So, I have two characters who need to rough it a bit in the rainforest (on a distant planet) but I assume it would be similar to the ones we have on earth. I would like to know about the dangers there (WITHOUT PICTURES, PLEASE!! That's why I'm not using Google) so I can create a believable struggle. I also want to know what food they might have and such. Note there are no environmental protection laws, so some trees are going to chopped down for shelter and firewood. I also want to know about weather and whatever else might be relevant to survival. Thanks!
Dangers? Insects. Reptiles. Mammals. Plants. Disease. The weather. Chopping down trees for firewood isn't going to work very well, unless the wood is very dry. And starting a fire when the wood all around you in a thick forest is very dry isn't a good idea, although rainforests being in humid climates, extreme dryness doesn't happen much, but it *does* happen: https://rainforestfoundation.org/engage/brazil-amazon-fires/ Unless you're a botanical expert, if you pick random fruits or mushrooms to eat, you might as well just shoot yourself, it'll be quicker. Water - leeches, parasites, dysentery, crocodiles. Things you could eat - papaya, breadfruit, bats, snakes, various insect grubs, river dolphins, other party members. Better NOT to eat the fish unless you can cook them thoroughly, freshwater fish are very prone to parasite infections, so unless you like having tapeworms or liver flukes...
Are there any Indigenous people living there? Is it a tropical (think the Amazon) or a temperate (think British Columbia) rainforest?
Oh, this is going to be fun. I appreciate the advice on food. Because I was rather stumped as to WHAT they could eat. But good to know there is something. Also, could they hunt crocodiles?
Yeah, there are. But they are now on a barren portion of land that is uninhabited, because the big evil corporation just gave this land back to the indigenous people as a token of 'goodwill'. But we all know, as do the characters, the evil execs are going to take it back once it's revitalized. So, the locals sent two main characters there to protect the land. Because the main characters also need to go into hiding, because politics. This is the story I have been writing about in my progress journal. And oh, yeah! It's tropical. So, they are pretty screwed!
Good! Because they only have like 2 days of food. Thankfully, the characters are pretty hardy, because lore. But what do you advise they make a shelter out of? There are trees and I assume palm froms would be a good start. But eventually, the palm trees could be good.
Probably the number one thing is finding drinkable water. Do they know the plants? Which ones are drinkable, and which ones are edible? Maybe they will have to build an elevated shelter to protect themselves from predators? Do they know what is poisonous and what is not? If they have any contact with the Indigenous people there, that would be a rich source of information.
Drinkable water is easy, because in-story magic. But we have to wait for the ice mage to wake up, which might be a few days. But the person who left them there is a local, so was giving them the rundown of what not to do. Also, with a reminder to boil water before drinking it. Which would be easy due to magic. I think food will be more difficult to find than water. Oh, yeah. An elevated shelter might be a good idea. As for predators, I think the land has been abandoned long enough that predators that were once driven from the area would return. Their friend told them to not eat any mushrooms, don't go near the carnivorous plants, and stuff. I can send you the line of dialogue. And yes! That's who sent them to this place. There are a lot of politics for why, but yeah, someone will most likely send some help in a week or so. Depending on the situation. But they do have people who live there who can help them in the long run.
There are some palms that grow in rainforests, but you won't get typical fruit bearing palms. For shelter, branches and leaves. Remember that forest canopies of tropical rainforests are much higher and denser than temperate forests. I suggest you research the kind of trees and plant life that grows in the type of rainforest you want to depict.
I want to do the research. The only hitch is, I am actually afraid of mushrooms. I can't stand them and they scare me so badly. So, I might just go generic and hope for the best! Because I just can't.
For water, if they have something to boil it with, they're probably safe as long as it's not actually toxic. Otherwise, drinkable water can be gotten out of several types of wild grape vines. But again, some of them are potentially poisonous, but the liquid that comes out usually has a different appearance or smell.
I really don't want to use AI... Maybe I can just search around for non-picture resources. (I appreciate the suggestion, though.)
Not unless the rainforest happens to be part of Australia (or an Australian-esque) setting, or otherwise an Egyptian/Egyptian-esque one. You'll only find crocs in Egypt and northern Australia - think QLD (Queensland) and NT (Northern Territory). Only the truly insane or desperate would try to hunt crocodiles. Those things like to laze about in the sun nearly rivers and creeks, close to water, but they are seriously fast. They can turn on you like a dime. Also, they (and alligators, which are different) are the only animals that survived almost unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs. Admire them if you like, but do not approach. Having said that, there are seriously mad quack-a-loons (a word I just made up, feel free to filch it ) living in north QLD and the NT. The NT News, which covers news in the Northern Territory, regularly runs stories about people who go swimming with crocs, or try to swing across croc-infested waters on a vine (a la Tarzan), or do similarly crazy things (like sticking a lit firecracker up their own, um ... fundament). I'm not kidding. Here are two typical NT News front pages: G'day, Bait! (Croc tries to jump into a fishing boat) Dumb and Dumber (two people trying to cross a river infested with crocs) (And trust me, there are many much worse ones. References to genitalia or people in the buff are not uncommon. I'd say the NT, in terms of news, is pretty close to Florida). Also, crocs and alligators are different. Here: differences between crocodiles and alligators ... although clearly, you don't want to tangle with either of them, unless you have lots of firepower. Anything, even rat, will taste like chicken or pork if you're hungry enough ... and have enough spices to disguise the taste. As for predators ... the most venomous spider in the world are in south America, and not - despite our reputation - in Australia. (Google "Brazilian Wandering Spider", but only if you're not squeamish or suffering from arachnophobia, like me. I took one look at that thing and ... uuugghhh!) *shudder* On the other hand, we have lots of things that can kill you down here. Even some of the sheep. (No joke; here is a story from Sydney in 1939, in which a sheep killed a man. More recently, a sheep killed a couple in New Zealand last year). This is a very good point. *nods* Obviously you won't have any Aztecs, Incas, Mayans, Olmecs or what have you -- but you might have Tapemixtecs (Tape-mix + Mixtec tribe), Inkadinkadon't, members of the Angeline Empire (go Maya Angelou and/or Angevin Empire!), or whatever you like. You could even call your people members the "Angeline Empire, who were jolly all the live-long day", though I think Angelina Jolie might object. Anyway, you can call them anything you like. Never mind my silly suggestions. For weapons, they might use clubs with spikes of beautiful-but-deadly obsidian, spears with exquisitely carved obsidian tips, or maybe a battle-rattle (a kind of noisy firework that you throw at the enemy from a sling; reference to the atl-atl). Obviously, if their technology more advanced than that, my suggestions are useless. I'm just basing them on weapons the Aztecs used; the macuahuitl or obsidian-edged club might look primitive, but it's damn scary. What about the people who work for the Big Evil Corporation™? I assume they'd have weapons too -- nominally for self-defense, but more probably so they can Conquer the Indigenous Tribes©. (Damn you, Hernando Cortez!) *shakes fist*
I'd get yourself one of those basic Boy or Eagle Scout books from the 50s. They have simple survival guides meant to be executed by kids. Lots of great random stuff in those series. I was flipping through some of them in an antique shop the other day and was like, damn, you can learn how to do anything from these.
OK, caimans not crocodiles. When it's trying to eat you, you're probably not dwelling on the distinction: Spoiler You'll find actual crocodiles in the rainforests and wetlands of the Orinoco delta ecosystem, although they are now critically endangered,
Well, my main female character is kinda desperate, but is more likely to go for fruit first. But, once she makes some bombs or something (thanks magic and the periodic table! I love you, calcium!!) she will be set. Might rival Florida man for most crocs sent flying. But yeah, it won't be easy to get these crocs, to say the least. At least she isn't going to die from doing this. (Because story lore.) Also, I am so glad AUS is so far away from the USA. The thought of Florida Man meeting NT Man is a terrifying. It could bring the world to an end. (Would make a great movie.) Well, shit. My characters have 0 spices. Guess they are going to rough it. And thanks for the warning. I won't be googling that. And oh, I didn't know sheep would kill someone, but good to know they are dangerous, too. Sadly, this is a Sci-Fi story, so it's set in a whole other solar system. Earth may exist, though. It most likely does as people have human shape. And yeah! I love those weapons. I heard they would go right through the steel armor of the Spanish. I am going to play around with some of that style of weapon and also I wonder if diamonds would be sharper.
Yeah, running away doesn't give you much information. But yeah, crocs are scary and it's really fun when you see them sunbathing and know 'they could eat me for a snack'. Super-scary. I was in Celebration, Florida and I was not sure if I was more scared of the over-friendly squirrels or the crocs more. Because the crocs would wander or be sunbathing.
I know that's not what you meant, but now I have a mental picture of kids taking these books and hanging them from a noose. Or standing them against the wall for a firing squad. "Firing squad, attennnnnnn-HUT! TAKE ... aim!" Cue pages exploding out of ribbons and book jackets disintegrating into shreds. *picks up an empty, bereft, hardcover shell, without string or pages* Alas, poor Scout book. I knew it, Horatio; a book of infinite guidance ... well, not exactly infinite, but, um, it wasn't doing too badly ... but maybe this isn't the best time to quibble on such things. (Sorry. Once I had the mental picture, I just had to run with it). My oh-so-hilarious jokes aside, I heartily recommend PDF Drive for starters. This website is a huge database of long-out-of-print books that are now available as PDFs. You may find something there ... I tried searching it for "1950s boy scouts" and found many results, though most of them were from 2010 or later.
Far be it from me to dispute ... but according to the wiki-article, caimans are native to Central and South America, not northern Australia. *shrug* In northern Australia, you'll find both the freshwater crocodile and the saltwater crocodile (colloquially known here as a "saltie"). Salties are huge (up to 20 ft long is common), very quick, aggressive and dangerous. They're easily the biggest reptile alive, weighing in at anything from 2,200 lbs to 3,300 lbs. You're right about the Orinoco crocodile, of course. But there are many subspecies of crocs. And yes, I was wrong to say there are "only" crocs in Australia and Egypt. You're absolutely right! My apologies. In my defense, I can only say that I'm most familiar with the Aussie and Egyptian ones. The Nile crocodile is (in)famous and rightly feared, so much so that the ancient Egyptian fishermen created the crocodile-headed god Sobek to defend them from crocodile attacks. He later grew to become a god of war, protection to pharaohs, and so on.
