After the last stretch of the path I had managed to make it to safety with 800 blood-drops, just enough to gain one level.

Again, I poured out the goblet onto the roots of the sacred tree and drunk deeply.

I had decided that it made the most sense to invest +1 into my VIT stat, which increased my max HP to 616.

The path ahead up from the new save-waqa led up towards a long, multi-storied fortress, hewn out of a cliff-face, above which towered a great and ornate spire. It had the imposing scale and the presence of a gothic cathedral, but the architecture style had a more cyclopean and earthy quality, as if molded out of the mountain or packed with wet sand, and the visible motifs on the outside were of stars, moons, and suns upon deep red walls.

To make it to the great complex up ahead, I needed to cross the first of two stone bridges which led over a long, deep dry moat.

As I started to cross the first bridge I looked far down to see the vast, dusty trench below littered with thousands of bones and skeletons. Were these unfortunate like-minded seekers who had failed in their quest, or were they cast-aways from the temple, discarded and disposed of once their supplication was no longer of sustenance to the divinity that dwelt therein?

On the other end of the bridge huddled another gaggle of forlorn alms-seekers, just as with the first poor wretches I had encountered in the game.

These undead beggars were more belligerant, hopping to their feet and barreling towards me on the narrow bridge with their stubby stone daggers. I deflected the first lunge of the knife and lashed back with two hits of -129 and -134 damage in turn, sending the first teetering off the ledge of the suspended walkway and into the great sea of failures, swelling the ranks of the broken below.

The next of the ghoulish unfortuates, that had run up just behind his comrade, froze up in fear at my approach, only to be knocked off the platform with a single kick of my boot, casting him off into the dust-choked abyss below.

+ Blood-Drops Gained - 135

A tall plateau stood sandwiched between the two arching bridges. Atop the suspended island were the remains of a dilapidated maudle-and-daub house. Looking upon the ruin, I wondered who must have lived there and what lay inside such a curious lair.

I opened the door and walked inside. The house appeared to comprise two rooms at ground level and a flight of mudbrick stairs leading to a second story.

I first explored the downstairs, rummaging through the cupboards of the kitchen to find...

+ Item Gained - Llama Jerky

Its use description read: 'Restores a modest amount of health'

Its lore read: 'Llama meat freeze-dried at high elevation, perfect sustenance for long-term rations! The weary traveler's favorite snack!'

+ Item Gained - Ripe Potato

Its use description read: 'restores a small amount of health'

The lore read: 'It still looks edible... maybe...'

+ Item Gained - Koka Leaf Bundle

While I had been greedily trespassing I had failed to notice an ambusher had emerged behind me from a storage closet and stabbed me square in the back with a butcherknife for a whopping -500 damage.

I quickly turned round and diced my oppurtunistic attacker in a hasty chain three beatings for -143, -129, -132 damage.

Luckily I still had a piece of Uyuchu fruit, which restored me back to full HP.

The downstairs exhausted, I crept up to the top floor and began to investigate the various tresures I found in the past inhabitants' living quarters.

In that upper room was a sleeping mat strewn with blankets, underneath which lay a lumpy mass that was roughly the length of a man's height. The sound of flies buzzed throughout the room.

Next to the bedding rested a wooden chest in which I found...

+ Item Found - Hermit's Hat

It was a patchy wide-brimmed hat.

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 8 STRK-PROT: 9 SLSH-PROT: 8 THRS-PROT: 8 MAG-PROT: 10 FIR-PROT: 5 LIG-PROT: 6 POIS-RES: 0 TOX-RES: 6 BLD-RES: 5 CUR-RES: 0

+ Item Found - Hermit's Gown

It was a loose white cotton gown sporting patches of dark stains.

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 20 STRK-PROT: 22 SLSH-PROT: 21 THRS-PROT: 20 MAG-PROT: 23 FIR-PROT: 13 LIG-PROT: 17 POIS-RES: 0 TOX-RES: 16 BLD-RES: 12 CUR-RES: 0

+ Item Found - Hermit's Arm Bandages

It was a pile of ragged bandages to be wrapped around the arms.

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 12 STRK-PROT: 13 SLSH-PROT: 13 THRS-PROT: 12 MAG-PROT: 16 FIR-PROT: 8 LIG-PROT: 10 POIS-RES: 0 TOX-RES: 7 BLD-RES: 9 CUR-RES: 0

+ Item Found - Hermit's Leggings

It was a loin garment worn underneath the gown.

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 6 STRK-PROT: 7 SLSH-PROT: 7 THRS-PROT: 6 MAG-PROT: 8 FIR-PROT: 4 LIG-PROT: 5 POIS-RES: 0 TOX-RES: 4 BLD-RES: 5 CUR-RES: 0

+ Item Found - Hermit's Foot Bandages

It was a pile of ragged bandages to be wrapped around the feet to protect one's soles and heels.

LVL 1 PHYS-PROT: 6 STRK-PROT: 6 SLSH-PROT: 6 THRS-PROT: 6 MAG-PROT: 8 FIR-PROT: 4 LIG-PROT: 5 POIS-RES: 0 TOX-RES: 4 BLD-RES: 4 CUR-RES: 0

The lore description for the clothing read: 'The trappings of an impoverished and estranged shaman who had retreated to a lonesome dwelling. The magician's inability to heal their clients and temper the intensity of their dreams compelled them to eke out a humble living on their own through their knowledge of the land and its vegetation.'

I looked to the dead body laying on the sleeping mat.

Bummer.

This time I was quiet and alert enough to hear the closet door creak open, and I lashed out my full might toward the shadow which crept toward my shoulder.

I vanquished the undead attacker with two blows of -134 and -138 damage, bashing him down reeling on the floor next to the shaman the skeletal burgular had likely murdered.

I crawled out a wide open window on the bedding and walked out onto the thatched roof where I found...

+ Item Found - Healer's Hand Chonta Staff

The use description read: "+1 VIT; Increases the effectiveness of healing items."

The lore read: 'A rod carved of sacred wood from the Great Sea of Trees past the Thunder Lands. These staves are used by Yunka shamans and spirits as energetic lightning rods. Bearing the figure of a shaman's pure hands, this staff amplifies the flow of life-giving energies.'

I dropped down from the hut and walked up the slope towards the second brige extending out to the entrance of the cliff-face fortress.

Once I had made it out just about halfway over the bridge and the mass of bodies below, I heard a shrill and bloodcurdling screech pierce the windy air. I saw as the shadow of a great wingspan swept across the bridge, hurtling towards me.

The enormous black condor dive-bombed me, and drew down on me with its talons. The speed and angle of the attack caught me off guard, and tore through my shoulders for -352 damage. It leapt back into the air after thrashing me forward, almost over the edge.

As it circled back, preparing for a second assault, I turned round and raised up my shield in anticipation of its next attack, only to be struck by an arrow in my spine for -214 damage, sending me reeling forward just as the great condor again swept down on my face.

Its razor-sharp claws sunk deep into my eye-sockets for a fatal blow of -369 damage, careening me off balance, and catapulting me off the side of the bridge, falling down into the chasm below like a dummy heaved over a cliff in a low-budget movie.

'All is Lost' groaned the game.

My jaw dropped open and hung there. Someone had been sniping me with arrows from the other end of the bridge…

What a buncha bullshit...