had a better idea of what's going on and where I am."

Yawning and groaning, Jim pulled himself out of his tent the next morning and stretched as dawn's light filtered through the leaves above him.

"I really want a cot," he decided as he rubbed his back where a root had poked him all night. "Can I afford the weight?"

As he worked to rebuild his fire, Jim considered the merits of carrying a collapsible wood and cloth bed with him on his planned travels in the future before finally sighing in defeat and starting to make his breakfast.

"I'd be better off setting up a hammock like in those old cartoons," he decided unhappily as he pulled out some cubed pork, eggs, and bell peppers to prepare further for the heating pan on the rack he'd finally set up over the fire. "Wonder if I should start trying to make traps with that wire I bought the other day?"

As his breakfast cooked, Jim prepared himself for another long day of walking through the woods when a snapping twig caused him to turn his head sharply and look behind him.

Standing beside a tree, looking disheveled and dirty, was a young Orcish man that was staring at the frying pan that was filled with cooking food.

"Please," he begged quietly. "Can I have some food?"

With a wave of his hand, Jim encouraged the Orc to approach him as he turned back to the cooking food and discretely loosened his knife from its sheath so he could have easier and quicker access to it.

"Thank you so much," the young man nearly burst into tears as he stepped into the campsite Jim had marked out and fell to his knees beside him and the fire. "I've been out here since I started Astrana, and it's been so bad!"

"You're a player too?" Jim asked carefully as he kept his attention divided between the Orc and the cooking food.

"Yeah," the Orc said. "Name's Grog. Thought I'd try to make my own house out here in the wilderness and then I ran into wolves and lost all my food. That was the second day. Ran into a bunch of bandits and they robbed me of everything I had, except my clothes, thank God. That was on the fifth day."

"How long have you been out here?" Jim asked, pity welling within him at the other player's story.

"How long's Astrana been live?" Grog asked as his stomach growled audibly.

"I think we're on the third day live," Jim said as the food finished and he plated the simple breakfast for himself, passing a spare fork to the Orc and gesturing toward the pan.

"Then this is the eighth day," Grog said as he dug into the food left in the pan and sighed in happiness at the first bite. "There's salt and pepper in it."

"Why didn't you try to get back to the city?" Jim asked as they continued to eat.

"What city?" Grog asked, cheeks bulging as he tried to stuff as much food into his mouth as he possibly could.

"Hero's Crypt," Jim told him. "It's a day's walk to the northwest from here. You can't miss it."

"Which way's northwest?" Grog asked excitedly. "Does that city accept Orcs? Can you take me there?"

"Northwest is that way," Jim pointed with his fork before taking another bite of his food and continuing. "They're a neutral city, so they've got people from all the races, Orcs included. I can't take you there, I'm on my own trip, but I can ask a friend to come find you as long as you go as straight northwest as you can. Even give you a crude map to get you there."

"I'll take it," the other man said as he sat back with a sigh and patted his stomach, the food gone. "Thanks for the food, man. I'll try to find a way to pay you back for it."

"No rush," Jim told him. "I'm probably going to be out here for weeks, and then there's the event that's about to be announced in the city that'll be really good for you to try getting some stuff from."

"What event?" Grog asked curiously as Jim began to clean his utensils and the frying pan.

"There's a bunch of undead that the Church of Grindel wants help clearing out," Jim explained as he packed his cutlery and plate away and set the pan to cool off to the side. "Another friend of mine is working with them to set up a system so that players can earn points and spend them on cool stuff. Potions, weapons, spells, skill training, he's got a lot of stuff that he's been working on. I picked up a Job that's got me going to the area the whole thing's happening in and to map it all out for them."

"If I go with you, would that mean that I'd get extra points faster?" Grog asked.

"Nope," Jim said, immediately shooting the Orc's unspoken idea down. "I was hired for actual coin to do this, not the points that everyone else could earn."

"Why'd they give you money for this and not those points?" Grog asked suspiciously.

"The organization they approached for this Job specializes in making maps," Jim explained with a sigh. "It's a pretty small organization and I was the only member in the city when they made the Job. Put another way, they didn't expect a player to take the Job and the points won't work for the NPCs."

"Could I join whatever this organization is?" the Orc player asked.

"Sure," Jim shrugged. "Just find a Cartographer's Guild building and ask to fill out an application. Janet'll help you through the whole thing."

"Now," Jim said, pushing himself to his feet and turning toward his tent, "I'd better get on the road and get started for the day."

"Before you leave," Grog said, also pushing to his feet, "where's northwest again?"