Ranosah wiped the sweat from her brow with an already soaked handkerchief. Sitting upon the thick tree branch, legs dangling over the edge, she carefully leaned forward to look down into the jungle below. She still couldn’t see the ground through all the dense foliage.

Sighing, she took one small sip of water from her canteen, secured it back onto her belt and gripped the rope hanging in front of her. A tug told her the grapple was still locked tight above her, so she rappelled further down the massive tree trunk.

It went on like this for an hour, new ropes and hooks added down her vertical path as needed, until finally she saw it – reddish dirt peeking behind a spray of branches. She was almost there!

Picking up speed, she finished her descent and landed on the ground with a satisfied smile.

Before her stood the enormous trees of the Ravine Jungle, which no one, man or woman, had ever returned from alive. And off to the right, a path – an actual path! This place was the only portion of the world still unknown to cartographers, scientists, anyone. The research potential here was priceless.

Not that Ranosah cared for “knowledge” one bit.

No, what motivated Ranosah was money. According to The Map, somewhere deep in this jungle lay a vast treasure kept hidden by a people long forgotten. Sure, she wanted to be the first person to leave the Ravine Jungle alive, and that alone would make her famous, she supposed. But what would really shock the world would be to emerge from the Jungle with a hoard of gold in tow.

So Ranosah wasn’t leaving this jungle without that treasure.

(The word prompt today was “Unknown.”)

[– 31 Fantasy Characters in 31 Days –]