I'm calling from the western Amazon, from the Karitiana reservation. My people, we've lived in this forest for more generations than anyone can count. And let me tell you, there are things out here that outsiders don't understand. Things they say are just stories. But I know better. This happened back in 2003. I was twenty-seven years old then, been hunting these forests since I was a boy. I knew every trail, every water source, every good spot for game. The jungle was like my own backyard, you know? And that's the thing, when you know a place that well, you can tell when something's wrong. When something doesn't belong. That particular day, I'd been out since morning. The hunting had been good near the village, but I wanted to go a bit further, try my luck in an area I hadn't checked in a while. My wife told me to be back before dark. I remember she was annoyed with me because I'd forgotten to fix the roof like I'd promised. Funny what you remember. So anyway, I headed out with my rifle and my machete. The weather was clear, hot. Must have been around midday when I started getting into the deeper forest.
Now, there's a place we call the cave of the mapinguari. It's about two hours walk from the village, carved into the side of a rocky embankment. For as long as our people have told stories, we've said you don't go near that cave. You just don't. My grandfather told me about it. His grandfather told him. The mapinguari lives there. Or comes from there. Or something. The stories aren't all the same, but they all say the same thing, stay away. I wasn't planning to go near it. I was hunting maybe half a kilometer away, tracking some peccary. But then I heard this noise. And here's the thing, I've heard everything this forest can make. Jaguar screams, howler monkeys, storms tearing through the canopy. This wasn't any of that. This was like trees breaking. Multiple trees, all at once. And it was moving. Coming closer. The sound was getting louder. Whatever was making it wasn't trying to be quiet. I froze where I was, rifle ready, trying to see through the undergrowth. The forest was dim even though it was daytime, the canopy so thick above me. Everything got very still. Even the birds stopped.
Then I saw movement. Something massive pushing through the vegetation maybe forty meters away. At first I thought it might be a tapir, but tapirs don't move like that. This thing was tall. When it stood up on its hind legs, it had to be over two meters. Maybe seven feet. It was covered in this dark reddish fur, all matted and thick, like nothing I'd ever seen. The arms were long, hanging down past where its knees would be. It was making this low rumbling sound. Not quite a growl, not quite a roar. More like a constant vibration you could feel in your chest. And it was heading toward my village. Heading home. I could see the general direction it was moving, and my heart just sank. I thought about my wife, my children, everyone back there. I don't know what made me think I could do anything about it. But I started moving closer, trying to get a better look. Maybe I could scare it off, fire a shot in the air. Something. The creature was moving through the forest like the trees weren't even there, just pushing through everything. I could see broken branches, trampled ferns, everything in its path just destroyed. reports from the Purus River region are well documented - Rose'
[ Story continues in the full game... ]