Timestamp: 20th of Fall, 516 AV
Continued from "Surviving The Jungle II".
Nya Winters was right. The man did ask her what she thought was wrong with the survival shelter they'd just built.
“What’s wrong with it besides its flimsy?” Randal asked, curious what Nya’s eyes could see. The Kelvic wasn’t talkative so there was no reference for him to know what she was thinking like there was in some of the people he taught.
“I don’t like being on the ground. It’s muddy, wet, and lots of bugs particularly ants can get me. It won’t hold up to a good wind. It’s not anchored in the ground. And something falling on it could really hurt it and thus me inside it.” Randal nodded.
“Good. Now… lets move to see about the other type of shelter. This one is going to take more work, but it will be worth it. We still have enough daylight left today to build it and get home. But before we start I want to move back closer to the settlement just in case we get distracted or run into trouble. That way we won’t be cutting the loss of daylight too closely.” The outdoorsman advised, making sure all the gear was gathered and that they were headed back in the right direction.
They talked more as they walked. “I should warn you too that you shouldn’t build a shelter right next to a game trail or anything that looks well-traveled. Even scout the area for dens or nests or heavy monkey activity in the trees. All that could pose a threat.” Nya nodded, and looked thoughtful as they walked, trying to mentally pick out appropriate places for shelters now that they were on the topic. She had thought she knew a lot about wildlands, but evidently her knowledge, especially here in Falyndar, was seriously lacking.
“There’s another thing I should mention about shelters and sleeping in the jungle at night. Snakes get cold at night and always look for warmth. Insects are the same way, Nya. Don’t sleep naked. In fact, sleep in as many layers as you can. You don’t know when you are going to have to jump up and face a predator. Even leave your boots on. Tuck your pant legs into your boots and socks to keep out pests and snakes. And believe me that insects will eat you alive if you leave any body part uncovered. It may sound silly, but this is your best friend out here.” Randal said, stooping and scooping up a bit of mud from a soft place at the base of one of the trees they were walking past. “Smear mud on your face, hands, and any place that might be exposed. It will protect you from insect bites and really save you a whole host of issues in the morning.” He added, tossing the mud aside but not before drawing a pattern with his muddy fingers on his opposite hand. He smiled at her a little sheepishly and then laughed.
“Don’t forget your eyelids. I made that mistake once and woke up so mosquito bitten that my eyes were practically swollen shut.” He said with a chuckle causing Nya to join in. All and all, despite its beauty, the jungle did not sound like a fun place to be. It seemed even less hospitable to humans the more she learned about it.
Randal let her pick the next spot. He asked her to look for bamboo, shoots at least as thick as her wrists, some smaller, some larger, would be good. They were almost back to the settlement, on The Maw above what Nya guessed was the mercantile. She did as she was told, looking for high ground, off game trails, away from water, away from falling hazards, and all the other things Randal had pointed out.
“I learned something from my mother…” Nya admitted after a while. “Back when I was living on the boarder of Taldera and Sylira at Lormar Tower. She used to call site selection for shelters in the wood BLISS sites. Have you heard that term?” Nya asked, the memory rising up suddenly, almost startling her. She loved her mother and was pleased that words of wisdom trickled through even into this lesson.
Randal shook his head. “Never heard of it.” He said, looking thoughtful.
“It’s a … I forget the name for what they are called. Each letter stands for a phrase that means something. B stands for Blend In With Surroundings. L stands for Low Silhouette. I stands for Irregular Shape… she said never to build square shelters because they stood out too much. But she wanted to protect me. S stands for Small… like you taught as well. And the final S stands for Secluded Location. Its to help you remember how to build a shelter. I was very little when she was teaching me. I’d forgotten. Your teaching is causing me to remember.” Nya added, wondering if she sounded stupid or juvenile to Randal.
“Acronym.” He supplied the word for her and Nya nodded pleased he knew the term. “That’s a very good one Nya. I’m going to use it in my further teachings.” He said, repeating the word BLISS to himself multiple times until he felt he had it right. “Sometimes things like that help a great deal. One of my favorite is KISS. Do you know what that one stands for?” He asked, laughing.
Nya shook her head.
“Keep It Simple Stupid.” He supplied, causing Nya to laugh. They were still standing in front of the location Nya had selected at Randal’s request. He glanced around and then looked over at her. “What appeals to you about this location?” He asked, drilling her, wanting to know what her mindset was on selecting this one.
They'd walked for a while, a good bell, before they'd come upon this spot.
Nya looked thoughtful and then answered him without hesitation. “It has the bamboo you wanted. It is off a game trail, high above water, but there’s more. It’s sheltered and concealed from what I would consider enemies… people and predators. It’s got multiple escape routes…” She pointed out the easy ways down off the Maw leading to the settlement. “I can signal the settlement here, and there’s no rocks, dead trees, or anything like that from the rules you supplied.” She added. “It looks like it has no insects, deep leaf litter, and I’ve noticed no snakes as well.” Nya went on.
Randal smiled his approval. “Alright. Good. Let’s build a more serious shelter.” He added, clapping his hands together once to get them started.