Today's portal set everyone out to a nebulous midwestern prairie at twilight. "Hello, students," Ghanima began once everyone had arrived. "Today, we're back in a slightly more familiar climate: the prairie."

"Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type. Temperate grassland regions include the Pampas of Argentina, and the steppes of Russia and Central Asia," she said, the Danger Shop starting to cycle through various landscapes as she spoke. "This type of terrian is found on many planets, and in many varieties."


"Lands typically referred to as "prairie" tend to be in North America. The term encompasses much of the area referred to as the Great Plains of the United States and Canada. In the U.S., the area is constituted by most or all of the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, and sizable parts of the states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Minnesota. The Central Valley of California is also prairie. The Canadian Prairies occupy vast areas of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta."

"While the prairie might seem harmless, there are a number of dangers," Ghanima continued. "Flash flooding, prairie fires, and wild animals can all strike at any time, no matter how safe you might feel."

"Don't camp by a river, stream, or dry creek bed, no matter how tempting," she cautioned. "Not only can floods spring up at any time, but predators often frequent those areas at dawn and dusk. If you see wildcat or bear tracks, or any tracks bigger than your hand, really, go in the opposite direction. You don't want to stay there."

"A good way to deter predators is to keep your food in closed plastic bags in your pack, and don't leave crumbs around. If you're lucky enough to have a tent with you, keep it zipped when you sleep, no matter how hot it is," Ghanima said. "If there's nothing there for them, most animals will leave you alone."

"If conditions are dry, try not to light a fire. Grasslands burn like you would not believe, and the last thing you want is to be caught in an inferno."

"But enough of the doom and gloom. Sometimes, the danger isn't immediate. Sometimes, it's as simple as getting lost." Ghanima turned around, looking around the vast, featureless landscape. "When dealing with grasslands, you have a severe lack of landmarks. You can try orienting yourself by the sun - which, on this planet, rises in the East and sets in the West for those of you that are new - but the sun shifts its alignment bit by bit every day. The much more accurate method of finding your way is the art of celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation." A wave of her hand, and the Danger Shop settled to one landscape and switched to night, the stars sparkling above them.

"On Earth, your best bet is to steer yourself by the North Star," she said as she pointed it out, making it pulse for a moment. "It is the fixed point that does not change."

She went on to explain how to use your fingers to count the degrees, and how you could use that to discover longitute and latitude. "Some of this may be familiar to some of you from sailing," she said, "but it works well for any landscape where you don't have landmarks to work with, and nowhere to stop for directions."

"Your assignment is to find your way to a campsite, about two miles due East of here," she said, handing out star maps and flashlights to people. "Once you get there, you'll find supplied for pitching tents, and s'mores. Of course, you'll still need to get your own firewood, and find a way to get the fire started."

"Now hop to it!" Ghanima laughed, clapping her hands. "There's chocolate waiting."