Making a Mole-suspect out of a Mountain-climber

This is Snidget from the All Nature All The Time Channel. In this documentary we will examine the inner workings of a remote Amazon tribe that has recently had contact with the outside world.
Photo of first contact

When this tribe needs a new leader the shaman leads a group of warriors on an adventure. From this adventure only two will return. The rest will be ritually executed. The winner not only becomes the head of the tribe, but also wins the accumulated wealth the shaman's challenges have brought them. A past shaman with white hair is greatly revered and the tribe flourished under his care. He has moved on to the afterworld that this tribe calls Cienen. Their more recent shaman is rarely spoke of as the tribe neared extinction during his time, but with the new Shaman Jon they have begun to recover. The other survivor of the contest is imbued with the magic of this tribe's trickster totem, The Mole. The tribesman imbued with the power of The Mole cannot be executed during this ritual that they call “a game.”

We join this tribe in the middle of their journeys. Three tribesman have been ritually executed along the way and one has voluntarily accepted banishment from the tribe and was sent off with a small amount of supplies. See the previous installment of this documentary hosted by Bebo, read it here

Craig is upset over Ali and Bobby's banishment and execution. One was his best friend is this game. Nicole was certain Bobby was imbued with the power of The Mole. Victoria is shocked and now feels alone in the game and he was the only one she trusted.

The warriors leave the city of Santiago Chile and head for the Andes Mountains in Argentina. Lets watch how these low land rainforest adapted people cope with the high altitude and cold. Victoria explains how insignificant in the world being in this strange new landscape makes them feel. While they all wonder at this strange landscape they find themselves in and worry how they will hold up to the physical tasks at hand Paul creates a protective amulet from a lemon that will be used to keep The Mole spirit from entering him and keep him from doing anything wrong.

Jon who looks eerily refreshed from the latest ritual of execution greats the eight who remain in the game. He teases them with the 7200 feet altitude, Craig is already feeling the effects of this new environment. The accumulated wealth is now $129,000. Jon has them split themselves into two teams the “Selfish” and the “Selfless” for this next challenge.

Selfish
Victoria
Nicole
Clay
Kristen

Selfless
Paul
Alex
Craig
Mark

They will perform a ritual called “Midas Rush”. 200 gold bricks weighing 5 pounds each. This ritual is to remember the Inca Warriors who once ruled this land and to gather to this tribe the riches of those ancestors. They are to carry as many bricks as they can to 10,000 feet and they get $250 for each brick they get up there. All members from a team must arrive together, the first team that arrives gets an exemption from the next execution. Jon tells them water will prevent them from feeling the effects of the altitude.

Nicole is amazed that Kristen takes 8 bricks, Nicole thinks she can do 4 bricks, Victoria will try 5 and Clay is also going to carry 5 bricks even though he thinks he could carry at least 12. Mark realizes his team is weak and they decide to take as many bricks to the top as possible. The Selfish take a total of 23 bricks and the Selfless takes 38 bricks total.

Paul compares this to fighting the greatest warrior of legend for the tribe, Mike Tyson. Nicole is usually the pampered one on her tribe and appears to be having trouble with the hike up the mountain. However she also is trying to convince everyone she is the one in which the spirit of The Mole resides. Craig is missing his partner in weakness, Bobby, even more now, and his team encourages him to keep up a slow but steady pace. Even the strong feel the effects of the altitude within a few hundred yards of starting up the mountain.

The Shaman Jon is waiting for them part way up reclining on a wooden bench, but this is not the end. They must also carry a scale to the top with them. The Selfish team gets there first and may choose from the 10 pound scale or the 20 pound scale. However they cannot know what the weight of the scale is before they choose. The Selfish team takes the smaller scale which is also the lighter one. When the Selfless team arrives they find they have to carry the heavier scale with them to the top. They are not happy about this. Mark has to leave bricks behind to carry the scale. This makes Craig think that Mark is the one carrying the spirit of the Mole with him. They debate the nutritional merits of Cow Dung. The Selfless Team continues to go together to make it to the top. Team Selfish is way ahead and willing to forgo any wealth accumulation to get the exemption from execution. Craig is really struggling with the altitude and his face turns beet red without the use of any war paint.

With 15 minutes left on the clock the Selfish Team nears the end while the Selfless Team lags behind. They discuss what to do to make sure they do not go over the time limit set by the Shaman. They Selfish team arrives arm in arm with 23 bricks. They will not hear the details of the exemption until after the other team arrives. The Selfish team wonders what they will have to give up to get their exemptions.. The Selfless team makes it with seconds to spare. They have 34 bricks. Clay wonders if people will suspect him of being filled with the spirit of The Mole because he didn't carry as many bricks as he could have being one of the stronger warriors. The total is 57 bricks $14,250. The Selfless team realizes the Selfish team was just in it for the exemption. There is only one exemption. They must decide unanimously who gets it, and if they can't decided they lose both the exemption and all the wealth they accumulated. Clay wants it because he hasn't had one, yet. Kristen thinks she earned it, but Clay isn't going to back down. Victoria hasn't had an exemption, either, but gives it to Clay. Kristen feels steamrolled by Clay. We note that every group of people has their own way of resolving conflicts and it seems this tribe the one that “b!tches the loudest” is the one that gets their way. The Shaman will see them tonight for dinner.

By the time they hike back down the mountain Craig says he feels like he is going to black out and the local medical team is brought in as the magic water the Shaman uses for curing diseases of the jungle are not working at this altitude. Craig is suffering from hypothermia and is slipping in and out of consciousness. Craig is rushed off to hospital while the rest of the tribe worries about him.

After being treated for altitude sickness and hypothermia he was released, but is told to rest and keep warm. Craig was worried and he was dying, he is worried they will think he is doing this to prove that he is the one who has been possessed by the spirit of The Mole. Victoria says she will will be angry if Craig turns out to be one with the spirit of The Mole, but that looking like one is trying to do well on the missions could be a good cover for that person.

Victoria and Alex discuss the formation of coalitions with in the tribe. He says he will stick with her because he senses she is filled with the essence of The Mole. She wonders if he is the one with the The Mole spirit but she then says she would be shocked if he was. Mark is working on a different strategy within the game. He obsesses on keeping as much information in the journal the Shaman provided them with as possible. The level of written language among this remote tribe is highly unusual, but may be part of why they have developed such an elaborate system to determine who gets the wealth and the power among its warriors rather than just tests of strength we see used by other tribes in the region.

All go to dinner with Jon, the Shaman, except for Craig who is told by the doctors to stay behind and rest. The Shaman begins the meal by asking how much the warriors are using the journals that he had given them. Mark relies heavily on his journal, but Paul doesn't want to do that because it could be taken away from them and then he needs to rely on what is in his mind. Clay says it is important for the tests of knowledge portion of the trials. Kristen asks if he is taking them, and sure enough he takes them and leave for awhile. They think the Shaman is being rude and they are very anxious about what will happen next.

They consider loosening the legs of the Shaman's chair to get back at Jon for messing with their journals. It is unknown if he heard this, but it is typical for Shamans of the tribes in that region to be vengeful over things like this. But, for now it appears that all is well and he returns the journals to the warriors. Victoria says there is an exemption in here, just kidding. However now is time for a mental challenge to see who among them can read their fellow warriors well enough to be the winner of the game. Jon, the Shaman, will read a quote from the journal and the person it is about must guess who wrote it. He has been generous and bumps the collected wealth to $144,000 and will add $2000 for every correct answer. They may not cheat by signaling they are the writer.

Victoria: Victoria drank a lot.
She did drink 4 Pisco Sours one night and goes with Mark as the author.

She is correct.

Clay: Very quiet. Cool Guy. I like his vibe. He guess Kristen

He is correct

Paul: They are hoping this time things will work out right.
He guesses Nicole

He is incorrect. Jon won't tell them who said that. The warriors feel that the Shaman is particularly mean in Argentina.

Kristen: Mission One was the stupidest thing anyone ever did for money.
Nicole starts blinking and clearing her throat.
Kristin says Nicole

She is correct.

Alex: Who said you are taking control
He says Mark

He is incorrect.

Mark: who said “This is to {sic} easy”
He guesses Paul

He is correct.

Nicole: Nicole is here for fame.
Nicole doesn't even want to guess which makes other's suspicious, she guesses Paul
She is incorrect, but if the author fesses up then they will get the wealth added to the pot.

Victoria said it.

They have 5 out of 7 correct, but Nicole's signaling was caught and that money is taken away. The other warriors notice this and say it is a pattern with her loving to sabotage the game like one that is trying to draw in the spirit of the Mole would be doing.

Time for dessert Mark had wanted crème brûlée . The waiters burn the sugar with cigarette lighters before serving them. After desert they are going for a little drive. Victoria is mad and doesn't want to go anywhere in the cold and dark with the Shaman. Nicole thinks they are going river rafting at night, “fab-u-lous”.

The Shaman asks who wants to sacrifice their journal. Paul and Alex say they don't need mine. Nicole says of her and the two men only one of them has not had an exemption. Clay doesn't want to sacrifice their journal. Mark also agrees that it could be worth an exemption. They decide to perform the “odd finger out” ritual to determine who will give up the journal. Alex is the one that will sacrifice the journal. The Shaman reminds us that his number is number 12. The Shaman says for every decision there is a consequence. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it is bad as he holds the journal over the fire. The Shaman then requires Alex to gather up the journals of the remaining warriors and put them on the altar that is off to the side. The Shaman then uses his powers to create a line of fire from him to the altar and sets the journals ablaze. Mark wants to retrieve his from the fire, but is not allowed to do it. Kristen feels that this has leveled the playing field. Mark is quite upset and shaken over the destruction of his journal. Victoria says that journal was the one thing that was keeping him going. Alex has his journal returned to him. They try to tell Mark that this is just part of the game, but he wanders off and they can't find him.

They finally locate him and get him back to the vans. He says this was sadistic and that they might as well just send him home. Clay is his coalition partner but is ready to cut him loose over this. Paul and Alex say they are not relying on the book and now everyone will have to play the game like they do. Victoria and Nicole say they are obsessed with exemptions.

The next night they have the pre-quiz dinner. Craig has now rejoined the tribe and he was worried the night before because they were gone from dinner so long. Because he missed the dinner he still has his journal, and he will be allowed to keep it to balance things out. Victoria hopes the insecurity others have without their journals will keep her safe this execution. The Shaman questions Craig about what he was told about the night before. Craig has not brought his out, out of respect for the dead.

To see who has the ability to sense the presence of The Mole spirit they are asked questions about the Mole. For the survival of the tribe the new leader must be able to sense when the trickster is going to cause trouble for the village. They are asked.
Is the mole male or female?
In the “Midas Rush” what color pants were they wearing?
In “Midas Rush” did the mole's team get the exemption?
How many bars of gold did the mole's team bring?
From the Shaman's viewpoint where was The Mole standing, from left to right?
Has the Mole gotten an exemption?
During “Who Said That” was The Mole's question disqualified?
Was The Mole's journal burnt?
During “Who Said That” did The Mole confess about a question?
Who is the Mole?

Some try to just go fast, some focus on who they think The Mole is. Now it is time for the results of the quizzes. Clay cannot be executed. Tonight we have a tie the player with the slowest time will be executed. It was a difference of 5 seconds.

The Shaman gets the quiz results using a divination method. Should it show green the warrior is safe, if it shows red the player is taken away for the ritual execution.

Paul is safe
Alex is safe
Mark is safe
Victoria is the warrior being executed tonight. She was certain that this was going to be her fate tonight. She is led off by The Shaman, Jon. He gathers her last words. She knows it is her time to go and she knows she was headed in the wrong direction.

Clay is glad he had an exemption. When she gets to Cienen Victoria says what she will miss most is being with the team.

In our next episode. There is a llama costume and Nicole is not having any of it. Craig realizes he caused the biggest meltdown in the tribe's history. Paul also causes trouble and the van that is Paul free is moved to song about it.

From the Who Knew Agman was psychic collection.