Chapter 2 Scene 6

Point of view of Otanve:
Otanve explores the swamp 200 meters to the south of Rogula. He doesn't find anything interesting for fifteen minutes, and then he sees something move. It flies away, and as he chases it he feels himself sinking. Fortunately he catches himself when he is knee-deep, and falls backward onto solid ground as Keruka had instructed. He can pull himself out and back, and looks again for the flying insect. He sees it further into the swamp, on a mound across the quicksand, twenty meters away. The insect appears to land on something shiny.

Quest 40: Make a bridge over the quicksand to the mound in the swamp.

Otanve thinks about it, and then collects five pieces of liana and one stone. He ties the lianas together and the stone to one end, and throws the stone into a tree on the mound. The stone sticks in the branches, so he ties the other end to a tree on solid ground. The rope is a meter above the ground.

Quest 40 complete!

Otanve gets on his rope by swinging his legs over it and crossing his legs, so he can pull himself along hand over hand underneath the rope. This burns the back of his legs a little but he can handle it. He gets to the mound and gets the insect into his bag.

You found a Green Ancestor's Moth!

Otanve puts the moth in his bag and then notices the object it had landed on is a golden statue.

You found the Statue of Udungu!

Otanve picks up the statue, which is rather heavy. He gets back onto the rope and tries to go back across toward solid ground, holding both the statue and his bag. Putting the statue in the bag would risk crushing the bug. This is very awkward, as he tries to hold the statue with one hand on his stomach and the bag in his teeth. He uses the other hand to pull himself across, but halfway across the extra weight of the statue causes the stone to break loose from the tree on the mound, and Otanve and the statue are dumped into the quicksand.

The bag with the moth floats, but the statue sinks. Well aware of its importance, Otanve lunges for the statue and needs both hands to keep it from sinking below the surface. When he gets a good grip on it, he sees his orange loincloth disappear into the quicksand, and he continues to sink. He tries to raise himself by standing, but that only sends his legs down, although he is sinking at a slower rate. He figures that if he sinks too far he will risk throwing the idol, but he stops sinking when he is up to his chest. Due to his lunge, by now the rope is out of reach. He holds the idol on his head and calls out, "Can anyone hear me?"

Naturally everyone else is too far away, so Otanve resigns himself to holding still in his position for a few hours.

Quest 41: Get Otanve out of the quicksand.

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