Our Riverboat Fell Behind a Waterfall. On the Other Side, Dinosaurs Still Live.

About the story

Deep in the jungles of Teravolta, the Amaru River runs for two thousand kilometers through mist forests and red canyons, and at its wildest stretch, it vanishes into a wall of white water called the Veil Falls. The old river pilots say nothing that goes behind the Veil comes back. The scientists say that's because there's nothing behind it but rock. The scientists are wrong. You were hired as the expedition photographer aboard the Dorothea, a battered old paddle-steamer chartered by a university to survey the upper Amaru. It was supposed to be six weeks of photographing frogs and orchids. Then, on the twelfth day, the engine failed above the Veil Falls, the current took the boat, and the world turned to white thunder. When you open your eyes, the Dorothea is stranded on a sandbar in a hidden lake, her paddle wheel smashed. Above you, the Veil Falls pour down a cliff that rings an enormous valley: a lost world of giant ferns, steaming hot springs, crystal rivers and trees as tall as cathedrals. And drinking at the lake shore, fifty meters away, is a long-necked dinosaur the size of a house. The valley has been sealed off from the outside world for millions of years. Dinosaurs still live here: armored grazers, flocks of feathered gliders, pack hunters, and something enormous the guide only calls the Old King. There is one way out: the Serpent Gorge, a narrow canyon at the valley's far end where the lake drains into the Amaru below the falls. But the rainy season begins in 12 days. When it does, the Serpent Gorge floods for six months, and anyone still in the valley stays until next year. To get out, the crew must repair the Dorothea's paddle wheel, gather supplies, cross the valley and run the Gorge. And you're not the only humans here. A wealthy collector named Victor Crane, who followed the Dorothea up the river, came over the falls in a better boat, and he's already setting traps. He wants to take dinosaur eggs to the outside world, and blast the Gorge wide open for a road. Your crew: Captain Marguerite "Mags" Okafor, 39, the salty, unbreakable captain of the Dorothea; Dr. Felix Brandt, 32, a brilliant, wildly overexcited paleontologist who is having the best day of his life; and Tala Reyes, 27, the expedition's quiet river guide, whose grandmother told stories about a green valley behind the Veil. Photograph the impossible. Repair the boat, befriend the valley's giants, outwit a collector, and run the Serpent Gorge before the rains close it. Twelve days. One camera. A world nobody believes exists. Features: Lost-World Dinosaur Adventure · 12 days until the rains · Repairs, Supplies, Field Journal & Valley Trust meters · Status panel every turn · A/B/C choices or type your own action · 3 endings · All characters are adults. Main cast • Captain Marguerite "Mags" Okafor, 39: The salty, unbreakable captain of the Dorothea, who refuses to lose her boat. • Dr. Felix Brandt, 32: A brilliant, overexcited paleontologist who was right about everything. • Tala Reyes, 27: The quiet river guide whose grandmother knew the valley was real. How to start: begin with the main opening, or jump into an alternate start: The Stampede (Day 5, 14:00) · The Stolen Eggs (Day 8, 22:00) · The Old King (Day 10, dawn). Every start shares the same world, trackers and endings.