Choose Your Own Adventure - The Abominable Snowman

[LilyElizabeth]

I thought it might be fun to do a Choose Your Own Adventure. They are popular on other parts of DM, so I figured, let's try it out and bought a couple of books. 

 

 

The way this works is I will type part of a story, and when there is a choice to be made, any of you that want to will type in a choice. Majority rules. 

 

So begins your aventure....

 

 

 

You and your best friend Carlos have traveled to Nepal in search of the fabled Yeti or abominable snowman. Last year, while the two of you were mountain climbing in South America, a guide told you about the legendary creature and you haven't stopped thinking about the Yeti since. Carlos arrived and went straight into the mountains when a Yeti sighting was reported. He hasn't been heard from in three days. A late monsoon storm has moved in and the mountains are almost impassable. You know Carlos will depend on you to do the right thing. But what is it?

 

You are a mountain climber. Three years ago you spent the summer at a climbing school in the mountains of Colorado. Your instructors said that you had natural skills as a climber. You made rapid progress, and by the end of the summer you were leading difficult rock ad ice climbs. 

 

That summer, you became close friends with Carlos. The two of you made a good climbing team. Last year you and he were chosen to join an international team. The expedition made it to the top of two unclimbed peaks in South America.

 

One night on that expedition, the group was seated around the cook tent at the base camp. The expedition leader, Franz, told stories of climbing in the Himalayas, the highest mountains in the world. 

 

The Himalayas form a great natural wall between India and China, with Nepal tucked in amid the peaks. Everest, K2, and Annapurna are the best-known mountains in the Himalayas. These and many other peaks have been climbed. Still others lie in remote areas where few humans have gone. There, said Franz, in the high valleys beneath the snow fields, lives the Yeti, sometimes called the Abominable Snowman. 

 

"The Yeti is said to be a huge beast," Franz tells you, "perhaps a cross between a gorilla and a human. People cannot agree what it is."

 

"is the Yeti dangerous?" Carlos asked. 

 

Franz shrugged. "Some say it is. Other people say the Yeti is very gentle."

 

"Have you ever seen one?" you inquire.

 

"No. Almost no one has. The best proof of the Yeti's existence is a set of very large footprints discovered in the 1950's by a British expedition. No one has ever photographed one that I have heard." Franz answers. "But still the stories persist."

 

You and Carlos decide then and there to find the Yeti. When you returned from South America, the two of you raised money from the International Foundation For Research Into Strange Phenomena. Your goal: proof positive that Yeti exist. You will find and photograph the Yeti. 

 

That is what brings you to Katmandu, the capital of Nepal. Your problems, thought, have already begun. Two days ago Carlos left by helicopter to look over the terrain near Mt. Everest. The helicopter returned without him. The pilot told you that Carlos decided to stay up at the Everest base camp to check out a report that a Yeti had been seen. He had a radio transmitter, but you have received no word from him. The weather turned bad and radio communication was interrupted. 

 

You have an appointment to speak with R.N. Runal, the Director of Expeditions and Mountain Research and an authority on the Yeti. He knows of your plans. You need his help with official permits for the expedition. He will also have good advice and information. 

 

But what about Carlos?

 

 

 

 

 

Do you decide to cancel your meeting with Runal and search for Carlos? Or do you feel that Carlos is okay and you go ahead with your plan to meet Runal?

 

 

[al'Leif Dratoran]

Continue to the meeting with Runal!

I think this will quite fun! Good (if borrowed) idea Lily

[al'Leif Dratoran]

Hey I'm starting one of these over with the Ogier okay, I wanted to let you know. Also it is from the same series by R. A. Montgomery, Journey Under the Sea.

[Moon Sedai]

Continue!

[Niniel]

Meet Runal.

[LilyElizabeth]

I'll move on tomorrow morning, with whatever the majority decides. 

[al'Leif Dratoran]

ok

[LilyElizabeth]

I'm running late today.... On with the adventure....

 

 

You walk down a street bordered by tall pines. They are green-blue, and the branches and needles are very fine and delicate. Hanging from the upper branches are what look like huge, tear shaped, blackish-brown fruit. Then one moves, spreads giant wings and flaps off. They are bats, the largest bats you have ever seen!

 

You reach the Foreign Ministry, and you are shown to a waiting room. You wait a few minutes and then are ushered in to meet R. N. Runal, Director of Expeditions and Mountain Research for the Nepalese government. 

 

"Welcome to our country. We wish you success. But I have some bad news. The expedition you have proposed could be very dangerous."

 

You look at him, now knowing what to expect. 

 

"Recently, a large expedition set out without telling us that they were going after the Yeti." says Runal. "They used guns and traps, and tried to kill one of them. The Yeti are angry.:

 

:Mr, Runal, we just want to find a Yeti. We have no intention of hurting a Yeti."

 

"I know that. We have checked up on you. It is a shame about the others. I must advise against going into Yeti territory - I could arrange a trip for you into the Terai region, out of the mountains. in the jungle area. You could photograph and study the tigers. They are famous, and also dangerous. Later, perhaps, you could conduct the expedition you are leading."

 

 

Do you decide to go ahead with the expedition for the Yeti?

 

Or do you decide to postpone the expedition to let the Yeti calm down and go on to the Terai region in search of tigers?

[Moon Sedai]

Postpone! 

[Niniel]

Go ahead

[al'Leif Dratoran]

Let us be daring, and seek to find the Yeti!

[LilyElizabeth]

Fridays are my Pathfinder days, so if I don't get to this in the morning, it will be Saturday. 

[LilyElizabeth]

"I appreciate your warning and kind offer of the alternative to go to the Terai," you say. "We are committed to this expedition. We will search for the Yeti with openness and friendship."

 

R.N. Runal nods his head and speaks quickly to his assistant in Nepal. Within minutes, you have the necessary papers for the expedition, stamped in the proper places with the official seal of the Nepalese government. As you shake hands before leaving, he stops you. "If you are determined to go on your expedition, it could be easier and safer if I come with you."

 

What should you do? Having a government official along with you might just cause delays and bureaucratic snafus. On the other hand, he could  also smooth the way. 

 

 

 

 

Do you accept Runal's offer to join you?

 

Or do you decline his offer?

[Niniel]

Accept

[al'Leif Dratoran]

Yes, accept.

[Moon Sedai]

Accept

[LilyElizabeth]

Now that he's a member of your expedition, Runal sends out a government team to set up your base camp and find Carlos. Success! Carlos is found and rejoins you. Runal turns out to be an excellent team member. Six porters carry your food and tents and supplies. This leaves you free to explore the steep valley sides and the small villages along the way. 

 

The days are long, beginning at first light and going until sunset. Your legs ache from the constant pounding as you walk along the narrow trails which have served these Nepalese people for hundreds of years. Above you are bright blue skies dotted with clouds. The snow and ice flanks of Lhotse, Pumori, and Everest rise above the green of the lower slopes. 

 

As you approach a village, Runal points out a large building with a red roof, which stands above the small, neat houses clustered about it. 

 

"That's the monestery where there lives a monk, a Buddhist monk, who has lived with the Yeti."

 

"But I thought no one had really seen one. I thought no one alive had spent time with the Yeti."

 

Runal answers, "A well-kept secret. Those who share the secret knowledge of the Yeti are pledged to reveal this knowledge only to appointed people. You, and you alone, are one of the appointed. It has been seen in the stars; it has been read in your hand."

 

"What do you mean? Who saw it in the stars? Who read my hand?"

 

Runal does not answer for several minutes. Then he speaks. "If you accept the secret knowledge, your life will change. You will never be the same. Decide now."

 

 

 

 

Are you ready for the secret knowledge of the Yeti , and the responsibility that goes with it?

 

Or do you reject the offer of secret knowledge?

[Moon Sedai]

I am Ready! 

[Niniel]

Ready!

[Pralaya]

Ready !

[LilyElizabeth]

When I read the choices, I thought "Why would anyone say no?" lol

[al'Leif Dratoran]

Absolutely ready!

[LilyElizabeth]

"I gladly accept your offer. I am ready for the knowledge."

 

"Come with me." He leads you to the monastery. Carlos stays behind.

 

You and Runal enter the monastery through a huge wooden door. It is dark inside, but you make out the figure of an old man seated on the floor. Behind him is a statue of Buddha. The man welcomes you and motions you to sit before him. You see that he is wearing the robes of a monk. You are served yak-butter tea, a thick broth that you find hard to swallow. 

 

"Listen well with heart, head, and body. Listen with eyes more than with ears. Heed the cry of the Yeti," the old monk tells you.

 

You can hear the bells in the distance and wind in the pine trees just outside the window. It is beautiful. 

 

You sit for what seems like hours, listening with your whole being. 

 

Finally, the monk speaks.

 

"Time to go on the next journey."

 

"What journey?" you ask. This is getting weird. 

 

"A continuation of the one you are already on," he replies. 

 

 

Do you agree to take the journey?

 

Or do you decide that you are not prepared to change your life forever?

[Moon Sedai]

why wouldn't I take the journey? It's why I came all this way! 

[Niniel]

Of course!