Gosh, this thing's been waterlogged for a thousand years and somehow the parts are all still movin'! Wish my husband was that reliable.
Hm - yes? Oh, goodness, I didn't notice ya there. Hi, how are ya? I'm Triffany Lottablog. Ya caught me doin' some archaeology! Try not to step on the skulls, yeah?
Ya want me to come back to Snaxburg? Gosh, look around ya. There's a whole civilization buried here and I barely dug one hole! ...But I could use a trip to the ol' research tent once I get a few samples. See these skeletons? Somethin's fossilized in their stomachs. Looks a bit like a local Bugsnak. I'll need some live Ribblepedes! If you wouldn't mind, could ya help me find some? They like to hide on the walls in these here ruins.
Oh, that's curious! Ribblepedes only look like they have bones. They're squishy all the way through. So what did these fellas eat, then?... Well, like Gramma always said: If ya want answers, dig through their sock drawer. I wanna get into that dwelling over there, but the door's blocked up. If you could do somethin' to get that door open, that'd be real swell.
Oh, you're too kind! Meet me inside.
Check it out! These murals are still preserved! As far as I knew, we were the first Grumps to settle this island. But here we got a thousand years of history unaccounted for! Generations of Grumpuses who hunted and ate Bugsnax! Just a cosmic reminder that nothin' really lasts, eh? Hm, what's this? Looks like there's a hidden chamber somewhere in the canyon. Could that be where they stored Bugsnax? Wouldja mind finding that chamber? And if there's Bugsnax there, please bring 'em to me!
Hm. The taste is a little off. I'm wonderin' how long those Snax were in there. Didja find anything else in the chamber?
Hmm. That's a little intense for an ancient storage shed. Ya know, that just mighta been a burial chamber! But if that's where they put their dead, why're all these bones out in the open? Hmmm...Well, I gotta solve this mystery! Sorry, but I won't be goin' back to Snaxburg!
If Wambus wants me back, well, he can come out here n' tell me himself!
Oh, I hate to leave poor Filbo hanging. Poor fella can't hardly take care of himself. But...Wambus is back in town
Ya might've heard things haven't been too good between us. I keep tellin' myself I'll get around to seein' him, but it's just easier to, eh... stay out here with the bones.
You got a point there. If I happen to see Wambus while I'm workin', maybe we can catch up...
I do, don't I? If only cuz there's nowhere else to go. I just wish it were easier to talk to him...
Oh, my sweet dear. I guess the big lug really misses me. I miss him, too, but I'm still mad...
...I thought maybe time would help. But time's just pushin' me closer to the grave, and I'm not feelin' any better. I suppose I could try bein' among the livin' for a while.
Had to come by and pick up supplies. Is that a new garden ya got there?
Well, that depends. There any reason for me to stick around?
Yep.
Yeah, and you got a lotta growing to do. sighs I wasn't gonna give up my dig site either. We may have different goals sometimes, and we may not be in the same place, but that doesn't mean we're not together.
You better! Now give me a kiss, ya hot dish!
Wuzzat now?
Oh sure, sounds like a real hoot!
Oh, I go diggin’ up bits of history and try to piece ‘em back together! It's usually not so dramatic, just an old coin or a severed toe under a rock, but this island’s chalk full of finds!
Oh goodness, my name!
I’m Triffany Lottablog!
I heard about the trip to Snaktooth and thought, well, I could keep scrapin’ at odds and ends till the day I die - or I could really get out there. Try followin’ in Gramma’s footsteps.
Ya mighta heard of Bronica Lottablog? An adventurin’ type just like Lizbert!
She filled up our ol’ house with relics and sketches, taught me to love history, bless her heart.
Amazing, doncha think? We got paintings of Bugsnax from a thousand years ago.
Grumpus civilization rises, collapses and turns to dust but the Bugsnax, they always stay. They’re walkin’ records of history.
It's less I left and more I stopped coming back. I wasn’t even there when the fight broke out. Imagine me coming home to find Wambus all red in the face and at Gramble’s throat.
No, no, nothin’ so simple as that, I wanted him to come with me to the ruins, honest. But he wouldn’t give up his farm, not even for me. Stubborn fool.
Lovely gal, that Lizbert! Wasn’t often we’d both be in town at the same time… …and when we were, we’d usually be in the medical tent, gettin’ treated by Eggabell. We’d swap stories about what we found and show off our grisliest scars!
Adventurin’ is a dangerous business! Archaeology less so, but the Lottablog method can be unconventional. Bugged the heck outta Eggabell. She never liked to see anyone hurt, least of all Liz.
Ya know out here it’s only a matter of time before you fall in a hole or get wedged in a crevice. Especially with all these earthquakes shiftin’ the geography around… Not to be morbid, but it could be a thousand years before somebody finds out where Lizbert wound up.
Oh you’re too kind. I’m just happy to chip in and solve a mystery or two. Speaking of mysteries…
You betcha! Lizbert stashed a journal in the ruins for safekeepin’ I can’t get it open without damaging whatever’s inside. I’m thinkin’ you might have better luck with it. Anywho, I’ve nearly talked your ear off! Better get back to work eh?
I’ve seen somethin’ similar. Up on toppa the canyon. Real curious.
Y’know the Desert Grumps, they had some odd rituals. They’d take their old ‘n dying and seal ‘em in secret caves.
No, not as such. It’s more the bodies would just…disappear!
The writing’s kinda vague, sadly. All I know is they had a rash of vanishing corpses. Long as they were exposed….heck, even if they buried em in the sand, the body wouldn’t be there the next day. Though somma the time, there’d be a little left, just a few bones.
Hmm, shoulda brought some Snax to roast!
No, no zombies! Listen. Spooky as the disappearin' stiffs may be, that's just a story I read on a wall. We got nothin' to fear from the dead.
She's not wrong about the bones...
Ya know, the Desert Grumps had a history of matriarchal leadership. Real fascinatin' system they had! Every year the ladies would go huntin' and the one to bring back the biggest Bugsnak was the new head honcho...But only if they could eat the whole snak in one sitting, doncha know!
There's no need for all that. If what Gramble n' Beffica are sayin' is true, there's gotta be some physical evidence left behind, yeah?
Might wanna get outta town for a hot minute or two, let things cool down. Judgin' by history, if this keeps up we're due for a fistfight.
Hm, monster's a bit of a prejudicial term, doncha think? I'd call it more of a cryptid or undiscovered animal!
Between this and the earthquakes, Snaxburg's becomin' pretty unlivable.
Sooooo we're all stayin' in town, then?
Oooh, heh..? Okay...
Oh, not too bad. Actually, wouldja mind helpin' me out here? I dug up this journal out in the canyon. It's, erm, a record of historical landmarks and Bugsnax. I wanna follow in the writer's footsteps... so if it's not too much trouble, wouldja want to go explorin' with me?
Oh, you're too kind! The first place of note is in Flavor Falls. Meet me there whenever's good for ya.
Alrighty, what we're lookin' for is a big stone Grumpus face, and a Bugsnak called a Pinkle. Let's look around!
That there would be the work of the ancient stone Grumps, a civilization from over five thousand years ago! All that's left of them is statuary and some puzzlin' mechanisms. Unlike the Desert Grumps, these folks didn't preserve their dead. In fact, the writer thinks they would sacrifice 'em to the Bugsnax. Like an offering to the gods and whatnot. This means Bugsnax may be a more lastin' legacy than any of the stuff they built.
Oh, wow, that's a good'n! Ya mighta noticed Pinkle statues scattered around here. These musta been an important food source to the ancient Grumps!
Well, I was hopin' to find a camp of some sort...maybe a corpse or two. But oh well, there're plenty more spots to check out! Let's head back to Snaxburg for now.
Yep! According to the journal, this time we're headin' for the Boiling Bay!
Lovely place, isn't it? And check out that real interesting shipwreck! If ya don't mind, keep yer eyes peeled for a treasure chest, and a freezin' cold bully of a Bugsnak!
Hm, that settles it. This ship belonged to Grumpbeard. He disappeared at sea a hundred years ago. But I guess he wound up on Snaktooth Island. Hard to tell what happened to him after that...his bones could be just about anywhere. It really is the saddest thing, isn't it? When nobody knows how your story ends?
Y'know, Floofty's got a theory that the bigger a Bugsnak is, the older it must be. No tellin' yet HOW old, but imagine that Snak was around in Grumpbeard's time! It could've even chased him off the beach! Fun to think about, eh?
I can't find anything. She's not here either...
I didn't mean to keep it from ya, but that journal, it, um, it belonged to my-
See, some years ago, my gramma Bronica Lottablog decided she was gonna explore Snaktooth Island and discover its history...
...but we never heard from her again. That's really why I'm out here... to find out what became of her... Ah~...Anywho, that's all for now. Let's head back to town.
I suppose so. There's only one more place mentioned in Gramma's journal.
We've gotta head for the Frosted Peak.
We're almost there. Almost caught up to Gramma Lottablog... Gramma writes about the view from the top. Means we oughta start climbin', doncha think?
This is it, alright! This camp had to be one of Gramma's. And I'm thinkin' that could be her right there. It'd be a fittin' way to go, starin' out over the land she loved explorin'. And what's this Snak? Maybe a last meal or...? Wait...
...Even when I was a kid, Gramma didn't have too many teeth. This can't be her. Unless...unless I'm rememberin' wrong? Or she got spares? It's been so long, I s'pose I can't say... If I wanna be dead sure, I need an expert.
Oh...that's alright, then. Thanks for the help.
Go ahead. It doesn't really matter now anyway.
I'm not doing too good. I'll never know what happened to my gramma. The end of Bronica Lottablog is a big blank spot in history. There's nothin' left of her here. Just like everybody else who came to this island. A place where you go to be forgotten. A place where I'll be forgotten... But, y'know... Maybe, at least, the Bugsnax will remember me.
Did you say Buffalocust!? Hold on now, Cromdo, I'd be happy to take it!
sighs Waddya want for it?
Never mind. See ya.
I'm not lettin' a crook like you get ahold-a that map! You'll just swipe the Bugsnax and sell 'em off!
This party's a real hoot.
Oh gosh, I dunno, I got two left feet. Wouldn't ya rather hear about the captivating history of dance?
Oh! I bet Floofty will wanna learn ALL about the Desert Empire's dance of certain death!
-so ya see, the Desert Dance mirrors the moves for hand-to-hand combat against Bugsnax. Thus the youth were tricked into learning!
Phew, I'm all talked out! Makes me wanna shake my tailbone!
So the osteoblast says 'Looks like the two of us are really boned!' chuckles
Yee-haw!
Send shivers down your spine!
Wahoo!
Ope, bad timing. S'pose we're gonna end up buried like all the others, eh?
EGGABELL!?
Ooooh...sorry to say it, but is now really the best time?
How about the more practical threats? Y'know, the earthquakes, the volcanos, and what have ya.
I'm thinkin' something big is coming, Wamby. The End, ya know?
Sometimes it's smart to run. But I won't. Unless you're right there runnin' beside me.
Even if we're history.
Looks like we're on the brink of bein' wiped out. Shame we only made it a year here. Hardly long enough to learn anything, doncha think?
It's no use, Wamby! Musta learned a few things since the stone age...
There's hardly any garden left...
Oh! Good thinkin'!
Oh, didn't see ya there! Wouldja mind helpin' out? Just a matter of life and death is all!
Goodness!
Oh, they're history.
You really taught ‘em a lesson.
Hoho!
Keep an eye out!
Another batch of Snax!
It's not over yet!
We're not runnin' away just yet!
Wambus! You...you big dumb fool...
No sense delayin' the inevitable.
This is the end, yeah? I was gonna end up here one way or another. Not that it matters anyhow... The only thing that matters out here is Bugsnax.
That's about as big a break as we're gonna get. C'mon, Wamby, it's now or never!
This one's the exact same color as my gramma!
The stuff it sucks out is concentrated Snakwater. The more ya know!
Oh no, it's comin' for my bone puns!
Sweeter in flavor, true, but it still acts salty.
Every time I eat one, I get a bit nutty!
Once you pop, the fun doesn't not start!
Makes me wonder how bugsnax came to imitate meat!
You could say it's a rather...ghostly pepper?
Wouldn't it be swell if we had Tacroach Tuesdays?
Once hatched, they're a bit runny. You'll have to poach them before they scramble!
The nightmare of every archaeologist!
Brie prepared for a muenster challenge, or you'll get jacked until you're black-and-bleu. Gouda luck!