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Description

You want to see those little leather strips come off, courtesy of ? Whoo-hoo!

“Ti fala! Ti fala! Ti fala!

Ti fala Petchi-Petchi!

Turn your magic on, to me she'd say

Everything you want's a dream away

We are legends, every day

That's what she told him...

Turn your magic on, to me she'd say

Everything you want's a dream away

Under this pressure, under this weight

We are diamonds -

Said I can't go on, not in this way

I'm a dream that died by the light of day

Gonna hold up half the sky and say

‘Only I own me’ –

I feel my heart beating,

I feel my heart beneath my skin!

Oh, I can feel my heart beating

'Cause you make me feel

Like I'm alive again

Alive again!

Oh, you make me feel

Like I'm alive again…

Turn your magic on, to me she'd say

Everything you want's a dream away

Under this pressure, under this weight

We are diamonds taking shape -

We are diamonds taking shape -

Whoa hoo, woo hoo!

If we’ve only got this life

This adventure, oh then I –

If we’ve only got this life

You’ll get me through, I

If we’ve only got this life

And this adventure, oh then I

Wanna share it with you!

With you!

With you!

I said oh, say yeah!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!”

Coldplay, ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtXby3…

(Glorious, uplifting song from one of the most consistent bands around…

The amazing video of the guys as dancing monkeys never fails to lift my spirits…)

Tula as a character

While her brother speaks little of the ouslander language, Tula found she had a knack for it, and after Sylvia ‘Silver’ Rush came to her village, she quickly picked it up from her new friend. She acts as translator for her brother also, although in recent times, he has Becky for that. Tula is fairly fluent, although her diction is obviously not that of a native speaker, and she sometimes uses odd turns of phrase or concepts that don’t translate well into ouslander words. She is also quite young, barely having turned twenty, and for all her skill as a hunter and a warrior, she finds it hard to pick up the nuances with outlanders, not able to read their cues or their body-language. And she clearly doesn’t understand flirting or teasing:

TigerLily Quinn (teasing): “Is it true that you folks have a thousand words for dinosaurs?”

Tula: “No! Is not true! Worm-girl not make fun of Tula! Worm-girl say bad things!”

TigerLily: “Oh, get over yourself Pocahontas! I was only kidding!” “You’re not that pretty, so don’t think I’m always staring at you because of that! I just… like your tattoos and war paint, that’s all…”

While her brother was a steadfast protector of the tribes – and the champion for his village of Tu-Nom’ku when it came to ritual combat at tribal gatherings – Tula was instead supple and swift, easily able to navigate the treacherous water-ways of her village home. She was an excellent archer and huntress, who fought best from ambush or as part of a war party. She had natural enthusiasm, and a keen sense of direction that made her one of the finest trackers in the tribe. She was light and fast enough to navigate the tree-ways, or snipe at hostile creatures below. She was one of the few women to successfully join the Lodge of Snake Hunters, absorbing enough venom in small doses to become immune to all forms of poison. She was also an expert in dealing with the hostile serpent-men, able to recognise their totems and guide others away from their war-zones. She was strong enough to fight them if the need arose, but preferred leading them astray, or into other bands of different serpent tribes, where they would lose themselves in fighting each other.

But alone among her tribe, Tula desired other women, which made her an oddity and a misfit among her own kind. She did not take a man in mating season, preferring to remain away from Tu-Nom’ku and spend time with her brother – or alone – exploring the marshy mangroves and dark rivers. She sometimes even crept close to the old ruins, the dwelling-places of Those Who Came Before. The tribes shunned these places as coldharbours, remnants of an earlier civilisation who rose and fell long before their coming. Dark magicks and strange powers often played about these ruins, and it was taboo to set foot in them, in case curses and evil spirits were unleashed upon the tribes.

Silver’s arrival – half-dead and bedraggled, and lucky to be alive – caused quite a stir, although ouslanders were not unknown to the tribes. Some outsiders were hostile – bandits, outlaws and the like – and so they were careful and wary. Yet older tribals like the shaman and chieftain remembered those who came to them many seasons ago, those ouslanders who proved helpful and noble. The Man of Many Years was one such, an immortal cursed to walk the worlds until the Last Battle and the End of Days. He had helped them greatly, and been accepted in the tribe as one of their own. They gave him gifts of tribal relics, and he in return gave them ouslander artefacts, asking them to pass the items along to others who would come after him. They were sorry to see him go, and the Man of Many Years finally left them to walk into legend and myth.

In any event, Tula rescued the poor gunslinger who was certainly out of her depth wandering the jungle alone, and took her back to her village to rest and heal. The tribe was cautious, but eventually understood the ouslander woman meant them no harm, and in return, Silver agreed to help them out with some local problems – the rising Darkness that affected their jungle realm as much as her home in Brimstone. As they adventured together, guided by Tula and protected by Carin, Silver came to be a den-mother of sorts to the pair, just as she had been to the younger women of the Fallen Angels posse. Silver became very protective of the young girl, who was innocent and guileless despite her skills in her own environment. The pair had lost their parents when they were young, and Tula in particular looked up to, and idolised the worldly older woman… even if she did not return the wide-eyed affection with which the young tribal gazed at her. Silver admitted she found it flattering, but she had been wed to a man her own age, and so their relationship stayed platonic.

Tula was in a difficult predicament – she loved Tu-Nom’ku and her people, she loved Jargono, but she knew she felt out of place here, and would never live a normal life with children and family and a mate. And so she pestered Silver to take her back to her ouslander world, so she might satisfy her wanderlust and look upon new opportunities. Returning to Shannedam County, they met Jess Cartwright, a drifter who was looking for Silver – the gunslinger had first come to the swamps looking for a lost expedition for Doctor Drake, and most believed her dead or disappeared. As Jess discovered, Silver had hoped Drake would cure her terminal illness, but in the swamps she found a unique cure in the shape of a parasite that lived within her body. Jess agreed to help, and they returned to Jargono to discover that she was the daughter of the Man of Many Years, the Hero who had helped them long ago. While travelling together, Jess showed a passing interest in Tula, who was immediately smitten. Silver was over-protective of the girl, however, fearing that a wandering drifter might just break her heart and then abandon her when she needed something steady, something more. Jess promised to help the tribes, but after receiving gifts her father had left, and locating the remains of Drake’s missing expedition, she received some disturbing personal news that caused her to leave the posse and Jargono for good. Tula was very disappointed, but Silver quietly wondered if it wasn’t for the best – Jess had an acrimonious relationship with her own mother, and didn’t take well to anyone else trying to parent her.

About this time, they also met up with TigerLily Quinn, a young mutant girl who came from the caravans at Last Chance to help her fellow mutants in Seto’s Mill, the nearest Texian settlement to the Portal to Jargono. Together, they helped cure the sickness that was affecting both the mutants and the townsfolk, brokering a permanent deal between the two. Like many young mutants, TigerLily was flamboyant, dressing in black leather and lace, adorning her body with gothic tattoos and piercings, and showing off her mutations when she could. She also seemed to take an interest in Tula, but the native huntress found her mutations disturbing, her tentacle arm in particular reminding her of the fallen Azzi amazons, and the Worm That Walks. Tiger pointed out that it sounded like the Azzi ingested some kind of parasite, one that turned them into a writhing mess of tentacles, something very different from a mutant’s body-growths. Tula was unconvinced, and the pair remained in the posse together, but wary and skittish around the other despite a mutual attraction.

In time, the arrival of other outlanders like Doctor Drake, Nurse Rachael Radford and the teenage explorer Becky Youngerman, assisted the tribes with their problems, restoring a measure of peace and calm to the jungle. Tula’s brother Carin fell for Becky, and she convinced the easy-going tribal warrior to come with her when she left Jargono, to accompany her on the expedition to the Blasted Wastes. Tula did not want to hold her brother back, but felt more lonely and isolated than ever before. Carin had always been around – quiet and steadfast and unfussy – and Tula had not found the acceptance and love she left her homeland to discover. Seeing the girl was growing homesick and miserable, Silver decided she would introduce her to the Fallen Angels upon Laverne’s return from the Dragon Empires, maybe even taking her own place. She hoped the young tribal might find a home, even a lover, in an all-female posse of adventurers.

Rachael also split her time between Jargono and the Blasted Wastes, developing a deep fascination for the place, and writing a book on her experiences. Although she did not share Tula’s tastes in lovers, the two nonetheless became fast friends and Rachael began to feel responsible for the girl. She liked to explore and travel, and hoped that visiting new worlds and places would open the girl up to exciting new experiences, maybe even love?

A Tour of Jargono; expedition notes by Rachael Radford

“The Lost World of Jargono is a most fascinating experience. I felt a strange kinship to this shadowed realm when I first entered here… It has a strange way of casting a spell upon you. I am fascinated by the folk who live here, and the unique flora and fauna that seems to flourish in no other land on this earth. Not to mention the amazing medicinal properties of the plants to be found here. The tribes know much of herbal lore - handsome young Carin especially! Who imagined the bronzed warrior would have such green fingers, in the meticulous way he attends his plants? I should ask him of this… although perhaps that would not be wise. Young Rebecca – Becky, as she prefers to be known – seems to be attracted to him also, and I sometimes catch him glancing at her… much to his sister’s annoyance.

In any case, the Jargono peoples are surprisingly welcoming and friendly. While they were shy at first, and understandably cautious, they have been kind to us, allowing us to rest at their hidden villages where we may recuperate between expeditions without needing to return to the Earth-world. I am very much enjoying my time here. The people share their plant lore with me, and I help them with our own medicines. I am very concerned that we ‘ouslanders’, as they call us, might bring infections and illnesses they have not been exposed to – this could be catastrophic for a closed ecosystem like this one, as the people and fauna have not built up any immunity to these bacteria. I have inoculated the villagers as best I can with the medicines available. They seem very robust, and are quite striking physical specimens, spry and sprightly even when old. They are an interesting mix of Terran ethnicities, and something about the waters here seems to keep them healthy and vital. Carin’s sister Tula tells me that a friend of hers bought her dog here once, and he was cured of many skin infections and lesions. She seemed melancholy when she said this, and evidently misses her companion.

It is so refreshing and liberating to remove one’s garments and feel the spray of the jungle against one’s skin! Also, the brief leather outfits and straps of the tribes are far more practical for navigating the waterways than a gown or dress would be. I cannot imagine one could climb trees in a skirt! Most of my female companions seem to share my feelings in this, but the men are less approving. Becky could not wait to strip down to her cotton briefs and adorn herself with the tribal paint of our hosts. She is an exhibitionist, showing off to the young Carin, but I approve. The men have complained they ‘do not know where to look’. I suppose I understand. They have some cultural aversion to nudity that the tribals here evidently lack. It seems odd – the human body is a beautiful organism. But then, I do not truly belong in their world, nor am I affected by their cultural mores. I belong nowhere. I find that strangely comforting, that I am not bound by tradition nor the vagaries of society. Perhaps I might belong everywhere? The thought of it pleases me.

I wonder what dear Travis would think to see me so attired?? 😊 I shall keep this outfit when I return to him. He is not a young man, nor an old one, but he has typical attitudes of his people, I think. I know the wildness of his progeny embarrasses him. He is always so strong and stoic. I think I might enjoy making him flush a little.

While I am flattered by Tula’s attentions, I have explained I do not share her sexuality. She is clumsy in her affections, coltish and unsure. I feel oddly responsible for her; like an older sister, perhaps? I have no family; the other clones like me on the Vostro seem to have died or become corrupted. Having a pseudo-family seems a pleasant thing, I think. The mutant girl, Miss Quinn, seems smitten by her, but ironically Tula seems to find her repulsive. I find mutants strangely fascinating. Tiger seemed a little affronted when I offered to remove her mutations, saying they are a part of who she is. I respect that. I have mentioned to Tula that TigerLily is a mutant, and as such is most unlike the ‘Azzi’ she fears so much. Tula explained they seem to ingest some kind of worm – this must be the ‘Ouroboros’ that corrupts them so. Parasites and mutations are quite different things, I have assured her. Tula remains unconvinced. If only she could look beyond her appearance, she might even find the partner she desires so much. But humans seem to find her tentacle arm, the eyeball on her hip and the toothy maw in her throat to be off-putting. I am not human; who am I to judge?

Sylvia Rush - Silver – is a welcome companion in this place, but she is oddly insistent that I not examine her medically. She is less prudish than the menfolk, but more so than the younger women. While I do not wish to pry into her affairs, I find this matter unusual. Also, at times, she seems to be talking to herself… It is most strange. I am torn between wishing to know more and respecting the rights of my patients.

I am mapping our environs as we explore. Tula leads us well in dangerous places, and the equipment I recovered from the Vostro works admirably, despite the damp. My Bloodhound drone is invaluable in helping us navigate, able to fly above the thick canopy of trees. I must ensure it does not get eaten by some swamp predator, of which there are many here. Thankfully, none of them seem resistant to my Breaching Gun or Gilli Saw. Bullets and blades work the Worlds over, it seems; a fact for which I am glad.

Here are my findings, then. To the north, is our base camp, at the tribal village of Tu-Nomku, our hosts. Hidden by high ground, canyons and waterfalls, it is a place of astonishing beauty. The flowers and birds here are brighter than any I have ever witnessed, and the water here seems to have energising properties. Words alone cannot describe the sensation of showering in a waterfall pool using native cleansing oils!

Beyond the river fork south is wild land, where enormous carnosaurs hunt buffalo-like herbivores, and whatever else they can catch. These behemoths are the unquestioned apex predators of the jungles, and everything here is wise to fear them. Alone, they are terrifying – but they like to hunt in packs…! The smaller varieties can be inquisitive and even docile, however. They are most fascinating creatures, flourishing here in a world that has forgotten their kind.

To the west, where the river ends, is an intact stone temple of prodigious size. The tribes are deathly afraid of it, and will not even speak its name. They say that it is sacred to an unholy deity, something called ‘Yig’, the ‘Father of Serpents. Even Tula will not lead us there.

Our young guide has shown me where the other secret villages lie – she points out the other tribal dwellings of Al’Leha-De, Mus—Po’Nis, Sus’Qua’Ni, and Su-Ku’Mik. Sometimes, the tribes send representatives or envoys to other villages, to participate in ritual battle or choosing a mate. In this way, they seem to keep themselves from becoming too inbred, although there are only a few hundred of them at best. From what I have seen, they also accept those who become lost here in Jargono, travellers from other lands. They are quite literally new blood, and serve to expand the gene pool.

The most immediate threat here lies to the south and east, the dwellings of the so-called ‘serpent people’ – the Spawning Grounds. These folk are a strange amalgam of snake and men, and all seem implacably hostile. They are tenacious warriors too, preferring ambush and the use of poison arrows. It is fortuitous I know many remedies to such pernicious venoms! I do not boast when I say without my healing abilities, my friends would all be dead. Except one perhaps - Tula takes pride in that she has become inured to all poisons due to her participation in the Serpent-Hunter’s Lodge. The ritual sounds very painful, but she bears the scars well, and her bloodstream is now proof against any infection. I must study their rituals further.

In any case, the serpent-men are a perennial threat, more organised than the wild saurians. Tula has taught me some of their totems and warning signs so we might avoid them. There seem to be many tribes I have encountered, but a complete lack of friendly contact means I can only study their corpses. The ‘Yellow Tails’ are numerous, with their distinctive amber and black scales. As they are so plentiful, I suggest their breeding cycles are much faster than other tribes. What they lack in size, they make up for in numbers. The ‘King Moccasin’ tribe are heavyset and powerful, with sharp blue scales and black war-paint. They are slow, but even Carin respects their might. The ‘Bloodbanes’ have crimson scales, coming from the Dor’ahk blood-swamps of the south, and are known for their virulent poisons. The ‘Diamond Scales’ have greenish hide, and are more disciplined than other tribes, using tactics and fighting in formation. The ‘Striking Shadows’ have dark scales and prefer to attack with speed and ambush. Lastly, there are the ‘Ghost Snakes’ with their eerie pale coloration and black markings. There is something unsettling and sinister about them, and they are hard to kill even by the resilience of their species.

So many tribes, all of them sadly hostile to both men and one another. The only saving grace is that they seem very willing to make war on their rivals, allowing us to evade them when they battle each other.

I should also mention their shamans, the leaders of their tribes, who carry terrible cursed artefacts and cast diabolical spells. Although it defies reason and logic, I have first-hand experience that Magick is both real and extremely dangerous. Luckily, Becky is skilled enough to steal away some of their wicked relics – though even she is not rash enough to toy with them. We cast them into the deepest reaches of the swamps, where we must hope they will remain lost.

Tu-Nom'ku's chieftain has also told us where the source of their troubles lie. It seems we shall busy indeed if we are to help these folk! But help them we must, as they have offered us shelter, and we are all brothers and sisters against the Great Darkness.

To the south of here is a strange city of the dead, Amah’eh-Genok, which rests within the ‘Pillars of Bones’. There it is said fell powers make the dead walk again. I must say it does not sound promising.

Far to the south and east, beyond the lands of the serpent-men, is a place of standing stones amidst a ruined city, called the 'Void Necropolis'. Strange portals are open there, letting all manner of tentacled horrors into our world. Fortunately, Miss Quinn seems to know something of magick and the Void, and believes she might use her occult prowess to close the gates… if we can escort her there safely.

Then there is a ‘hell pit’, a chasm opened to the Caverns of Cynder, a tear in the living earth. It is marked by a serpent’s skull as the ‘Eye of Despair’. Again, one must hope Miss Quinn’s occult lore can help us seal this dimensional rift.

Finally, there is a giant step-pyramid, another remnant of the unknown civilisation that fell to ruin long before the tribes came here. It is enigmatically named the ‘House of Ayi’Ig’, which sounds alarmingly like the cursed temple to the west to these ears. And yet, I am getting readings from my sensors, emanations that remind me chillingly of the Vostro… and the fiend that has haunted my footsteps from there, the alien I have taken to calling the ‘Flesh Stalker’… What business could it have in this cursed realm? What might it intend for the tribes of Jargono? I must be on my guard, if this thing dogs my footsteps yet. Perhaps here I will find the means to end the hideous creature for good, this time…”

Description

You want to see those little leather strips come off, courtesy of ? Whoo-hoo!

“Ti fala! Ti fala! Ti fala!

Ti fala Petchi-Petchi!

Turn your magic on, to me she'd say

Everything you want's a dream away

We are legends, every day

That's what she told him...

Turn your magic on, to me she'd say

Everything you want's a dream away

Under this pressure, under this weight

We are diamonds -

Said I can't go on, not in this way

I'm a dream that died by the light of day

Gonna hold up half the sky and say

‘Only I own me’ –

I feel my heart beating,

I feel my heart beneath my skin!

Oh, I can feel my heart beating

'Cause you make me feel

Like I'm alive again

Alive again!

Oh, you make me feel

Like I'm alive again…

Turn your magic on, to me she'd say

Everything you want's a dream away

Under this pressure, under this weight

We are diamonds taking shape -

We are diamonds taking shape -

Whoa hoo, woo hoo!

If we’ve only got this life

This adventure, oh then I –

If we’ve only got this life

You’ll get me through, I

If we’ve only got this life

And this adventure, oh then I

Wanna share it with you!

With you!

With you!

I said oh, say yeah!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!

Whoo hoo! Whoo hoo!”

Coldplay, ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtXby3…

(Glorious, uplifting song from one of the most consistent bands around…

The amazing video of the guys as dancing monkeys never fails to lift my spirits…)

Tula as a character

While her brother speaks little of the ouslander language, Tula found she had a knack for it, and after Sylvia ‘Silver’ Rush came to her village, she quickly picked it up from her new friend. She acts as translator for her brother also, although in recent times, he has Becky for that. Tula is fairly fluent, although her diction is obviously not that of a native speaker, and she sometimes uses odd turns of phrase or concepts that don’t translate well into ouslander words. She is also quite young, barely having turned twenty, and for all her skill as a hunter and a warrior, she finds it hard to pick up the nuances with outlanders, not able to read their cues or their body-language. And she clearly doesn’t understand flirting or teasing:

TigerLily Quinn (teasing): “Is it true that you folks have a thousand words for dinosaurs?”

Tula: “No! Is not true! Worm-girl not make fun of Tula! Worm-girl say bad things!”

TigerLily: “Oh, get over yourself Pocahontas! I was only kidding!” “You’re not that pretty, so don’t think I’m always staring at you because of that! I just… like your tattoos and war paint, that’s all…”

While her brother was a steadfast protector of the tribes – and the champion for his village of Tu-Nom’ku when it came to ritual combat at tribal gatherings – Tula was instead supple and swift, easily able to navigate the treacherous water-ways of her village home. She was an excellent archer and huntress, who fought best from ambush or as part of a war party. She had natural enthusiasm, and a keen sense of direction that made her one of the finest trackers in the tribe. She was light and fast enough to navigate the tree-ways, or snipe at hostile creatures below. She was one of the few women to successfully join the Lodge of Snake Hunters, absorbing enough venom in small doses to become immune to all forms of poison. She was also an expert in dealing with the hostile serpent-men, able to recognise their totems and guide others away from their war-zones. She was strong enough to fight them if the need arose, but preferred leading them astray, or into other bands of different serpent tribes, where they would lose themselves in fighting each other.

But alone among her tribe, Tula desired other women, which made her an oddity and a misfit among her own kind. She did not take a man in mating season, preferring to remain away from Tu-Nom’ku and spend time with her brother – or alone – exploring the marshy mangroves and dark rivers. She sometimes even crept close to the old ruins, the dwelling-places of Those Who Came Before. The tribes shunned these places as coldharbours, remnants of an earlier civilisation who rose and fell long before their coming. Dark magicks and strange powers often played about these ruins, and it was taboo to set foot in them, in case curses and evil spirits were unleashed upon the tribes.

Silver’s arrival – half-dead and bedraggled, and lucky to be alive – caused quite a stir, although ouslanders were not unknown to the tribes. Some outsiders were hostile – bandits, outlaws and the like – and so they were careful and wary. Yet older tribals like the shaman and chieftain remembered those who came to them many seasons ago, those ouslanders who proved helpful and noble. The Man of Many Years was one such, an immortal cursed to walk the worlds until the Last Battle and the End of Days. He had helped them greatly, and been accepted in the tribe as one of their own. They gave him gifts of tribal relics, and he in return gave them ouslander artefacts, asking them to pass the items along to others who would come after him. They were sorry to see him go, and the Man of Many Years finally left them to walk into legend and myth.

In any event, Tula rescued the poor gunslinger who was certainly out of her depth wandering the jungle alone, and took her back to her village to rest and heal. The tribe was cautious, but eventually understood the ouslander woman meant them no harm, and in return, Silver agreed to help them out with some local problems – the rising Darkness that affected their jungle realm as much as her home in Brimstone. As they adventured together, guided by Tula and protected by Carin, Silver came to be a den-mother of sorts to the pair, just as she had been to the younger women of the Fallen Angels posse. Silver became very protective of the young girl, who was innocent and guileless despite her skills in her own environment. The pair had lost their parents when they were young, and Tula in particular looked up to, and idolised the worldly older woman… even if she did not return the wide-eyed affection with which the young tribal gazed at her. Silver admitted she found it flattering, but she had been wed to a man her own age, and so their relationship stayed platonic.

Tula was in a difficult predicament – she loved Tu-Nom’ku and her people, she loved Jargono, but she knew she felt out of place here, and would never live a normal life with children and family and a mate. And so she pestered Silver to take her back to her ouslander world, so she might satisfy her wanderlust and look upon new opportunities. Returning to Shannedam County, they met Jess Cartwright, a drifter who was looking for Silver – the gunslinger had first come to the swamps looking for a lost expedition for Doctor Drake, and most believed her dead or disappeared. As Jess discovered, Silver had hoped Drake would cure her terminal illness, but in the swamps she found a unique cure in the shape of a parasite that lived within her body. Jess agreed to help, and they returned to Jargono to discover that she was the daughter of the Man of Many Years, the Hero who had helped them long ago. While travelling together, Jess showed a passing interest in Tula, who was immediately smitten. Silver was over-protective of the girl, however, fearing that a wandering drifter might just break her heart and then abandon her when she needed something steady, something more. Jess promised to help the tribes, but after receiving gifts her father had left, and locating the remains of Drake’s missing expedition, she received some disturbing personal news that caused her to leave the posse and Jargono for good. Tula was very disappointed, but Silver quietly wondered if it wasn’t for the best – Jess had an acrimonious relationship with her own mother, and didn’t take well to anyone else trying to parent her.

About this time, they also met up with TigerLily Quinn, a young mutant girl who came from the caravans at Last Chance to help her fellow mutants in Seto’s Mill, the nearest Texian settlement to the Portal to Jargono. Together, they helped cure the sickness that was affecting both the mutants and the townsfolk, brokering a permanent deal between the two. Like many young mutants, TigerLily was flamboyant, dressing in black leather and lace, adorning her body with gothic tattoos and piercings, and showing off her mutations when she could. She also seemed to take an interest in Tula, but the native huntress found her mutations disturbing, her tentacle arm in particular reminding her of the fallen Azzi amazons, and the Worm That Walks. Tiger pointed out that it sounded like the Azzi ingested some kind of parasite, one that turned them into a writhing mess of tentacles, something very different from a mutant’s body-growths. Tula was unconvinced, and the pair remained in the posse together, but wary and skittish around the other despite a mutual attraction.

In time, the arrival of other outlanders like Doctor Drake, Nurse Rachael Radford and the teenage explorer Becky Youngerman, assisted the tribes with their problems, restoring a measure of peace and calm to the jungle. Tula’s brother Carin fell for Becky, and she convinced the easy-going tribal warrior to come with her when she left Jargono, to accompany her on the expedition to the Blasted Wastes. Tula did not want to hold her brother back, but felt more lonely and isolated than ever before. Carin had always been around – quiet and steadfast and unfussy – and Tula had not found the acceptance and love she left her homeland to discover. Seeing the girl was growing homesick and miserable, Silver decided she would introduce her to the Fallen Angels upon Laverne’s return from the Dragon Empires, maybe even taking her own place. She hoped the young tribal might find a home, even a lover, in an all-female posse of adventurers.

Rachael also split her time between Jargono and the Blasted Wastes, developing a deep fascination for the place, and writing a book on her experiences. Although she did not share Tula’s tastes in lovers, the two nonetheless became fast friends and Rachael began to feel responsible for the girl. She liked to explore and travel, and hoped that visiting new worlds and places would open the girl up to exciting new experiences, maybe even love?

A Tour of Jargono; expedition notes by Rachael Radford

“The Lost World of Jargono is a most fascinating experience. I felt a strange kinship to this shadowed realm when I first entered here… It has a strange way of casting a spell upon you. I am fascinated by the folk who live here, and the unique flora and fauna that seems to flourish in no other land on this earth. Not to mention the amazing medicinal properties of the plants to be found here. The tribes know much of herbal lore - handsome young Carin especially! Who imagined the bronzed warrior would have such green fingers, in the meticulous way he attends his plants? I should ask him of this… although perhaps that would not be wise. Young Rebecca – Becky, as she prefers to be known – seems to be attracted to him also, and I sometimes catch him glancing at her… much to his sister’s annoyance.

In any case, the Jargono peoples are surprisingly welcoming and friendly. While they were shy at first, and understandably cautious, they have been kind to us, allowing us to rest at their hidden villages where we may recuperate between expeditions without needing to return to the Earth-world. I am very much enjoying my time here. The people share their plant lore with me, and I help them with our own medicines. I am very concerned that we ‘ouslanders’, as they call us, might bring infections and illnesses they have not been exposed to – this could be catastrophic for a closed ecosystem like this one, as the people and fauna have not built up any immunity to these bacteria. I have inoculated the villagers as best I can with the medicines available. They seem very robust, and are quite striking physical specimens, spry and sprightly even when old. They are an interesting mix of Terran ethnicities, and something about the waters here seems to keep them healthy and vital. Carin’s sister Tula tells me that a friend of hers bought her dog here once, and he was cured of many skin infections and lesions. She seemed melancholy when she said this, and evidently misses her companion.

It is so refreshing and liberating to remove one’s garments and feel the spray of the jungle against one’s skin! Also, the brief leather outfits and straps of the tribes are far more practical for navigating the waterways than a gown or dress would be. I cannot imagine one could climb trees in a skirt! Most of my female companions seem to share my feelings in this, but the men are less approving. Becky could not wait to strip down to her cotton briefs and adorn herself with the tribal paint of our hosts. She is an exhibitionist, showing off to the young Carin, but I approve. The men have complained they ‘do not know where to look’. I suppose I understand. They have some cultural aversion to nudity that the tribals here evidently lack. It seems odd – the human body is a beautiful organism. But then, I do not truly belong in their world, nor am I affected by their cultural mores. I belong nowhere. I find that strangely comforting, that I am not bound by tradition nor the vagaries of society. Perhaps I might belong everywhere? The thought of it pleases me.

I wonder what dear Travis would think to see me so attired?? 😊 I shall keep this outfit when I return to him. He is not a young man, nor an old one, but he has typical attitudes of his people, I think. I know the wildness of his progeny embarrasses him. He is always so strong and stoic. I think I might enjoy making him flush a little.

While I am flattered by Tula’s attentions, I have explained I do not share her sexuality. She is clumsy in her affections, coltish and unsure. I feel oddly responsible for her; like an older sister, perhaps? I have no family; the other clones like me on the Vostro seem to have died or become corrupted. Having a pseudo-family seems a pleasant thing, I think. The mutant girl, Miss Quinn, seems smitten by her, but ironically Tula seems to find her repulsive. I find mutants strangely fascinating. Tiger seemed a little affronted when I offered to remove her mutations, saying they are a part of who she is. I respect that. I have mentioned to Tula that TigerLily is a mutant, and as such is most unlike the ‘Azzi’ she fears so much. Tula explained they seem to ingest some kind of worm – this must be the ‘Ouroboros’ that corrupts them so. Parasites and mutations are quite different things, I have assured her. Tula remains unconvinced. If only she could look beyond her appearance, she might even find the partner she desires so much. But humans seem to find her tentacle arm, the eyeball on her hip and the toothy maw in her throat to be off-putting. I am not human; who am I to judge?

Sylvia Rush - Silver – is a welcome companion in this place, but she is oddly insistent that I not examine her medically. She is less prudish than the menfolk, but more so than the younger women. While I do not wish to pry into her affairs, I find this matter unusual. Also, at times, she seems to be talking to herself… It is most strange. I am torn between wishing to know more and respecting the rights of my patients.

I am mapping our environs as we explore. Tula leads us well in dangerous places, and the equipment I recovered from the Vostro works admirably, despite the damp. My Bloodhound drone is invaluable in helping us navigate, able to fly above the thick canopy of trees. I must ensure it does not get eaten by some swamp predator, of which there are many here. Thankfully, none of them seem resistant to my Breaching Gun or Gilli Saw. Bullets and blades work the Worlds over, it seems; a fact for which I am glad.

Here are my findings, then. To the north, is our base camp, at the tribal village of Tu-Nomku, our hosts. Hidden by high ground, canyons and waterfalls, it is a place of astonishing beauty. The flowers and birds here are brighter than any I have ever witnessed, and the water here seems to have energising properties. Words alone cannot describe the sensation of showering in a waterfall pool using native cleansing oils!

Beyond the river fork south is wild land, where enormous carnosaurs hunt buffalo-like herbivores, and whatever else they can catch. These behemoths are the unquestioned apex predators of the jungles, and everything here is wise to fear them. Alone, they are terrifying – but they like to hunt in packs…! The smaller varieties can be inquisitive and even docile, however. They are most fascinating creatures, flourishing here in a world that has forgotten their kind.

To the west, where the river ends, is an intact stone temple of prodigious size. The tribes are deathly afraid of it, and will not even speak its name. They say that it is sacred to an unholy deity, something called ‘Yig’, the ‘Father of Serpents. Even Tula will not lead us there.

Our young guide has shown me where the other secret villages lie – she points out the other tribal dwellings of Al’Leha-De, Mus—Po’Nis, Sus’Qua’Ni, and Su-Ku’Mik. Sometimes, the tribes send representatives or envoys to other villages, to participate in ritual battle or choosing a mate. In this way, they seem to keep themselves from becoming too inbred, although there are only a few hundred of them at best. From what I have seen, they also accept those who become lost here in Jargono, travellers from other lands. They are quite literally new blood, and serve to expand the gene pool.

The most immediate threat here lies to the south and east, the dwellings of the so-called ‘serpent people’ – the Spawning Grounds. These folk are a strange amalgam of snake and men, and all seem implacably hostile. They are tenacious warriors too, preferring ambush and the use of poison arrows. It is fortuitous I know many remedies to such pernicious venoms! I do not boast when I say without my healing abilities, my friends would all be dead. Except one perhaps - Tula takes pride in that she has become inured to all poisons due to her participation in the Serpent-Hunter’s Lodge. The ritual sounds very painful, but she bears the scars well, and her bloodstream is now proof against any infection. I must study their rituals further.

In any case, the serpent-men are a perennial threat, more organised than the wild saurians. Tula has taught me some of their totems and warning signs so we might avoid them. There seem to be many tribes I have encountered, but a complete lack of friendly contact means I can only study their corpses. The ‘Yellow Tails’ are numerous, with their distinctive amber and black scales. As they are so plentiful, I suggest their breeding cycles are much faster than other tribes. What they lack in size, they make up for in numbers. The ‘King Moccasin’ tribe are heavyset and powerful, with sharp blue scales and black war-paint. They are slow, but even Carin respects their might. The ‘Bloodbanes’ have crimson scales, coming from the Dor’ahk blood-swamps of the south, and are known for their virulent poisons. The ‘Diamond Scales’ have greenish hide, and are more disciplined than other tribes, using tactics and fighting in formation. The ‘Striking Shadows’ have dark scales and prefer to attack with speed and ambush. Lastly, there are the ‘Ghost Snakes’ with their eerie pale coloration and black markings. There is something unsettling and sinister about them, and they are hard to kill even by the resilience of their species.

So many tribes, all of them sadly hostile to both men and one another. The only saving grace is that they seem very willing to make war on their rivals, allowing us to evade them when they battle each other.

I should also mention their shamans, the leaders of their tribes, who carry terrible cursed artefacts and cast diabolical spells. Although it defies reason and logic, I have first-hand experience that Magick is both real and extremely dangerous. Luckily, Becky is skilled enough to steal away some of their wicked relics – though even she is not rash enough to toy with them. We cast them into the deepest reaches of the swamps, where we must hope they will remain lost.

Tu-Nom'ku's chieftain has also told us where the source of their troubles lie. It seems we shall busy indeed if we are to help these folk! But help them we must, as they have offered us shelter, and we are all brothers and sisters against the Great Darkness.

To the south of here is a strange city of the dead, Amah’eh-Genok, which rests within the ‘Pillars of Bones’. There it is said fell powers make the dead walk again. I must say it does not sound promising.

Far to the south and east, beyond the lands of the serpent-men, is a place of standing stones amidst a ruined city, called the 'Void Necropolis'. Strange portals are open there, letting all manner of tentacled horrors into our world. Fortunately, Miss Quinn seems to know something of magick and the Void, and believes she might use her occult prowess to close the gates… if we can escort her there safely.

Then there is a ‘hell pit’, a chasm opened to the Caverns of Cynder, a tear in the living earth. It is marked by a serpent’s skull as the ‘Eye of Despair’. Again, one must hope Miss Quinn’s occult lore can help us seal this dimensional rift.

Finally, there is a giant step-pyramid, another remnant of the unknown civilisation that fell to ruin long before the tribes came here. It is enigmatically named the ‘House of Ayi’Ig’, which sounds alarmingly like the cursed temple to the west to these ears. And yet, I am getting readings from my sensors, emanations that remind me chillingly of the Vostro… and the fiend that has haunted my footsteps from there, the alien I have taken to calling the ‘Flesh Stalker’… What business could it have in this cursed realm? What might it intend for the tribes of Jargono? I must be on my guard, if this thing dogs my footsteps yet. Perhaps here I will find the means to end the hideous creature for good, this time…”