Ash Canyon, The Longest Night

[Catlover]

So, I had just left the narrow chasm that you get to by climbing down logs and I had just arrived in Shattered Cove when the heavy snow I was experiencing suddenly got ten times worse. Night on the way, no shelter in sight, I reluctantly turned back around to head back into the canyon, unaware of how close the Angler's Hut was, and searched for a place to burn my 50 or so sticks until the blizzard ended. 

I found a place rather quickly that I thought was windproof and put on a two hour long fire and got out my bedroll, sleeping for two hours. Near the end of my nap, I heard the fire stop suddenly and the wind grow louder. Oh great. I thought to myself, knowing instantly what happened. 

I awoke freezing and quickly grabbing my bedroll, I searched for another place, well into dusk now. I ran through the dark, foggy, snowy canyon until I got to a small cave-like place behind two rocks and a tree. I intended on screenshotting it, though I forgot. 

There, I put on all my sticks, one hour at a time, sleeping until I was fully rested and then making birch tea and Old Man's Beard dressings until I could sleep again. 

One hour remaining on the fire, I grabbed my near-empty storm lantern and ran out into the night. Four or so hours had passed and the blizzard had died down though it was dark and incredibly windy. Due to my flickering lantern, I was forced to abort the mission with only half an hour worth of sticks. By now, it was fully night, a little past midnight. I slept for a final hour and grabbed a torch to help me see through the dark night. I heard a strange buzzing and looked up, seeing a random light on the top of the chasm. The aurora would prove to be both a blessing and a curse as it enabled me to see but put me and my >25% condition at risk of aurora wolfies which I had never actually seen before. 

I began walking and my torch quickly blew out as I headed back out into Shattered Cove. Here are two screenshots I took of this night 

My heart was pounding as I scanned the cove for glowing wolves. I had never seen one in-game but knew what they looked like.  Satisfied when I saw none, I kept going through the night, dawn well on its way by now. 

Several hours, in game, passed began running, recognising the stream. It would lead to the waterfall, which was opposite to the anglers hut. 

My good spirits and hope crashed and burnt as I heard a growl. I saw nothing at first, whirling around, locating the snarls but seeing nothing. Are Aurora Wolves invisible? 

A glowing shape arrived from behind a snowy hill, answering my panicked question. I wish I had gotten a screenshot of it, but I was too busy walking backwards and trying not to die. 

I was moving backwards quickly, every once in a while daring to look behind me to try find a climable tree.

Without warning, as I reached some sort of waterfall, it turned around and fled for the hills. Why it did so, I am not sure. It was possibly my Voyager mode, or the aurora vanishing with the oncoming dawn, but it was gone. Phew. 

Though my relief was short-lived as, a few minutes later, I heard another snarl. The aurora was faint by now, the mountains in the distance tinged with red, and thankfully this wolf was normal. 

Despite my efforts to get away, it lunged and bit me, oblivious to my rocks smacking it in the face, spraining my ankle. The struggle was short lived, the wolf running away to die as I stabbed it with my hunting knife, but I was now on the edge of the blurred vision and stumbling that signalled a near-certain demise. 

As the inevitable drunken-walking happened, I finally saw the Angler's Hut. This was the third time a well-placed structure had saved my life here in Ash Canyon. 

I limped towards the hut, got in and fell straight asleep for as long as I could. 

It seems that the temperature dropped dramatically during my nap, as I never woke up.