The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

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Viridian
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The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

Postby Viridian » Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:51 pm

Released in 1998, Tomb Raider III is the only game in the franchise to include quicksand. While Lara Croft is an ever-favourite character to depict in our favourite peril, the series is full of missed opportunities. TR3 is prominent in that quicksand is not just shown once, but featured prominently in several different stages. I decided to create visual "novelisations" of these stages with a focus on the what-ifs involving what the player could do with Lara and the quicksand. For those who have played the game, this may be exactly what you had in mind!

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Lara: Journey's Beginning - Jungle, India
Lara slid down the dirt slope, emerging through the dense jungle to see the majestic ruins of the temple in front of her. She gasped in awe at the intricate architecture, amazed at the quality of construction from an ancient era. But she wasn't here to admire stone monuments. Her goal was the Infada Stone, a mysterious artefact that was rumoured to gift its bearer the ability to levitate. She cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders. It had been a relatively easy trip so far, but knowing the traps that lay inside, designed to cruelly punish thieves, she had her work cut out for her. She tightened the straps of her back to secure it for the climbing and jumping she would have to do. She checked her pistols at her side, ready to deal with the ever-present threat of tigers and maybe the odd, annoying monkey.

She made a few running leaps to get from the slope to the base of the temple. It towered above her, a fortress within the dense, overgrown jungle. In front of it was a large clearing, its surface dry and cracked, baked from exposure to the hot sun. In the distance, behind the walls, she could see path leading further into the temple complex. This was easier than she thought. She confidently strode across the clearing.

Suddenly, she felt a tingle go through her body. She froze in place. Years of adventuring had gifted her with a sense for danger. She looked around, hands reached for her holsters. She focused her mind on the sounds around her, particular looking for the soft growl of the tiger. All she could hear was the loud noise of rushing water from the streams and waterfalls that surrounded the temple. But she could make out another source of moving water, much closer.

Lara felt something cold against her legs. She looked down to see that the ground she was standing on her crumbled apart, turning into a pool of undulating mud. Not too bothered with getting a little dirty, Lara stepped forward to get her feet out. She didn't get very far. The mud pulled her back, and she had hardly made any progress. Instead, she was only getting deeper. She paused, looking at the quivering mud around her thighs. She noticed the surface rippling. Her eyes followed the ripples across the clearing. The cracked fragments of dry earth moved up and down with the wave. The whole clearing, and her path to the temple, was really a huge mud pit, concealed by a thin layer of dirt and grass.

She couldn't stay here. The cool mud was soaking into her boots and beginning to mold around her toned legs, making it hard to move. She began to worry that if she got too deep, she would struggle to get out, like being trapped in quicksand. Her fears were realised when she took a step and sank to her hips. Unable to see below the undulating surface, she had no idea how deep the mud was. Barely in the swamp, she already felt stranded in a death trap. It was too risky to cross the clearing. To her right, she could see a stone doorway. It might lead to traps and beasts, but it was a much safer option than wading through quicksand. She turned and trudged toward the door, sinking to her waist. She gritted her teeth, hoping that she would make to the stone platform before she went all the way under.
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Viridian
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Re: The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

Postby Viridian » Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:52 pm

Lara: Swamped - South Pacific
Once the earthquake subsided, Lara realised that the path back the village had been cut off. The only way to the crash site was to cross the swamp. She look at the wide opening ahead of her. It was obviously a trap. She examined the surface and tested it with her boot, pulling it back as soon as she felt the mud sucking on it. Earlier she had come across a small patch of quicksand outside the village, so she wasn't surprised to find more of it in the swamp. This time, it seemed impossible to traverse. It was just too big, the muddy ground tempting her to cross its deceptive facade. She knew better from her time in India. She doubted she could simply trudge through the mud. The wide expanse meant that she was certain to wander into a deep spot and be pulled under.

Her eyes scanned over the brown soil, looking for some kind of safe crossing, even just signs of a shallow section. The swamp floor wasn't featureless. Dotted across the clearing were numerous patches of grass and leaves. Could they be safe islands - stepping stones for the intrepid explorer to navigate? She wasn't to keen at the idea of hopping from each one. There wasn't much space to navigate, and she would have to watch her footing to make sure she had enough of a run-up to cross each gap. One wrong step and she would be stranded in the middle of the swamp. Steeling her nerves for the first jump, she knew she had to commit. Once she leapt down from the cliff, there was no other way out except to cross the swamp. Then, she remembered the map the soldier had given to her. She pulled it out of her pack. It was crudely drawn, but she realised what the scribbles meant. The crosses matched up to the islands in a zig zag shape. They must be the solid ones - the path through the swamp!

Invigorated, Lara dropped down and leaped onto the first island. Her feet crunched over the grass and the island sagged under her weight, the mud around her quivering menacingly. But the island held firm. The map was telling the truth. She hopped to the next one, and then the next. She had to pace herself with each jump, making she that she didn't inch too close to the quicksand, doing several backward hops and run-ups to make sure she knew where the edge was. She had made it past halfway, and though it was tempting to make one final leap to the far side, she knew that the swamp was luring her to take a fatal shortcut. She had to take the longer way to complete the safe path. She looked towards the next floating island.

Suddenly, doubt gripped her. Standing above the swamp, the path felt intuitive, but in the middle of it, especially after having spun around a few times, she felt disorientated. She wasn't even sure if she was facing the right way or heading in the same direction. All the islands looked the same, almost the same distance apart. She looked back and forth at the map, trying to match the landmarks, but each time she would dig herself deeper into uncertainty.

Speaking of getting deeper, she had to make a choice now. She couldn't stand on the island in the middle of the swamp forever, surrounded by encroaching mud. She picked her next jump, edged back to the edge of her island, took a deep breath, took three short strides and jumped.

At first she felt she wasn't going to make it. The leaves were slippery. She might have jumped a little too soon, too afraid of falling into the quicksand, that she might land short. To her relief, her boots swung over the grassy mound... and plunged right through.

It was the wrong island.

Panic took over Lara. Her momentum carried her deeper into the quicksand, which greedily swallowed her thighs. She tried to reach for the grass, but she only pulled them out of the soft mud, the island breaking apart around her. She wasn't just stranded in the middle of the swamp. She was sinking into it. Already up to her hips, Lara had to keep moving, or else she would sink straight down. She instinctively made her way towards the nearest island, but she stopped. Was that island a fake one too? She had no time to check the map, and more time to hesitate. The only way out was the reach to other side. She turned and began to trudge towards the swamp's edge. She was up to her waist. Everything felt slow and heavy. Her boots, her gun belt, her pack... all seemed to slow her down. She was going down faster than she was moving forward. She would be unable to move if she sank much deeper. She felt the sand creep over her chest, and the suction was overwhelming. Barely able to make any headway, Lara refused to give up. Sinking to her shoulders, she made one last lunge for the solid ground...
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Viridian
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Re: The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

Postby Viridian » Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:52 pm

Lara: Rattled - Nevada
The sand crunched beneath Lara's boots as she gazed at the scorching Nevada sun. It was a long way from the South Pacific, but her quest to find the ancient artifacts brought her here, in search of a place that doesn't officially exist. But if there was anywhere a supernatural object would be found, it would be guarded by the most advanced military in the world. She had to find a stealthy way in.

Distracted by her planning, she failed to spot another stealthy threat. Camouflaged against the dry ground, the rattlesnake snapped upright, hissing menacingly and rattling its tail. Lara couldn't see the snake, but her instincts reacted to the sound just by her foot, moving with a degree of precognition. She had no time to pull out her pistols. She did a somersault in the air, her next move being to unsling her shotgun and take care of the snake without hestiation when she landed. That plan did not eventuate, as Lara plunged into a trap she hadn't come across since her encounter at the crash site. Deceptively, just off from where she had entered the area, the open path on the left was actually quicksand... which she had leapt right in the middle of.

She immediately sank to her waist. The quicksand in the desert was different to the thick, muddy swamps of India and the Pacific islands. She could stand in shallow sections and plan her route, or in the case of the really deep bogs, some quick reactions and determination would get her through. She couldn't feel a bottom, and with how fast she was sinking, she wasn't keen on taking her time to map out the safe zones, if there were any. The consistency of the sand felt different too - the constantly moving sand felt relentless in pulling her down, and she had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to pull herself back up if she went under. She mumbled at the irony of her attempt to infiltrate the high-tech Area 51 being foiled by a simple quicksand trap. Pushing the thought out of her mind, she turned and thrashed her way toward the solid ground, racing against the quicksand pulling her down. She might just be able to make it...

The rattle reminded her of why she was in the quicksand to begin with. She should have killed it earlier. There was no time to regret that oversight. The quicksand was nearly up to her chest. She was about to draw her pistols, but she realised that they were under the surface. Pulling them out now would mean plunging her hands in, and there was no certainty that they would fire or kill the agile snake. She remembered her shotgun. The shot would certainly put the snake down, but the recoil might drive her deeper.

She only had moments to act...
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Viridian
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Re: The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

Postby Viridian » Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:53 pm

Lara: Test of Earth - Antarctica
There were a few things Lara didn't expect in her quest for the artifacts and her work with Dr. Willard. The first was having to trouble to Antarctica. The second was encountering quicksand once more. Deep beneath the frozen isle, Lara had uncovered the lost city of Tinnos. After fighting through corridors filled with traps and strange, deadly wasps, she ducked into a side passage and emerged into a cave network. The dark passage was unassuming at first, but she soon discovered what she had wandered into. Each section of the city was built around a specific element to act as a trial to those who entered: Earth, Air, Water and Fire. When she began into sink into the muddy cave floor, it was obvious that this was the Test of Earth.

Lara frowned at the challenge ahead. Peering further into the caves, she deducted that the challenge was not going to be too puzzling, but the physical challenge of navigating through the quicksand-filled caves was going to test her physical endurance as well as her mental fortitude. She paused when the mud reached chest-height. Even though she had gone through and survived similar traps before, this felt wrong. But looking ahead, it was clear that this was the only way forward. She had to push through, fully expecting the mud to go even deeper, perhaps neck-deep... or worse. She had to push on. The mud resisted her movements, making forward progress extremely slow and exhausting. She hoped she wouldn't encounter any hostile threats here. Her combat options were extremely limited while she was nearly submerged in thick mud.

Then she heard a sharp buzz, and in the shadows of the cave, she spotted the glint of a sharp stinger. Her first thought was to tumble out of the way, make distance and whip out her pistols to gun down the wasp. But she couldn't move with the quicksand up to her chest. Her only option was to reach for her pistols and hope they didn't jam as the wasp zipped toward her...
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MadMax359
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Re: The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

Postby MadMax359 » Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:13 pm

she's always getting into trouble!
The strong do what they want, the weak do what they must

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sixgunzloaded
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Re: The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

Postby sixgunzloaded » Wed Jun 22, 2022 5:37 am

Oh wow, I remember playing this on the PS1 back when it first came out. I asked for it for Christmas and spent all of December in nervous anticipation, hoping I'd get it. Happily, I did, and played the heck out of it for about a month.
I never did get around to the Antarctica map though. I spent most of that month tromping around in India and the South Pacific where Lara was in her regular t-top and shorts. :lol:

You really did an excellent job with all of these! It's cool to have these novelizations to go along with what I remember (I'll have to go back and replay the whole game this time!).
I think my favorite (both here and in the game) is the swamp in the South Pacific. I like how you've got her going from nervous to confident to unsure and disoriented and finally to panic.
The pics are all very nicely drawn and detailed and the additional threats of the snake and the wasp in the last two add to the sense of danger.
Well done, thank you! It's great to see your hand-drawn series. :D
How long did Tarzan watch before deciding to save Jill..?

Viridian
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Re: The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

Postby Viridian » Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:48 pm

Lara: Highland, Scotland
Lara found herself staring into the foggy Scottish moor in which Dr. Willard's estate lay. Somewhere inside, she hoped, was the missing fifth artifact. Though far less supernatural, the guards still had to be dealt with. Lara climbed onto the overgrown walls and searched through the mist for the secret entrance beneath the stained glass window. Her eyes were drawn to the large pillar in the courtyard, a curious relic that Willard had perhaps obtained and installed there like an awkward garden decoration. But it served as a crucial marker, for her gaze was drawn to the window nearby. Beneath the frame was a crawl space that would lead into Willard's lair. From atop a short pillar outside the courtyard, Lara hopped down.

Lara gasped when she failed to find solid ground. The mist concealed an unexpected trap. Her legs plunged into cold, sucking mud, and moments later she was up to her chest. Quicksand? At Willard's estate? Lara wasn't sure if it was really quicksand or just moat filled with mud. She looked around. The ENTIRE courtyard was filled with the quivering mud, which was pulling her past her chest. She knew what she had to do. Her previous encounters told her that the edges were the shallowest, and she had to reach the wall anyway to get to the crawl space. Sinking up to her shoulders, Lara realised she would need a deep breath to make it through...
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quagmire_uk
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Re: The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

Postby quagmire_uk » Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:56 pm

Fantastic! You've tapped into both my nostalgia and decades of unfulfilled Tomb Raider fantasies!

Madbadger666
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Re: The Quicksand Adventures of Lara Croft

Postby Madbadger666 » Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:07 am

excellent artwork, and brilliant story to go with each one :D


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