Tales of Extreme Survival is a skill book in Book II and Book III.
Effects[]
- Grants the skill Foraging if the player character has not learned it.
- Grants 2 points in the skill Foraging if the player character has learned it.
Content[]
This book chronicles the adventures of Stroud Selton as he willingly puts himself in harm’s way to prove man’s ability to survive the harshest of conditions. It was written quite recently, and appears to be some sort of propaganda to combat the continual decline in public opinion following the fall of Thaermore. With each tale, the human race is painted to be the ultimate species in all of Eschalon, with the ability to adapt to any climate and situation. While the underlying motive of the text is clear, it still makes for a compelling and entertaining read.
In addition to being enjoyable, you find the book to be a treasure trove of information for finding food and water in hostile and unfamiliar environments. For example, in the chapter “Stranded in the Sands”, Selton describes how he used a metal buckler to capture the morning dew and found some hardy but very nutritious plants that thrived in the desert heat.
Another chapter details how to identify various plant-life in the forest; you learn how to properly identify berries that are edible versus those that are poisonous. You even discover that certain mushrooms you would normally steer clear of are actually quite nutritious! There’s also brief mention of some herbs that would be useful in alchemy or medicine.
In the final chapter - simply titled, “Frozen” – he tells of trekking through the Great Northland Expanse. In that bitterly cold, desolate tundra, he details methods for trapping small game and scrapping back snow to find vegetation. Selton then describes ways for properly melting snow into drinkable water, and strongly cautions against actually eating the snow.