I’m heading into Green Hell, the survival game where nature doesn’t just want you dead—it wants you paranoid, dehydrated, and wondering if that rash is the least of your problems.
This new run is coming soon to the blog, taking its place in the rotation with all the usual Survivor Incognito flair: overly ambitious decisions, chaotic jungle flailing, and a main character who probably should’ve stayed home.
So if you’ve ever wanted to see how fast someone can go from “I’ve got this” to “I think the trees are whispering,” you’re in for a treat.
“Snow, moaning about pack weight, and mapping everything that doesn’t bite. I dodge wolves, hallucinate bears, and risk the ice for some questionable meat. All in a day’s work.”
I start the day in that familiar state of survival-induced amnesia, wondering what I did yesterday and where I put that deer hide I worked so hard for. A quick look at my freshly updated map reveals it’s just a couple of houses down the road. I retrieve it without incident and decide today’s goal is simple: push further down the highway and fill in more of the map. No drama. Just exploration.
Which, in this game, obviously means I’m about to get hit by some drama.
Weather Warnings and Weight Woes
I step outside and immediately regret everything. It’s snowing, visibility is tanking, and I’m carrying 5kg more than I should be. My guy starts wheezing like he’s dragging a lead sled through molasses, and I know I’m going to hear him grumble about it all day.
Still, I press on.
Vehicles, Wolves, and Safe Sketching
I come across an abandoned car. Nothing useful inside, but it counts as shelter, and more importantly, it’s a predator-free place to update the map. I sketch it in while occasionally glancing at the frozen coast where wolves are loitering like bored mall cops. I carry on before they get curious.
Further along, I spot a closed fishing hut—unlooted and unvisited. Jackpot. I raid it for whatever scraps I can find and add it to the map.
Warm Feet, Flashbacks, and Phantom Bears
At the nearby fishing camp, I head into the first cabin and finally find a proper pair of boots. They’re heavier, but warmer, and my frostbitten toes thank me for the upgrade. I repair them, put them on, and get ready to head back out.
The moment I step outside, I freeze. Not because of the cold—but because I think I see a bear. Instant flashback to a past run in this same region, where a moose blindsided me outside the garage like it was collecting a debt.
Turns out this time it’s just a weird shadow and my overactive paranoia. No bear. Crisis imagined.
The rest of the cabins offer very little, but I do manage to:
Score a flashlight (Aurora prep)
Find more revolver rounds (now at 23 bullets)
Still weigh 40kg because I can’t stop picking up every slightly useful item I see
Birdwatching for Survival
As the light fades, I notice birds circling another fishing hut in the distance. That means one of three things: a body, a carcass, or a trap. I roll the dice and head over.
It’s a wolf carcass, right at the edge of some very sketchy-looking ice. I brace myself for a freezing swim but manage to harvest the meat without falling through. Back in the hut, I cook up the wolf and have my first proper meal in a while. Victory tastes like questionable carnivore.
The Long Walk Home (By Torchlight)
Darkness falls fast, and while the fishing hut is cozy enough, I don’t trust it to protect me through the night. I grab a torch from the fire and make the journey back to the fishing camp.
Somehow, no wolves. No bears. No moose. Just the sound of snow crunching underfoot and the occasional “ugh” from my overencumbered survivor. I make it to the cabin, crawl into bed, and let the darkness take me.
Final Thoughts
Day 6 down. I mapped half the coastline, got some new boots, hallucinated a bear, and ate a dead wolf. Still weighed down like a junkyard collector, but alive. That counts.
Where Am I, What Is That Fog, and Why Is My Compass Blinking at Me?
Day 1 of my Dredge permadeath playthrough. I crash a boat, inherit another, fish like a pro, and nearly get lost forever in Lesser Marrow. Welcome to Greater Marrow—the creepiest fishing job I’ve ever had.
Welcome to Greater Marrow: Where the Fish Are Plentiful and the Fog Eats Souls
The game opens with a cutscene: I’m peacefully boating along when heavy fog rolls in like an uninvited guest. Then—crash! Rocks. Camera pans to a lighthouse, which apparently decided to take the night off.
Inside the boat before the crash, I notice a crumpled job advert: “Angler Wanted.” I see now it meant sacrificial angler.
—
I wake up on a soggy dock at 6:00am on a Monday morning, having apparently faceplanted here the night before. The Mayor of Greater Marrow is there to greet me with all the cheer of someone who just hired a corpse to do a job.
He casually asks if I “didn’t see the lighthouse.” I choose not to answer, partly because I’m still drying out, and partly because I very clearly didn’t. My boat? Completely ruined. But the Mayor had the locals haul my stuff into an old spare vessel. How quaint.
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My First Fishing Trip and Immediate Cartographic Failure
The Mayor warns me to be back before sundown. Apparently fog does weird things after dark. Comforting.
I hop in the backup boat and head out. The controls are straightforward and intuitive. Time passes while fishing, sailing, or basically doing anything—so multitasking is not encouraged.
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By 3:17pm, I’ve reeled in seven blue mackerel and three cod. I’m feeling confident. A little too confident. I decide I have time for just one more fish.
Spoiler: I didn’t.
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After grabbing another mackerel, I turn back… only to realise I’ve docked at Lesser Marrow, not Greater. Oops. I am, in fact, an idiot. A kind soul points me back to the lighthouse. By the time I get home, it’s 8:43pm and there’s a disturbing eye icon blinking next to my compass.
Is that… panic? Hallucination? Ancient evil? Who knows!
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Debt, Deals, and the Definitely-Not-Suspicious Fishmonger
Back at Greater Marrow, the Mayor is somehow still waiting for me like an overbearing boss. He says I can pay off the loan on the boat by selling fish, with “a small percentage” going toward town improvements. Sounds a bit pyramid-scheme-y, but I nod along.
Inside the Fishmonger’s shop, he greets me with surprise: “New fisherman, already?” I ask about the last one. He doesn’t answer. Just says it takes a “certain type of person” to last out here. You mean one with night vision and zero self-preservation instincts?
I sell my fish, earning enough to reduce my $50 debt to $31.58. That’s decent for a day of being lost at sea.
The Mayor intercepts me again and hands over a research part, which I can use to upgrade my ship.
Upgrades, Nightfall, and Regrets
I pop into the Shipwright’s to check out the gear. After some very internal debating, I buy the Simple Skimmer Rod for catching shallow-water fish. It takes two in-game hours to install, meaning I walk out at 10:46pm.
I use the research part to unlock the Improved Outboard Engine, because clearly I need all the speed I can get after today’s performance.
I return to the dock, mentally exhausted, financially lighter, and very aware that this is only day one.
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End of Day Summary
Fish Caught: 8 blue mackerel, 3 cod
Debt Remaining: $31:58
Creepy Things Spotted: One blinking eye
Times I Got Lost: Let’s just call it “multiple”
Regrets: Also multiple
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⚠️ Madness Strike #1: Fogblind and Foolish
Let’s be honest—I didn’t mean to return after dark. But between misreading the map, mistaking Lesser Marrow for home, and ignoring the increasingly twitchy compass eye, it happened. The fog rolled in, and I rolled with it.
The rules are clear: return after sundown, and the mind pays the price. So here it is—my first Madness Strike.
Sanity: Fractured
Confidence: Shaken
Navigational Skills: Still questionable
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What’s Next?
Day Two promises more fishing, more fog, and probably more confusion. Will I finally learn to navigate using the lighthouse? Will the eye by the compass blink twice? Will I discover what happened to the last fisherman?
Today’s mission was simple on paper: lighten my pack, loot like a professional, and avoid becoming a decorative frozen lump in a snowbank. The first step was Quonset Garage inventory triage. I dumped food, meds, spare clothes, and every non-essential item into my storage stash — keeping just enough to keep me alive. Travel light, loot heavy. The survivor’s paradox.
First stop: a nearby building that greeted me with the holy grail of kitchenware — a cooking pot and a skillet. Outstanding finds. Unfortunately, they also weighed roughly the same as my survival hopes, so back to Quonset I trudged, muttering about my endless loop of “find loot, dump loot, repeat.”
With the weight off my shoulders (literally), I decided today was going to be about exploration — specifically, mapping Coastal Highway like a cartographer with too much time on their hands. I hopped between fishing huts, pausing every so often to scribble charcoal marks on my map like an artist who only draws squares. The wind bit at my face, ice groaned under my boots, and somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled just to keep me humble.
Loot highlights of the hut-hopping adventure included: a book on fishing (because nothing says “immersive reading” like reading about fishing while fishing), a hunting knife that immediately earned its keep on a nearby deer carcass, and — drumroll, please — a revolver.
Three bullets. Enough to be dangerous, not enough to be reckless.
Yes, an actual revolver. Even better — it had one round chambered, and earlier in my fishing crawl I’d picked up two loose bullets. That’s three shots. In The Long Dark, that’s not just self-defense; it’s a small-scale munitions miracle. Of course, in my infinite wisdom, I’d left the rest of my ammo back at Quonset, so for now it’s more of a moral support weapon.
While the deer meat cooked in one of the huts, I dashed over to a nearby trailer to drop off the hide and gut for curing. Nothing says “I’ve made it” like casually starting your own rabbit and deer leather collection. Resource management, baby.
By evening, the weather had shifted from “brisk” to “why are you outside, you fool?” A blizzard swept in just as I reached the edge of the lake. I wasn’t about to attempt a hero’s march back to Quonset in that, so I ducked into the nearest house. The place was cold, abandoned, and smelled faintly of damp socks — but it had loot, so it met my standards.
Looted the place, harvested some extra clothes (accidentally shredded a perfectly good hat, but we don’t talk about that), and collapsed into bed before the fatigue meter could nag me into a penalty.
End of Day 5: One revolver, three bullets, a map full of fishing huts, and the creeping suspicion that Coastal Highway might just be my new favorite spot — assuming the wolves don’t hold a vote on the matter.
I return to Shroud Hearth Barrow to face a “ghost,” discover it’s just a deranged frost mage, clear out undead, remember how to zoom with a bow, and miss Lydia more than I expected.
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The Ghost Isn’t Real, But the Frostbite Is
The day begins with a voice echoing through the ruins of Shroud Hearth Barrow, telling me to turn back. I don’t. Obviously. If I turned back every time a disembodied voice told me to, I wouldn’t have left Helgen.
Inside, I find frost-covered halls and a frost-wielding “spectre” who turns out to be a man in a robe with a superiority complex. I resist the urge to shout, “You’re not even undead!” and settle for fire spells and potions instead. Frost resistance does most of the work. A few spells later, he’s dead—and not the kind that gets up again.
Turns out he snapped from isolation and decided to LARP as a ghost. His journal’s full of ramblings, paranoia, and bad decisions. I should probably relate, but instead I loot his body and move on.
I can’t help thinking Lydia could’ve handled the distraction while I circled behind. She was good for that—charging in recklessly while I fired off spells and arrows from the shadows. It hits me again that she’s gone. Permanently. Not resting in Breezehome. Just gone. And for the first time, that feels like more than an inventory loss.
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A Quick Detour to Town
I return to the inn with the ghost-faker’s journal. The innkeeper’s relieved to learn the place isn’t haunted and rewards me with the Sapphire Dragon Claw—because apparently the correct response to surviving a haunted dungeon is to send someone deeper into it.
Not one to refuse free ancient loot access, I eat some food, warm up, and head back in.
—
Back to the Barrow
The second half of the barrow is more undead and more danger. I find a sleeping bag tucked beside some barrels and take the opportunity to rest. One hour’s enough to regain stamina and level up. I put the point into Health and choose Light Armor for the perk—mainly because I’m tired of dying in three hits.
The claw fits the puzzle door and grants access to the barrow’s inner sanctum. I shift into stealth mode and start clearing the area with arrows and fire spells. It’s during one of these fights that I finally remember: I can zoom in with my bow. (Hold ZL to aim, click right stick for zoom.) This information would’ve been helpful literally four days ago, but better late than dead.
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New Magic, New Words, Same Cold
Along the way, I find an Oakflesh spellbook. Boosted armor without metal? Yes, please. It pairs well with my current sneaky-bow-mage playstyle, especially since I’ve yet to find decent armor that doesn’t clank.
At the very end of the dungeon, I’m greeted by a Word Wall. I approach and learn Kyne’s Peace, which… sounds like something the Greybeards might want to chat about. I haven’t seen them since I shouted at a mountain goat near Whiterun, so I imagine they’re still waiting patiently on their high stone perch.
Before I leave the crypt, I rest again and hit another level up. Health gets another boost (cold and axes both hurt), and I drop a perk point into Sneak. Because what’s better than being hard to kill? Being hard to find in the first place.
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Day 5 Summary
Defeated fake ghost in Shroud Hearth Barrow
Acquired and used the Sapphire Dragon Claw
Cleared out all skeletons and draugr
Remembered I can zoom while aiming with a bow (finally)
Picked up Oakflesh for magic armor buffs
Learned Word of Power: Kyne’s Peace
Leveled up twice: +2 Health, Light Armor +1, Sneak +1
Missed Lydia more than expected
—
The barrow’s empty, the loot is mine, and the Greybeards are probably wondering if I’ve died in a ditch. They’ll get their answer tomorrow—assuming I don’t freeze to death first.
Day 1 of a Customloper survival test in The Long Dark. Spawned in Coastal Highway. Made gloves out of scraps, got hit with a blizzard, and somehow didn’t freeze to death.
I put in the Customloper settings, picked my character, set the spawn to random, and named the file Day One. I spawn in Coastal Highway – specifically right next to the path leading to The Ravine.
I think about going that way for all of five seconds, I choose life instead and head toward the Train Unloading Trailer I know is nearby
Spawned in cold, sprinting for shelter. Train Unloading it is
—
Inside I grab what I can, including a second pair of socks. Then hit the tunnel corpse – and score a hatchet.
My loadout after looting the trailer. No gloves, great.
—
From there, I billy goat my way down a nearby cliff, grabbing sticks while the temperature plummets.
Alternative route, gravity assisted travel
—
I find another trailer. It’s warmer, but still not warm enough. And I didn’t spawn with gloves, so my hands are freezing.
I cut across the road, stop at a car, then head toward the Fishing Camp.
Note: I had to double-check the name using my own Map Hub — I knew where I was, just couldn’t remember what it was called. Proof the hub’s not just for readers.
I loot what I can — some food, but not enough to carry me far. In the first house, I grab cloth and craft handwraps. It helps, barely. In the second, third and fourth houses, I scrape together enough to make a makeshift hat.
Then I step outside.
I step outside. Weather steps on me
—
I retreat and sleep for three hours to warm up. When I wake, the blizzard has cleared. I push toward Jackrabbit Island and manage to snag three rabbits — finally, a win.
Inside the house, I raid the fridge and score water. I harvest the rabbits for meat as the sun drops.
Then I head outside, light a fire on the first try, and cook everything. I even remember I have herbal tea, brew it, and drink it to recover some condition — which was down to about 50%.
Back inside, I scavenge the place and find a pair of wool mittens, climbing socks, and a pair of boots.
I go to bed warm, full, and genuinely surprised I made it through Day One.
—
Next week, I start my actual Customloper run. I start in a new area, and will attempt to explore the whole island before I succumb to The Long Dark.
Because apparently, space is just as chaotic as survival on Earth. —
I wake up to the cold void of Zuwan 58/E6
It’s -54.8°C and my thermal protection is already falling apart. I’m standing on an unfamiliar world, surrounded by snow, rocks, and the kind of silence that suggests no one’s coming to help. The scanner is offline, and the only way to fix it is by gathering ferrite dust.
Cue 30 seconds of frantic mining laser use. It feels like hours. Rocks explode. The scanner gets patched up. Victory—briefly.
—
Sodium, sabotage, and a slap from nature
With the scanner online, I locate some sodium-rich plants glowing yellow in the distance. I sprint over like they’re the last snacks at the end of the world. Just as I reach one, a hostile plant lashes out and takes a bite out of me. Rude.
I grab the sodium anyway, recharge my thermal protection, and make a mental note: not everything green is friendly.
Then a new signal appears—500 units away.
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The Radiant Pillar and the repair list from hell
The signal leads to a crashed starship: the Radiant Pillar BC1. The ship’s still mostly intact, but running a diagnostic reveals both the launch thrusters and pulse engine are out of commission. Typical.
Luckily, I already have enough ferrite dust to patch together some metal plating and get started. Then the distress beacon hands me a planetary chart that points toward a hermetic seal—only 900 units away. I head off to get it.
Halfway there, the planet unleashes a blizzard. The temperature drops to -97.3°C. I barely make it to the building in time, where I warm up, collect the hermetic seal, and take a much-needed moment to question my life choices.
—
Navigation error: user
With the seal in hand, I’m ready to head back… if only I remembered where I left the ship.
The scanner’s broken again. This time it needs carbon. So I laser some nearby plants—none of which try to bite me, thankfully—and repair the scanner. The ship’s marker reappears and I make my way back, scanning every rock and shrub along the way like a distracted tourist with a scanner addiction.
—
The great resource hunt and escape
Back at the ship, I finish the pulse engine repair. The thrusters need pure ferrite, which means crafting a portable refiner. That requires dihydrogen and oxygen—time for another impromptu gathering mission.
Once the refiner is placed, I process the ferrite dust into pure ferrite, patch up the launch thrusters, and climb into the cockpit.
Moments later, I leave Zuwan 58/E6 behind. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m not freezing anymore. Probably.
—
Day 1 complete
Status: Launched Planet: Hostile Ship: Mostly duct tape Next Goal: Figure out how not to die in space
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If you enjoyed this one, why not check out my other Day One Diaries
This week at Survivor Incognito: dino disasters, cosmic chaos, a return to Customloper, and two new Survivor’s Shorts. Here’s the full lineup of what’s dropping and when.
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Monday – A Double Hit to Start the Week
Day One Diary: No Man’s Sky Cold planet, no scanner, and a plant that bit me. Welcome to Zuwan 58/E6.
Survivor’s Short: The Doedicurus Incident One spear. One armadillo. Zero survivors. The best (worst?) five seconds of ARK you’ll ever read.
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Wednesday – Into the Cold
Day One Diary: The Long Dark – Customloper Coastal Highway just got colder. My custom difficulty is set to “help is a myth” — and this diary is where it begins. This is a taster of what is to come next week
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Thursday – Skyrim Survives Another Day
Skyrim Survival – Day Five My Argonian’s back, colder than ever, and probably regretting their life choices again. Expect sneaking, sniping, and the occasional panic shout.
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Friday – Frostbite & Fur
The Long Dark – New Entry in A Voyageur’s Tale The Cold Chronicles continue with more frostbite, slightly less dignity, and whatever’s left in my food stash.
Survivor’s Short: The Moose Encounter He saw me. I saw him. Only one of us had antlers — and it wasn’t me.
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Plus: This Site Just Got A Bit Update
All entries for The Long Dark, Skyrim, and Day One Diaries have been turned into full posts (not pages!) so they’re easier to find, share, and follow.
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Thanks for Reading – And Surviving
Bookmark the blog, subscribe if you haven’t, and remember: in survival gaming, it’s not about thriving — it’s about laughing while everything falls apart.
Started the day the way all great stealth archers do—by pretending to care about politics. Found the Redguard woman in Whiterun that the Alik’r mercs were sniffing around for. She gave me the classic “they’re lying, I’m innocent” speech. Naturally, I decided to investigate further, because I’m not just a deadly ghost in the shadows—I’m also weirdly nosy.
So I paid a visit to the dungeon. Not because I enjoy the ambiance (mossy rocks, chain rattles, general despair), but because that’s where the Alik’r prisoner was holed up. On my way through the cells, I stumbled across a conveniently placed letter that kicked off While the Cat’s Away—because apparently jail is where people keep their treasure maps now. This new breadcrumb trail pointed me to Rorikstead, so that’s now on the ever-growing “places I’ll forget to visit” list.
I bribed a guard to release the Alik’r guy. Ten gold down, but the man refused to leave. Said he liked it there. Who likes jail? I left him to enjoy the damp stone aesthetic and moved on.
Decided to get serious about transport and talked to the guy at the stables. Instead of a horse, I got a map to horse locations. Look, I may specialize in ranged combat from the shadows, but even I think this quest design is a bit rich. I considered stealing a horse parked outside—because what’s stealth archery without a bit of stealth theft?—but resisted. Barely.
Set off for Ivarstead, because apparently walking from town to town is now my main questline. Took a scenic route through White River Watch, because I saw bandits and my inner archer whispered, “free loot.” Cleared the place, looted some arrows, and—big moment—found a replacement torch. Goodbye darkness; hello slightly less darkness.
Further down the road, a local asked for help clearing out some spooky ancestral crypt. I said yes, mostly because ghosts are easier to shoot than bandits. Lydia followed me in. She didn’t follow me out. Somewhere in the middle of a draugr-infested hallway, she stopped tanking and started dying. I mourned just long enough to loot her stuff and whisper, “you took too many aggro points.” I may join the Companions soon, if only to get a fresh meat shield with less emotional baggage.
Finished the tomb, claimed some loot, and resumed the long haul to Ivarstead. Got lost twice. Almost turned back three times. It wasn’t clear if I was heading east, west, or straight into existential crisis. Eventually, the town showed up and I dragged myself into the nearest inn.
Dropped into a bed with no torch dropped this time. Progress.
RIP Lydia. You were loud, clunky, and bad at staying behind me. But you absorbed a lot of arrows meant for me, so thanks for that.
Survivor Incognito 