A forest of wandering nomads and god-guarded borders.

FIVE DAYS, THROUGH FOGGY UPLANDS

The river forks. The sun is out. Men nap on the bank, or dice in shabby cabanas. A young girl waves. Guide? she calls. Need a guide?

The forest of Upper Heleng was Times lover; he refuses to flow within her borders, and their children the seasons govern her people as gods.

The people of Upper Heleng live amid wonders. They hunt yam-men, trade with rhinos. Demons fall from heaven as meteors. Honeycombs ooze mystic quicksilver one taste grants indestructibility.

Do not be too greedy, interloper. The leeches here do not take blood. They take other things. A year of your life. A love you know.

Upper Heleng is an adventure setting inspired by forest taboos and Bateq egalitarianism. A rules-less, 40-page forest-crawl with creatures, characters, and detailed black-and-white art. A die-drop map pullout. A die-drop name generator that doubles as a NPC generator. Ethnographic and cosmological hooks.

Part of A Thousand Thousand Islands, an RPG zine series inspired by the material cultures, lived stories, and mythistories of Southeast Asia.