Chapter 7 Scene 1

The next morning, Keruka wakes and makes her way to the secret entrance to the Sanctuary. She is pleased to find that the offering from last night was accepted, and in its place in the wagon is a parchment with drawings on it. She examines it, and decides it is a map. She brings it back to the Village as the castaways and native children are waking up.

"We need a good breakfast. You have a big day ahead."

Quest 68: Make a Fruit Salad, Fish Stew, and Vegetable Stew.

They gather a lot of nearby fruit, prepare the vegetables, and use fish saved from the day before.

Quest 68 complete!

After they eat breakfast, Keruka describes what needs to be done.

"You have to go to the top of the mountain."

"Do we have to go through the swamp again?" asks Stefi?

"No, look at the map. There appears to be a hidden trail leading from the Abandoned Village. I believe this point is the start. It must be hidden in some way, or there is some mechanism involved. I don't recall ever seeing such a path."

Tom looks at the map. "This trail isn't clear. There are gaps and forks. How do we know which path to take?"

"I expect you will have to split up into groups."

"We're more likely to find more rarities that way," points out Rogula.

Nicole is practical. "We had better bring along a lot of food."

"And tools," adds Mark.

There is no argument, and soon the group of twelve proceeds to the spot in the Abandoned Village indicated on the map. It is against a rock face of the mountains, and is covered with a lot of liana vines.

"I bet we'll find something if we climb these vines," claims Gopumbi.

"I can climb these," announces Bukela. She immediately starts climbing, and then so does Gopumbi, a couple meters to the side.

"Careful you two, this isn't a race," warns Nicole.

The children don't pay Nicole much attention and soon climb over a ledge where they see what looks like a door set into a stone wall. There is no handle or any obvious way of opening it.

"Did you find anything?" calls out Tom.

Bukela answers, "There's some kind of door but we can't open it."

"The rest of us should come up, but let's make a ladder. Two lianas and ten pieces of lumber should do it."

Quest 69: Make a ladder.

Tom and Mike take the axes and chop down two dead trees to collect a total of ten pieces of lumber while Nicole takes a machete and cuts off two long pieces of liana. As Tom fells the first tree, an object falls from one of the branches and he picks it up.

You found a Red Sea Thorn!

Meanwhile, a butterfly flies out of the first liana that Nicole cuts. She catches it and puts it in her bag.

You found a Green NIghter!

Tom and Mike finish cutting down the trees and head back to the rock face. They find out that the other native children were so excited that they already climbed the liana before the ladder is made, but after another ten minutes the ladder is assembled.

Quest 69 complete!

Tom climbs the ladder first. "Where are you?" he calls out.

"Over here!" calls out Pelubo, a few dekameters away.

Tom follows the voice along a ridge until he finds Pelubo, and the other castaways soon follow. The stone door the children found definitely looks secure. When John examines it, however, he notices some markings in the rock.

"See these grooves here? There could be a mechanism that will move this rock. We should look for a lever or pull-rope of some kind. But be careful."

The natives quickly scatter along the ledge, looking for a hidden mechanism. After a minute Gopumbi finds an object sticking out of the rock face that looks like a lever. "Look what I found!" he exclaims.

"Careful," warns Tom, but Gopumbi pulls on the lever. There is a rumbling sound, then a creak, and the stone door splits, half moving to the left and half to the right. A path is revealed.

"It looks like this path matches this map," announces Tom. "The path should split a short distance ahead."

The group walks along the path which is dark at first but soon enters into brightness after going up some crude stairs. The path does indeed fork at the top of the steps, with one path continuing forward and two others branching off to the left and right.

"I think we should split up into three groups of four," Tom announces. "Two natives and two from our ship in each group."

"That's what I was thinking," agrees Pelubo. "How should we split up?"

Rogula says, "I sense the Spirits want us to get to know each of us better. Make groups with those you haven't spent a lot of time with."

They decide that Tom, Nicole, Gopumbi, and Bukela will take the path to the left, Mike, Amy, Pelubo, and Rogula will take the path in the center, and John, Stefi, Otanve, and Yadifo will take the path to the right.

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