Oregon Trail Challenge Diary

Chapter 3: Fire, fish and food poisoning

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That night things turned hot between Daniel and Tina, and then in Daniel’s pants. Although not in the romantic sense.

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The next morning they fished again:

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Tina: “Don’t you want to change?”
Daniel: “Maybe after the next fire.”

He wasn’t joking!

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The two families spent the whole morning recovering from three (!) fires and catching enough fish to feed everyone. The sun had reached and passed its zenith, when they were finally ready to continue traveling.
Fittingly this was the first day I had to roll for a chance to lose the trail. Tina passed the check easily and guided the wagon without fail.

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Daniel: “We’re only three days west of Detroit. We could still turn back...”

John: “That’s not an option anymore. Our money is tied up in the west. If we returned now, we’d have to beg for jobs in the very factory we sold. I won’t live like that or see my children drop that low!”

That did it. “Children” in the plural, including the adopted son. It was the one drug Daniel was addicted to and so the young man instantly dropped his argument and focused on the card game again.

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The Phillips had to travel until after midnight, but they finally rejoined the trek.

That day for the first time a traveller from a different wagon walked by to say “Hello”. He was an older, distinguished gentleman by name of Dr. Straud. Why a man of his age had joined the wagon train was everyone’s guess (and cause for some juicy gossip).
The doctor talked little, but listened patiently to the boy’s babbling.

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Jin: “Oh! Warm fire!”

The other times the boy had been warm in the front, but cold in his back, what had been somewhat uncomfortable. Now this fire both in his front and back was much better, Jin thought! He didn’t understand why the adults disagreed.

(I have no idea how the fire could jump that far ingame, but I have my suspicions in-story. You like your dinner slightly roasted, don’t you, Vlad?)

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There goes our box of provisions. No more free quick meals.

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Vanessa: “Would you please stop setting yourself and the camp on fire FOR FIVE MINUTES, Jin?!”

Jin: “‘kay, granny!” The boy blinked, then almost sheepishly added a question: “How long is that?”

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Vanessa gasped: “Oh, oh, no! What have I SAID!”

For all his genius, in most respects Jin was just a normal little boy who had no way to tell how long five minutes were, and who really believed to be responsible for the fire, just because his grandmother had said so. Jin couldn’t understand yet that the “blame” had only been an outcry in shock and fear.

Vanessa: “The fire isn’t your fault, Jinny!”

Vlad: “That’s true. It’s nobody’s fault!”

Vanessa: “Hear that? Mr. Straud is a doctor, a smart man. He knows!”

(That were three fires in a row again, but worse than the night before. At one point Jin was fully engulfed in flames.)

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After losing their crate of provisions to an out of control fire the two families took inventory.

The forest yielded ten apples, lemons and sage each per day - enough to feed the children. Until they reached the trading post, the adults would have to live off fish exclusively, and to prevent further fires, it was decided to eat these raw.

Surprisingly the Phillips couple were the first to develop a taste for sashimi. They were utter snobs, but not squeamish.

(It’s hard to see in the screenie, but in addition to boosting each other with Confident from the Snob trait, the couple also as a small Happy moodlet from buying the Raw fish lover reward trait. It comes with the mod that enables eating fish raw in the first place and over the course of the next few days and a little grinding satisfaction points all sims purchased it.)

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Vanessa: “...and when we reach Strangerville, there will be a double wedding! Me and my hopefully handsome husband, and you two!”
Reaching Strangerville suddenly didn’t seem so desirable anymore to Tina and Gavin...

Meanwhile in the back of the wagon John helped Emma practice lines:


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John: “...and in Strangerville you can go to school again every day!”

Emma: “I hope buffalo stomp the town to splinters before that day!”

Daniel: “I wouldn’t mind going to school with you, Emma. As a teacher, I mean. Teaching is so satisfying! And I’d marry in the blink of an eye!”
Jin: “Marry my dad, unca Daniel! I think mommy doesn’t want to marry him.”

John: “Hahaha! Listen to the child! So cute!”

Daniel: “Huh? You think Gavin is cute? No, wait, you meant Jin is cute. Yes, of course he is adorable! But I don’t want to marry Jin!”

John: “Listen at you rambling nonsense, son - you should really take a nap! And afterwards we’ll talk about you becoming a teacher or, even better, Marshall. It would be good to have a relative in a place of influence in our new hometown.”

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Speaking about Vanessa’s future husband, at the fourth day she got the "Marry within 7 days” chance card. If she’d made it to Strangerville within seven days, there would have to be a large sum of inheritance money waiting for the newlyweds. Since Vanessa still has three more weeks to travel, I opted for the safe option that still pays out 2,500 dollar.

The money was deposited at the Strangerville bank house. It’s not useable during the challenge (and Vanessa isn’t even aware of this cache existing).

Next: The promised food poisoning for real this time. Disease rolls are part of the challenge rules and the raw, amateurishly dried, fish were as good an explanation as any.