Survival in the Mountains
Rules of the Appalachian Mountains and why you should follow them
We have not fully discovered the Earth. Although we like to say we have, our planet still holds its secrets.
And in the Appalachia, the wind whispers those secrets into our ears.
After all, the mountain range is over 480 million years old. Older than the dinosaurs, they are much grander than any living creature who roams the earth.
Locals know this all too well. You must respect the land and all of those who inhabit it. And the ones who live there are not humans.
We are simply guests.
People who live in the mountains say there are unexplained phenomena. Protection is necessary.
Some dismiss these warnings as folklore. Others insist that the warnings are serious.
So why do you keep overthinking it?
Are you really willing to risk it all?
The Archive invites you to look deeper. There is far more than it seems.
“Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.” — Theodore Roethke
PART I: SURVIVAL
They say the mountains are never truly empty.
Within them lies ancient memories we may never fully understand. Mountains—especially the Appalachian range—are as close to a cosmic being that we will ever know.
The Archive has documented many strange accounts in the Appalachia. Tales of Mothman, Bigfoot, and numerous other infamous creatures appear frequently in local stories, alongside legends of mimics and malevolent spirits.
With these tales comes warning. Locals often tell outsiders about the dangers that lurk within the mountains, and how to survive their inhabitants.
To Survive the Mountain
Do not run in the forest.
Do not look in the trees.
Do not whistle at night.
Do not reply if you hear your name at night—you did not hear it.
Do not look out your windows at night.
The Archive is not confirming the existence of these myths, but we do not advise you to test these theories either.
The forest is a beautiful place.
But it is also dangerous.
Everything that is worth seeing is.
So, what exactly lurks within the wilderness?
The Archive searched for answers. From our research, we were able to find… something.
While we examined libraries, archives, and documentaries, we also sent out lead investigator [REDACTED] to assist in understanding what the mountains may hold within them.
PART II: HEARSAY
In order for this investigation to be as genuine as possible, we sent out [REDACTED] to perform a very simple set of tasks:
Document local accounts regarding the myths that surround the area.
Observe and adhere to the survival practices described by residents.
Break the protocols under observation to test their validity.
Again, The Archive does not recommend that you ignore the warnings of the locals. As an investigation, it is crucial that our team explores every aspect of what is and what isn’t.
Below are key parts of only a few of the interviews that took place during our investigation:
INTERVIEW EXCERPT — LOCAL RESIDENT #1
[𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳]: 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?
𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃: 𝙽𝚘. 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚊 𝙱𝚒𝚐𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝. 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑. 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝.
[𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳]: 𝚂𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎?
𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃: 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎. [𝙷𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜] …𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚜.
INTERVIEW EXCERPT — LOCAL RESIDENT #2
[𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳]: 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚜?
𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃: 𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.
[𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳]: 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍?
𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃: 𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚐𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.
INTERVIEW EXCERPT — LOCAL RESIDENT #3
[𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳]: 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?
𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃: 𝙼𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝙼𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙼𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝-𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝-𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.
[𝚁𝙴𝙳𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳]: 𝚂𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎.
𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙸𝙳𝙴𝙽𝚃: 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖… 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐.
Our investigator concluded the following after his interviews: 1.) Most residents adhere to the rules. 2.) Even those who do not believe in the myths do not go out of their way to break the rules. 3.) Many residents have experienced some sort of unexplained event. It is unclear if these are of reality or psychological influence.
PART III: EXPERIENCE
In reference to our investigation, [REDACTED] has provided field logs of his time in the mountains. Attached are the few that The Archive has selected for public release:
FIELD LOG 1 - AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
I’m staying in a cabin in the woods. That’s cliché, considering the work we do.
Tonight is “follow the rules” night. There’s no amenities here. I won’t be watching Seinfeld to calm my nerves tonight. I barely have signal out here. [laughter] I have a satellite phone in case I need to call HQ. Not that that did any good for Sara… wonder what happened to her.
[shuffling, inaudible]
Anyway, I been out here for awhile now. ‘Bout six hours. I don’t know how these people live out here. I’d go nuts. I keep thinking I hear something outside, but I’m trying to ignore it.
The (uh) locals over here had some stories to tell. Of course I been going from state-to-state… but they all said the same thing. Said just to ignore the sounds. Pretend you didn’t see anything. Sounds simple enough.
It’s (uh) about 10 o’clock now. I think I might call it a night.
Out.
FIELD LOG 2 - AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Alright, it’s experiment night.
I don’t want to say I’m nervous, but… I don’t know. We’ve seen some crazy shit before.
Nothing can beat ███████, right?
[wind]
I’m outside. It’s right at 9 o’clock. We’re not supposed to be outside at night. Not in the woods anyway.
Let’s see here… [paper crumpling] Okay. Let’s start easy.
[whistling]
- - - -
I’ve been standing out for twenty minutes. Nothing yet.
I haven’t seen anything in the trees. Nothing has howled.
I’m going inside.
Out.
FIELD LOG 3 - AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Nothing to report.
.uoy dniheb thgiR
Out.
FIELD LOG 4 - AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
I heard scratching at the window. I think it was just a tree.
I looked to make sure. Had to anyway, right? That’s the whole point of being here.
It was a tree.
.eert a tsuj saw tI
[silence]
It looks different outside tonight. More… dark, if that makes any sense. I don’t really see any moonlight out there.
I think—
[inaudible]
Hello?
?olleH
There is something here. [shuffling, door opens] What’s out there…?
God, it’s dark. [flashlight clicks on] Right. Just trees. That’s it. That’s…
There’s something in the trees.
There’s something in the trees.
[silence]
[wind howls]
That’s not human.
But it’s trying to be one.
I’m calling HQ.
Out.
End of field logs.
PART IV: BELIEF
The Archive’s findings are limited.
[REDACTED] reported strange happenings during his investigation, but no photo or video evidence was recorded. He explained what he saw would have been impossible to catch on camera. We are unsure what he means by that.
Regardless, The Archive could only reach one conclusion.
Do not hesitate.
The Appalachian Mountains are beyond us. They are beautiful. They also must be respected.
They are the home of animals like black bears, coyotes, and copperheads. Even outside of the supernatural occurrences, danger lurks within the forest.
If you hesitate, then you will succumb to it all.
But people have lived alongside these mountains for thousands of years. Generations have suffered far worse but survived it all.
Not because they hesitated—but because they acted.
They understood the importance of belief. The importance of setting aside human ego and embracing the possibility of things greater than us.
They surrendered. Not in a show of giving up. But in a show of faith.
They simply knew.
It is not that the locals know what’s out there. In fact, it’s impossible for anybody to truly understand the extent of what lives in those mountains.
But the locals understand that there is purpose.
Those mountains stand there in purpose. And the locals respect that.
The locals don’t always understand the rules. But they follow them.
Because they know.
They don’t question what might happen.
They just know.
Conclusion
The Archive invites you to act the same.
We may not all be in the haunted and mysterious Appalachia, but we are here in life.
And life is strange.
The people in authority ask us to be obedient. To be cautious. To avoid risks because we do not know where they may lead us.
But that is exactly why you must take them.
You do not know where a path may take you. But if you feel it is meant for you… then it is.
If it will be, then it is.
You think of it.
Therefore it is.
Consciousness is not something that exists only inside your head. It moves through the world around you.
There is far more you can do with it than you think.
If you believe in The Archive’s work, you can support further investigations here.