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V. The Wilderness A. Exploration Rangers are the explorers of Elanthia. They are naturally curious and often enjoy wandering about in the wilderness and elsewhere. There is of course times that warrant hurry, but when you're not in a rush, take the time to look around you. Notice what is in the room and look at it in more detail. Look in, on, behind and under things. Try to climbing trees, or pick flowers, or go in holes. Nothing is too absurd to try and the joy at discovering something new is well worth the time. 1. Mapping As you go, it's sometimes a good idea to map. This can help you find you way back to places you like again. You can also make notes to remind you of important things about a room. The main part of mapping is drawing where rooms are located in relation to other rooms. There are many ways to do this. However, the most popular way in Elanthia involves using small squares connected by lines. To start, you draw a square to represent the room you're in. Note all the directions that you can go and draw lines in those directions. So if you can go southeast, draw a line that heads down and to the left from the bottom left corner of the square. As you move in each direction, draw a square at the end of the line that goes in that direction and begin the process again. There are other things you can do to make your map more useful, if you want. If you have to go through something, such as an arch or a door, put tiny arrows on the ends of that line and note what of entrance or exit it is beside the line. If you discover anything interesting in a room that you may want to find again, color in the square and write down the thing of interest. Another thing you may want to note is if any creatures tend to wander through an area. Anything you think you will want to remember about an area is worth noting on you map, because you will be the one using you map. If you don't like you map, try using graphing paper to make it neater. There are also other adventurers such as yourself who have made maps that they will share with you if you want. If you ask around, people will often have favorite maps to recommend. Most are done the way explain above. |