Climb a tree to get a better view of the cave and its surroundings.

hide somewhere and watch it.

You have no information on the beast. That is crucial, so gather some.

You mentioned poison. What poison do you have access to?

Deciding that she could make no true plans without gathering more information, Eev made her way cautiously towards the river. Though it took her until well after midday, she finally found a tree that would give her an excellent vantage point over the valley leading to the river’s source. There were footprints scattered all about, and Eev was positive that if she just waited patiently then the beast would show up. After setting a quick snare trap to catch dinner, she scampered up the tree and made herself comfortable while she began to wait.

It was nearly twelve hours when something finally happened. Eev was seated high in the tree, eating the remains of a rat she had caught, when a scream pierced the night. Eev quickly dropped the bones and got ready, pulling her knife out as she scanned the ground for the monster. Eventually she saw it, moving noisily through the undergrowth as it lumbered along. The first thing that struck Eev was the size of the thing, nearly ten feet in length, and as least as tall as her shoulder. The second thing that she noticed was how it seemed to be moving rather jerkily. The left side of its body was obviously in pain. Even here she could see the blood still flowing from a fresh wound. It was scaled, and when it stepped out into the moonlight Eev was shocked to see that it was a pale white color, flecked with unhealthy red and brown streaks. The thing never stopped making noise, mostly snarling under its’ breath, but stopping occasionally to snap and howl at the air around it as if attacking invisible flies.

Suddenly, the thing stopped moving and went quiet all at once. The head moved about, and before Eev could even think about getting her spear ready the thing lumbered off again with intent. It stopped once more before going out of sight, and Eev was sure that the thing was catching its’ breath. It moved off again after a moment, and Eev was relieved to see that it was headed towards the marshes and not her village.

That relief was short lived as she began to think about the task at hand. Eev opened her pouch and took out a small clay jar wrapped tight in soft fur. Inside was a poison that she had milked from some local snakes, adding it in with other ingredients to make a paste that the tip of a spear or a knife could be dipped into. It usually did not kill larger animals or people, but it made Eev needed a plan if she were to take care of the beast.

Perhaps you can weaken it before you attack it. Does the poison smell strongly? If you leave some poisoned food out, that might be a good try.

while it's gone enter it's cave. it would never expect something to attack it in it's home.

>>402187
Oh, good plan. Set a trap to entangle it in a net or ropes or vines when it enters, if possible.

Don't bother messing around with poisoning the food. Go in his cave, set up a spike trap or something tipped with the poison, and gut him after giving the wound a few to fester. He seems like he's dying anyhow.

>>402207

Fight like a monitor lizard. With filth and time. Just what the foe deserves.

After checking one last time that the creature was out of earshot, Eev made her way down out of the tree and towards the thing’s cave as fast as she could. The entrance was large and looming, and the river flowed evenly to the left side, making a convenient path for her to enter on the right. The smell inside the cave was so powerful that it actually made her stop for a moment and catch her breath before entering again. The whole cave was oddly well lit, though she couldn’t see where the light was coming from. Not long after entering there were some oddly smooth steps that led down into a large open area, and all about Eev was horrified to see gore caking the walls. Pieces of bone and flesh were scattered with wild abandon, as if the monster had mostly torn its prey apart rather than eat it.

Managing to keep her food down with great difficulty, Eev was finally able to take her eyes away from the carnage. As she covered her mouth with a cloth and began breathing deeply, Eev saw something else that managed to drive even the thought of her surroundings out of her mind. Against the back of the cave was a dull metallic wall that gleamed in the low cavelight. Metal was something rare and precious in her village, and it never looked anything like this. There was clearly a door set into the left side of the wall, and metal tracks leading to another much larger door on the right.

After a full minute of wonderment, Eev straightened up and told herself that this was not why she had come. The death of the monster was all that mattered, and she would deal with all this afterwards. A search of the cave revealed nothing useful apart from one broken spear haft, so Eev quickly left the cave and gathered up a couple sturdy pieces of wood, dragging them back inside after listening intently for the creature. The next half hour was taken up with the laborious task of making points out of her three sticks, poisoning the tips, and setting them up at the bottom of the ramp angled up and towards the entrance before covering them with some leaves. Once she finished, Eev found a clean patch of ground near the strange metal wall and waited.

It was hours before anything happened. While she paced anxiously, Eev was aware of the light slowly dimming outside the cave, though that strange light persisted all around her. She was sure that the creature would make noise again as it had earlier, and was therefore shocked when the thing suddenly seemed to appear noiselessly in the mouth of the cave. In its’ mouth it held an enormous crocodile, over eight feet in length, though it was quite dead by now. There was an almost comical moment as the two stared at each other, both not knowing exactly what to do. The monster acted first, dropping the corpse and surging down the hill. It began to roar, white foam starting to form at the corners of its’ mouth, until it hit the spike trap. The broken spear haft, which was over four feet long and quite sturdy, was wedged solidly between two rocks. Buried at least a foot into the thing’s guts, it had stopped the forward momentum entirely.

Eev allowed herself a confident smirk. Now, when the creature backed off to rethink the situation, it would give the poison time to work. The smile died from her face however, when the monster merely snarled, and pulled itself forward anyhow. The spear haft remained stubbornly in place, and Eev could see the thing ripping through the creature’s insides, spilling guts and entrails everywhere. The horror had only a moment to sit in her mind, because while the thing was dying it was not dead yet. It snapped at her with long teeth, and she had to backpedal to not have her head taken off.

Bracing herself, Eev readied her spear as the monster prepared to snap at her again. When its’ head shot forward, Eev thrust at the same time, catching it in the eye. Pulling the spear out with a savage twist, Eev was able to get out of the way as the creature began thrashing around on the floor, leaking blood everywhere. It did not die slowly, but she watched every moment of it from a safe distance. Though she did feel some pity for the creature, especially because it seemed so pitifully weak and skinny, there was a grim satisfaction that completely smothered that feeling.

Finally, after the thing had stopped moving for nearly an hour, Eev noticed something among the scattered entrails that made her approach cautiously. There was a small glass-looking sphere, which was blinking slowly but steadily with a red light. With some hesitation, Eev reached down and picked up up gently, wiping the blood off with a scrap of cloth. It continued to pulse gently with that red light. Weighing it in her hand, Eev stared at the body of the dead creature. It began to dawn on her that she’d have to do something eventually. She couldn’t stay in this cave all night.

Go outside of the cave to clear your head. If you can, cook that crocodile for dinner. I think your best course of action after that would be to go through the door in the metal wall. We need to see what's over there.

All of this stuff is too weird not to investigate. Cook up that crocodile meat if it's not rotten and go through the metal door.

It might be better if you went back to your hometown and told everyone.

Cook the meat, open the metal door.

Exiting the cave for the time being, Eev gratefully breathed in the clean air. The smell of the creature’s dead body was already making her want to gag, and she was sure the thing had been dying well before her killing blow. Noticing the body of the dead crocodile, she decided this was now a safe enough location to camp and make a fire at. Slowly she got to work making herself a fire, and then began to gut and cook the huge reptile. It ended up taking hours, but Eev was glad of the chance to let her mind unwind with the triviality of it all. After she had eaten her fill and wrapped up as much crocodile meat as she could carry in large leaves, she was so tired that she just lay down on the river’s shore and slept.

The next morning Eev was awoken by flies, which were swarming all around the crocodile’s carcass. After drinking her fill from the river, she made her way back inside the cave, bracing herself for the worst. While the smell was certainly bad however, it wasn’t nearly as strong as when the monster died. Making her way down into the creature’s lair, Eev was shocked to find that the thing’s body was completely gone. The rest of the gore remained, those bits of its’ victims, but the beast and the entrails had vanished. Even the blood on the spear haft was gone, as if it had never existed. Hesitantly, Eev took out the bit of cloth she had used to wipe off the blinking orb. Even that blood had completely vanished, leaving a clean section of cloth. Deciding that she would just assume the beast dead, and feeling distinctly nervous now, Eev tried to put it out of her mind.

Making her way to the door, Eev stopped to examine it carefully. It was completely blank, with a small window set into the middle that was quite dark. Pushing and banging on the door got her nowhere, and after a moment of consideration she saw the small square panel set on the wall. It seemed to have the print of a hand, and hesitantly she laid her own on top. The door hissed and slid open, making Eev jump and nearly cry out in surprise. Within was a well-lit room, the walls all smooth brushed metal. Cautiously she entered, and the door slid shut behind her with a soft click. Inside was a large assortment of boxes, all with words printed on them which she could not read. At the far end of the room was another door with a larger window, which seemed to open up into another well-lit room.

Eev took a moment to decide her best course of action. The boxes in this room could be useful, but they could equally contain some kind of trap. Maybe it would be best to just continue through the other door.

Open a box from a distance--use the spear to do so.

Cautiously prodding one of the boxes, Eev was able to lever the thing open and the lid fell back to the floor with a crash. Looking inside, she could see that it was full of strange brown packages. Lifting one out with two fingers, she could see that it was flat on the edges but bulged in the middle, as if it contained something within. Pulling out her knife, Eev cut a small groove into the pouch and sniffed gingerly. A strange but meaty aroma met her nose, and throwing caution to the wind Eev tore the thing open. It was full of meat strips, drier than anything she had ever seen. Gingerly tasting one, she nearly spit it out at first. It was so salty!

As she took a drink of water, Eev began to marvel at this box. If these packages all contained meat, then this was enough to feed her for months. Now that she began to make out some details though, the packages were all labeled differently. That must mean that they contained a wide variety of foods.

Pocketing the open package, Eev was excited now. What else did this strange place contain? She was torn between searching more boxes and possibly exploring beyond this room.

One more box; if it's more meat, then enter the other room.

Search a few more boxes. Try to see if there's maybe some weapons.

Prying off another box top, Eev was surprised to see rows and rows of clear bottles, all labeled the same. Taking one out she was amazed to find that it was sort of hard, like glass, but also gave a little when she squeezed. It took a moment for her to screw the top off and sniff the liquid, then finding nothing unusual she drank. It was water, and while it tasted a bit strange it was also clean and delicious. Pocketing this bottle as well, Eev decided to just dump most of her crocodile meat in favor of some more packets of food and another bottle of water.

Opening one last box that was a much different size than the other two, Eev saw a few clear cases full of tiny glass bottles. Next to them was a metal object with a handle, a long needle sticking from the front, and a place where she supposed you were supposed to insert one of the glass bottles on top. Frowning, she replaced the lid. She didn’t know what these were for, so maybe it would be best to leave them for now.

Moving to the other door, Eev was glad to see that it slid open easily once she placed her hand upon the side panel. Stepping out into what looked like a long corridor, Eev was now forced to go left or right. Either way slowly curved out of sight, and she could see a few more doors as well. In front of her was a strange glass screen, which was flashing words in that same language she had been seeing. Above it was a yellow sign with black lettering. While she couldn’t read that either, it was pointing in either direction and the words had pictures next to them. Both directions had two pictures apiece; to the left was what a circle with two crossed knives under it, and a crescent moon. To the right was a red cross, and what looked like an eye.

To the left! Keep a knife ready.

Left sounds like a better idea, plus there may be people down that way.

Heading off to the left, Eev was shocked at how silent the place was. Drawing her knife made her feel a little better, so she kept it gripped tightly in her fist as she made her way down the corridor. There was nothing of note until she came across a pair of doors, thrown wide open, with another one of those strange glass screens set in the wall next to it. Inside were a number of long tables, and Eev was sure this was supposed to be some sort of communal eating room.

Before she could enter, the screen stopped scrolling random words and made a sort of face, which smiled at her. “Good morning! The breakfast special is going to be eggs sardou this morning, with a side of pecan waffles. Is there anything else I can assist you with?”

Eev’s mouth opened and shut in astonishment, so she just asked the first thing on her mind. “Where am I?”

The face in the screen didn’t stop smiling for a moment. “You are currently outside of the cafeteria. Are you lost? I can provide directions.”

Ask it where everything is.

"i'm.. new here."

“Yes, I’m... new here. Please, could you tell me where everything is?” Eev tries to sound casual while remaining on her guard, and she grips her knife firmly in case of a trick.

The face in the screen doesn’t even seem to notice the drawn knife. “Welcome, new recruit! It’s good to have you with us. Answering where everything is might take us a while, so why don’t I tell you about the surrounding features?” Instantly the face dissolved into a round, sectioned map. One of the sections was pulsing a light yellow, and Eev guessed that was where they were. Another one of the sections lit up. “These are the living quarters, located further down the hallway. There are also two entrances to the habitation, the nurse’s station and a recreation room. Of course, the section you are in now is the cafeteria. Is there anything I can help you find?”

Eev studied the map as she thought this over. The sections the screen was showing her was only a small portion of the map. This place must be huge if that were the case. She hardly covered any of the map at all heading down the corridor earlier.

Are the doors and room you came in through marked on the map, and if so, what are they labeled as?

I wonder if someone or something in this place took the beast's body. Maybe it wound up in the kitchen-- ask where the kitchen is.

Let's find a kitchen, good idea. I imagine it's in the back of the cafeteria. Maybe we can find some knives, at least.

Judging from the map, the place Eev had entered was one of the two ‘entrances to the habitation’ that the screen mentioned earlier. She can’t read what they’re labeled as on the map, and is glad that this screen speaks the same language as herself. “Excuse me, but where is the kitchen?”

Three sections began to gently pulse, all on the upper half of the map. “There are three cafeterias in the facility, and each is equipped with a full service kitchen. Please do not hesitate to ask me for more information.”

As the map disappeared, Eev moved as quietly as she could through the double doors and into the cafeteria. There were ten long tables, five on each side of the room, and through the back she could see directly into what must be the kitchen. Finding a door, she took a moment to listen before activating the panel to make it slide open. Every surface gleamed brightly with polished metal, and once again there wasn’t a trace of anyone. Searching around for anything useful, she was glad to find a whole drawer full of polished metal knives set neatly into rows using wooden blocks. She took the largest one with her, slipping it into her currently empty sheath.

There wasn’t much else of interest in the room. A large metal door in the corner opened up to a freezing room full of boxes with even more food inside, which she ignored. With a sigh, Eev didn’t see what else she could really do here. As for other places to explore, there was still the living quarters, recreation room and nurse’s station around here. Of course, she could also ask the screen for somewhere else to go as well.

try living quarters.