You feel optimistic as you leave the tavern and head for the Forest of the unwary. As Valda, you will be able to recognise the herbs you will need to make the poultice for the beggar’s feet.

You pass inhabitants of Dragonsclawe as they go about their daily business - dwarves, elves and even a Giant. The town attracts all types from afar. They say Dragonsclawe has something for everyone, and everyone can make a home here (if, they have their wits about them and they have useful skills).

How far is this forest from the tavern?

Not far. Forest and tree nymphs and restless trees live there. You will sometimes see them in town.

Restless trees?

Trees that uproot to go in search of somewhere else to live. They get itchy roots.

Grandad Potts thought of everything, didn’t he?

Not quite everything, no.

Is this going to be a dangerous errand?

Considering you are still recovering from your first fight and your strength is not yet up to maximum levels, it is a dangerous errand for you. Any errand would be right now.

But I need that map! How else will I find the scrolls and get out of here? Can I not rustle something up for myself to improve my strength whilst we’re here?

That is an excellent suggestion.

As you walk through the forest, listen and the flowers and herbs will call to you. Those are the ones you need. You can sort out which ones are for the beggar’s poultice and which ones are for yours when you get back to the tavern.

I don’t have a room anymore. I’ve no kand, remember? Unless… I use the secret room and corridor? If there’s one secret room, there may be more. It’s shelter, I guess. I’ll have to make sure the spiders have done their sweep first, but it’s better than being out in the elements.

When Trellis leaves, his room will be vacant. If you can find a way of getting into it and leaving without being seen, you will have a bed - and a fire. His room is always kept not only empty, but warm and ready for him to just walk into it anytime, day or night.

That’s a good plan - if he doesn’t find out. I still don’t have any coin to pay for food, though.

If you make extra of each poultice, you can sell them on the next market day.

You’re full of good ideas today. What’s come over you? I thought you were only supposed to offer basic help to travellers?

Maybe I am bored of investing in a character only to see them perish within hours or days. Maybe I want to see more of Glamis and cannot without a surviving character? Maybe I see something in you I did not see in the others? Maybe you will never know what I am thinking - because I do not think.

Whatever you say. Those yellow flowers with the orange stripes are calling to me.

Those are Arcendacia flowers. Pick only the petals. They make a powerful painkiller when boiled with butterhoney jelly.

Which I haven’t got any of.

If this world was easy, everyone would be sailing through it with no problems. Where is the adventure in that?

I didn’t choose to come here; it was an emergency entrance. I don’t like adventures at the best of times. I like reading them, sure, but not actively adventuring. This virtual reality ‘game’ -it’s a con, isn’t it? It isn’t ‘virtual’ at all. If you can taste things, feel pain, feel hungry and thirsty, get injured and die here, it’s not a game, is it? It’s as real as reality. Worse really, because there’s even more imaginative ways you can get killed - and no one who knows you will ever know what you went through.

At least you did not choose to be a tooth fairy.

Well, there’s that. But someone has to be a tooth fairy, don’t they? Not everyone can be high status, or society wouldn’t work here - or in reality. No one wants to be a low status, but someone has to be, or the world stops and it’s the low status jobs that are the most important. Without them no society works.

That is an interesting observation from someone so lacking in observational skills.

That’s because I recognise it. Grandad Potts has created a world mirroring our own. Yes, there’s dragons and walking trees and stuff, but there’s still greed - and downright bad luck in my case.

Travellers make their own luck here. Sometimes it all rests on the roll of the dice whether you are successful or not. It is all about making the right choices and planning ahead when possible.

What about those plants over there that are so shocking pink it’s hurting my eyes to look at them?

Heldara Vugarah. A plant with excellent healing properties.

You spend a couple of hours picking herbs and flowers without incident. You feel hungry so you sit on the bank of the river and start to eat your provisions.

This bread is amazing. The best I’ve ever tasted, and the goat’s cheese just melts in your mouth. It’s a shame you can’t share it with me, you could have had a bit of this butterhoney cake.

For what it is, I think the provisions pack was expensive, but you pay for the convenience I suppose.

You manage to eat most of your lunch and start to carefully pack the herbs you have collected so far into your bag now you have room for them.

A buzzing sound is coming from somewhere behind you. You turn to see a blizzard of gold and black shining objects heading your way at speed.

What’s that?

Giante Wasparella.

Do they sting?

Repeatedly.

Are they deadly?

They do not stop stinging till you are dead, so yes - they are deadly.

What do I do?

Well, a swatting spell or a net spell would have come in handy for you at this point but… you did not choose one of those spells.

I wasn’t told about the local wildlife!

They love butterhoney cake.

Do they? They can have it! Here!

You throw pieces of the cake as far away from you as you can. They swarm on the cake.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

That wasn’t too bad.

When they have finished the cake, they will attack you.

Why? I’ve given them what they wanted.

Butterhoney cake makes them mad and makes their venom even stronger.

Now you tell me! Are you trying to get me killed?

I was trying to buy you time to escape.

Escape where? Should I climb a tree and hope it doesn’t suddenly decide to pick that moment to uproot itself and take me along for the ride?

No height can stop them, they can fly.

I know.

But… They cannot swim. The river would damage their wings.

So, should I jump into the river?

That is for you to decide. You could try to run for it or hide in the bushes, but the river is an option, yes.

It’s my only option right now.

The river might lead to another problem…

I don’t care! Let me deal with one crisis at a time, will you? Let’s sort out these overgrown, overexcited wasps then the river. Can I swim?

As Valda, yes. But that is the least of your worries…

You take a deep breath and jump into the marbled waters of the river just as the swarm flies above your head.

They circle overhead for a while then leave to find a more accessible victim because they do not like to waste venom.

That was a lucky escape. Have they gone?

Yes. The man who is on his way into town with an important message who is currently minding his own business, is not going to be as lucky. He will be killed by the swarm in the next few minutes.

Is it my fault? I mean they must swarm all the time…

Yes, but no one dares to feed them butterhoney cake.

I didn’t know! I think you should’ve warned me.

I did.

Sooner, I mean. Hey, this isn’t water, it’s… more like fine sand. Multicoloured sand. The pattern of it reminds me of a mackerel. It feels like water though, it’s very strange. I feel wet, but I’m not.

Many things here are not as they seem. It is the illusion of water. Sometimes that is all you need.

What if what you need is a drink?

I would not advise it.

What about the wasps? I thought water damaged their wings? Does sand?

You believed it was water. They did, too. You thought water would save you, they thought water would harm them. It was not water, but what does it matter? The illusion of water worked.

It does, somehow. What do people do about water then, if it’s not real?

It is real. This river is not water because it is an enchanted river. The river of shifting sands. Many have sunk to its unfathomable depths, never to be seen again. Treasures you can only dream of have been lost in its sandy clutches and many an adventurer has lost their life trying to find them.

So, it’s quicksand? Is that what you’re trying to tell me? After I’ve jumped in it?

It is swift when it chooses to be, solid when it wishes to be, and fluid when it needs to be.

Can it think for itself, as well?

It is enchanted. It can.

Is this my ‘Game over’ moment?

Not quite, but the slight recovery to your health and strength status you had replenished slightly was just used up escaping the swarm and ending up in the river.

Great. I’m really good at living on the edge, aren’t I?

Compared to the previous travellers you are - because most did not make it this far.

How do I get out?

You can only leave this river if the river wants you to.

And? Does it?

Luckily for you, yes. It says you will return to it one day and it may be a different decision then.

What does it do with those it chooses to keep?

It eats them, what do you think it does with them? Blood, flesh and bone are what gives it its power.

Yuck. But it doesn’t want mine?

Yours are not yet seeping with hard won battles, crosshatched with the scars of war on the inside - and the outside. Plus, you have lost a lot of blood and are currently too weak to be anything more than a light snack likely to induce indigestion.

The river gets indigestion? Perhaps it needs to rethink its diet? Maybe go vegan? How do I get out of here, I’m being pulled in the wrong direction.

The river only ever flows in the right direction.

You grab hold of an overhanging branch on the banking and manage to pull yourself out with some difficulty.

What can I do to make my strength return quicker?

Stop getting yourself into scrapes. Even minor ones like today could cause death. Death by a thousand cuts. You must rest. Eat and drink regularly. And use the Elixir and your final lot of bandages.

How can I eat? I’ve got no Kand to spend.

You are Valda. You can hunt. You can live off the land.

I believe you; I just don’t fancy hunting for food. I’d sooner sit down to a bowl of done-for-me food than going out catching and cooking it myself.

In your reality you would have been used to picking up meals off the shelf. Here you must work to eat.

I find all this very unfair. I blame the thieves for all this. I’ve got a bone to pick with them. I would’ve had kand - and still be at full strength if it hadn’t been for them wanting my coin and my body.

There will be time enough for revenge. The light is swiftly fading. You must get back to the tavern to make the poultice and your other lotions to sell if you want the map.

Have I got all the ingredients I need?

It is sufficient for today, but you may have to start again.

In the morning? I’m worn-out picking plants.

That is because your strength is so low. A pick-me-up potion would help boost your levels in no time.

What do I need for a pick-me-up potion?

There is the problem. You need the sap of a gnarled silver streaker tree for a start.

Silver streaker? You don’t mean…

Yes.

And they run around like that?

Yes.

Wild.

They say they are freedom loving trees.

Wait - they can talk?

All trees can talk, even those in your world, but no one ever listens. They listen to their own thoughts - or someone else’s, instead. No one has time for trees. They only notice them when they are in their way. Then they either collide with them, or they chop them down. Problem solved. No one ever asks the trees if they would just move.

Trees in reality, don’t run about like these lot do.

They can, but no one ever asks them to move. Here, they worked out quickly they did not need permission to uproot - or streak. It is what has saved them. Or firewood they would all be – not just the sick and dead trees.

It’s the stuff of nightmares that is, trees streaking. It’s not something I want to see, especially if they’ve got a big trunk.

I tried to alert you before… but you evidently have not noticed yet… your bag of carefully selected and gathered herbs has gone.

What? Someone’s stolen it?

That is why I said you may have to start again.

You couldn’t tell me sooner?

What could you have done about it if I had? You were in the river.

And who told me to jump in the river?

I only gave you the option. The choice was yours alone. You survived the wasps and the river didn’t fancy eating you, so those are bonuses for you.

Without the herbs I can’t make potions to sell, for myself or the beggar which means I don’t get the map. Did you see who took it?

Of course. I am observant.

Where did they go?

Home. Inside the tree. Tree nymphs live inside the trunks of certain trees in this forest.

There are so many thieves here. You can’t leave anything lying around. Which tree?

Are you sure you want to pursue the tree nymph? It would be easier to start again. And less risky.

I’m not going back to the tavern empty-handed. The nymph won’t want a bag of herbs. Besides, they aren’t theirs, they’re mine. And what’s left of my spells and kit. I need them. What do I do? Knock on the trunk?

I think I should caution you – tree nymphs are small, but deadly if you upset them. They do not like unexpected visitors. A knock on the door usually agitates them which is why they rarely get cold callers calling.

I don’t care. There’s a thief in there with my stolen property and I’m going to get it back.

Then you have a choice to make. You could start over picking herbs, but it will drain your strength further.

You can confront the tree nymph, but due to their volatile temperaments that could cause even more damage to your already depleted strength and health levels.

You could wait till the nymph leaves, then snatch your bag of herbs and kit when it is left unattended. Although, you will not know if there are any other tree nymphs inside - until you are inside. And anyone going into a tree nymph’s home, uninvited… It will make the giant wasps seem tame in comparison.

Or, you could go back into town and rustle up a gang to storm the tree.

Or you could always use the spider searchers.

What would you do?

It is not my choice to make. You need to decide and fast, because the light is fading, and you need to be back at the tavern before it gets dark.

And I am afraid you have caused an unfortunate incident that would never have happened if you had not arrived here.

What unfortunate incident? I caused it?

As you said, one crisis at a time. What have you decided to do?

The spiders are tempting. I’ve had enough of all the thieves around here. I wouldn’t lose sleep over them being eaten. But… as you say, it’s getting dark so I can’t wait any longer. I need my kit and herbs. I don’t fancy breaking in alone. I don’t know anyone in town - no one I trust, anyway. Who would come with me if I can’t pay them? Even if I could pay them, I don’t trust them not to kill me.

So, what is your plan?

I’m going to knock on the door and go from there.

Oh dear…

https://www.ashentapublishing.com/