Beware of the Curse

"Beware of the Curse"
Season	The Cursed Idol
Author	IAmNothing712
Episode Number	1/13
Episode Chronology
Next	"Can't Cut the Mustard"

This is the first episode of Survivor: The Cursed Idol.

Challenges

Reward Challenge: Island Walk
While carrying their supplies, tribes must race across the island to find marked paths to various obstacles. The first tribe to reach the other end of the island wins. Additional supplies also await in each obstacle. The tribes will have to make a decision as to which supplies they will take. Taking more supplies would take more time and energy, but carrying little to no supplies would hurt their survival down the line.
Reward: The winning tribe wins the supply crates they brought with them at the finish line.
Winner: Davao

Immunity Challenge: War Chariot
Tethered to a chariot, five tribe members must carry three passengers while collecting sets of keys along a field filled with obstacles. Once all keys are collected, the passengers must use the keys to open a chest full of puzzle pieces which will form a series of numbers to be used to open a combination lock which if unlocked will unfurl a flag. The first tribe to release the flag wins immunity.
Additional Stipulation: In the event that neither tribe chose to take fire at the Reward Challenge, the winning tribe will win flint.
Winner: Cebu

Story

Day 1

Aboard the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar, a patrol frigate of the Philippine Navy, sixteen castaways are marooned over the majestic yet treacherous Caramoan, in a game for a one million dollars. Divided into tribes, named after two major cities in the Philippines, the castaways paddled to shore where they met Jeff Probst. Jeff emphasizes on a talisman he's holding and tells the castaways it will play a significant role for the next 39 days. He explains:

“	When you get voted out, you will have one last taste of power in this game. This is the Cursed Idol. Once you get voted out, you'll will this idol to one of your remaining tribemates, and it will count as one vote the next time they go to Tribal Council. The only way they can remove the "curse" is if they play a Hidden Immunity Idol or win an individual Immunity Challenge after the merge. You may have lost the game, but you can still give your last licks. Here's the rub, you'll have to present the Cursed Idol at Tribal Council, or you get two votes instead.	”
–Jeff Probst, explaining the mechanics of the Cursed Idol

	Name	“	This Cursed Idol is like my one final move. I may be out...I don't wanna be out of course, but at least somehow I'll leave an impact in the game possibly.	”

After introducing the twist, Jeff subjects the tribes to their first Reward Challenge.

The Cebu tribe quickly leads with two people carrying one crate. Eddie however stumbles in the obstacle course. Seth, the biggest guy on the tribe, has a few but choice words for him.

	Name	“	Hmmm... Gone.	”

On the other hand, the Davao tribe gets lost in the jungle with no obstacle course in sight. When Davao finally arrives at the obstacle course, it is too late as the Cebu tribe are close to the finish line. The challenge ends in a blowout win for Cebu. Losing the Reward Challenge, Davao receives nothing but a machete and a map to their camp.

	Name	“	First 15 minutes of the game and we're already floundering. This is bad.	”

The Cebu tribe arrives at camp and does introductions while setting up camp. They realize they do not have flint or some other fire-starting material in any of the crates, to their dismay.

“	We thought that winning this challenge will give us flint right off the bat. I could care less about not having blankets, because we need fire.	”
–Wes

After desperate attempts to make fire, Alanna comes to the rescue, using her glasses as a magnifying glass. With their water well found, they started to boil water for drinking. With their fire problem over with, the tribe bond at the beach. Belinda feels nervous about what to share about herself because she is financially successful. She believes such information could help her get to the end or make her an easy target.

“	My tribe is at the beach getting to know each other, and I'm sitting out there nervous as hell that I might slip up by saying I'm a businesswoman, and a damn successful one. Either I will be an easy person to take to the end because I don't need the money, the jury won't vote for me if that's their criteria; or I'll be easy pickins.	”
–Belinda

Later, Belinda attempts to look for the Hidden Immunity Idol. On her way to collect water, Belinda looks around trees and crevices. To her surprise, she discovers a clue, albeit vague. Not wanting to be suspected for looking for the idol, she aborts her mission. Unfortunately, Belinda fails to hide her happiness for finding the clue as Hallie catches on.

“	Belinda returns from the well with a rather big smile on her face. She's smiling from ear to and and she can't help it. Who becomes uncontrollably happy just by collecting water? That's very suspect. She definitely looked for the idol with forthcoming results. I have to keep my eye on her.	”
–Hallie

The Davao tribe arrives at camp and begins introductions. Despite losing the first challenge, they still set up camp in high spirits. Delia, having the most camping experience, leads the charge in building their shelter. While collecting wood, Adrianna and Brock stumble upon their water well. The two discuss who can they work with. As the two walk back to the beach, Adrianna revealed she is worried about the Cursed Idol.

“	I know the importance of building an alliance from the get-go, so I made one with Adrianna. It had to be quick, 1, 2, boom. Done. But when it comes to it, I don't know if I can take Adrianna to the end because I'll definitely lose to her. She's a seductress; no matter how hard she tries, she turns men into puppies. She can't help it. Right now though, she's all I have.	”
–Brock

“	I don't really want to use my womanly powers to my advantage, at least not this early; but I really need someone who I can talk strategy with. Brock seems trustworthy and I believe I'm a good judge of character, so I made fast friends with him so I can lock him down. That Cursed Idol being a thing though is an extra challenge because it's essentially a vote against me. A vote is a vote, so I have to be extra careful on who and how to vote out.	”
–Adrianna

Meanwhile, being the two oldest members of the tribe, Cyrus and Delia make an alliance. Impressed by Delia's camping skills, Cyrus believes he has found his ride-or-die ally.

“	Delia's genuine. She's upfront, she tells it how it is. I like that. Her honesty is to her own benefit, and also to mine, because if she talks too much, it's her head, not mine.	”
–Cyrus

“	I'm making an uneasy alliance with Cyrus. He's the only one on this tribe so far who has talked game with me. I appreciate that but he appears to be the sliest one out here. But as they always say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.	”
–Delia

As the tribe chats over dinner, Serena opens up being a transwoman. Most of the tribe applauds her for coming forward, except Delia who is a conservative republican.

“	Serena's condition doesn't bother me, but if we lose because of her, I will treat her like any other tribemate. She wouldn't want to be treated differently either, so her being transgender is a non-issue to anyone.	”
–Adrianna

“	I'm conservative, and proud of it, then someone like Serena shows up. I either speak my mind and get backlash for blurting out things I shouldn't say, or shut my mouth and wholeheartedly coexist with her. This is Survivor, and the moment someone is isolated, the game blows up to your face.	”
–Delia

“	Her confession makes her a more of a man in her own right. Not everybody can face their demons and completely get past them.	”
–Freddy

“	I didn't come here just to represent the likes of me. Hopefully someday coming out wouldn't be as uncomfortable as it is now.	”
–Serena

Day 2

Unknown to Serena, not everyone were moved. The next morning, Cyrus and Delia took a morning walk to the woods, and talked about their reservations about Serena.

“	If Serena's sissy-ness gets in the way, we have to vote her out.	”
–Delia

“	Well, I hope there is still some "man" left inside of her, because we need strength in challenges. Because if not, off with her head, no pun intended.	”
–Cyrus

The tribes reconvened for what they thought was their first Immunity Challenge. After giving out the instructions, Jeff revealed that if Davao wins the challenge, they can have two of the four crates they lost from yesterday's challenge. Seth and Hallie vs. Brock and April
Wes and Alanna vs. Adrianna and Carson
Carly and Belinda vs. Serena and Delia
Eddie and Curtis vs. Cyrus and Freddy The battle became intense early on, with the tribes' resident giants, Cebu's Seth and Davao's Brock clashed for the first point, while their partners, Hallie and April respectively were almost dragged by their partners. For the first round, Davao scores the first point.

At the second round, while Adrianna and Carson found the sandbag, Wes pulled Adrianna and Carson's rope so they could not move while Alanna tried to steal the sandbag from the rival pair. Alanna successfully retrieved the bag but her leg was pulled by Carson. Carson regained the bag, and was racing back to their end zone, but Adrianna was being pulled by Wes. not disabling them from reaching their mat. Wes and Alanna took hold of Adrianna, who held the bag at the time an literally carried her to Cebu tribe end zone, winning the first point for Cebu.

During the third round, Serena led the charge by tossing Carly, while Belinda and Delia duke it out in finding the sandbag. When Belinda got the sandbag, Serena turned on her, and successfully stole the bag. When Serena was about to pass the bag to Delia, Carly intercepted it. Belinda on the other hand, was waiting to receive the bag, but Serena pulled Belinda and Carly's ropes, making Belinda fail in catching it. In the end, Serena and Delia scored Davao's second point.

During the fourth round, Carly and Belinda were at the mercy of the stronger Delia and Serena. Davao scored their third point. And with the challenge being best of four, Eddie & Curtis and Cyrus & Freddy did not need to compete. Davao wins reward! Having their flint, Davao was given the choice of which crate they would want to win. After much deliberation, they chose the crates with the tarp and the food.

Ecstatic for their first win, the Davao tribe finally had fire and started to boil water and cook rice.

“	This feast brought us closer together. Now with our morale boosted after our miserable loss yesterday, I think we can send Cebu's ass to Tribal Council tomorrow night.	”
–Cyrus

Immediately after eating, Adrianna and Brock went to the water well to discuss the idol. The two decided not to look after it for the meantime, since first impressions are still forming.

“	Brock and I decided not to look for the idol for now, because we don't want to get marked this early should we get caught. Remember Christine?	”
–Adrianna

Day 3

After receiving Tree Mail, the two tribes convened for their first Immunity Challenge. Jeff reveals their tribal Immunity Idol: an intimidating statue of a Mumbaki, or a witch doctor.

Task Delegations	Cebu	Davao
Chariot runners	Seth, Curtis, Wes	Brock, Freddy, Carson
Chariot passenger	Hallie	Adrianna
Grappling hook	Carly, Eddie	Delia, April
Sliding Puzzle	Belinda	Cyrus
Slide	Alanna	Serena

The tribes raced to retrieve the keys, where Davao took the lead when Cebu's Hallie struggled to untangle the first key. Cebu stole the lead when Carly and Eddie managed to grapple all the next set of keys in few swings. Davao bridged the gap when Cyrus solved the puzzle faster than Belinda, leaving Serena and Alanna at the final stage. Alanna successfully found the tribal Immunity Idol, winning immunity for Cebu, sending the Davao tribe to Tribal Council. Back at camp, Cyrus approached to Delia about her voting options. Delia stated that she would vote for Serena blew the challenge for the tribe. Cyrus then asked Delia if they could make a long-term alliance. Delia yet again rejected the offer, saying that strategy is not her priority at all because she believed that strategizing is the catalyst for all misunderstandings between contestants.

“	I really don't want strategy, I just don't like the fact that people slit each others throats. I hate that idea.	”
–Delia

“	As much as I would like to keep Delia for her strong work ethic, I don't feel I can trust her after she said she doesn't want to strategize.	”
–Cyrus

Instead of agreeing with Delia to eliminate Serena, Cyrus campaigned to oust Delia instead. Serena heard the news, worrying her.

“	I don't think they could just send me home for the lame reason of I did not find the friggin' statue on time.	”
–Serena

On the other hand, Freddy and April thought that despite Delia's non-commitment to strategy, they stressed that Delia was an asset to the tribe.

“	Mama Delia's a great person to be around camp. But as much as her apathy towards strategy turned me off, I felt that since we are still in the group competition part of the game, we have to eliminate the weaker ones first for us to win the next challenge.	”
–Freddy

Adrianna and Brock also talked about Delia, where they said that though the lady is a free vote, her apathy is a problem. Delia on the other hand campaigned on voting Serena out because she perceived Serena's challenge performance as dismal.

“	Serena has to go. She can't even do the simplest of things.	”
–Delia

At Tribal Council, Serena became emotional because she felt she was targeted for a weak reason; and she thought she was targeted by Delia because she was a transwoman. Delia disagreed, saying that Serena's condition did not became a factor, but her not finding the idol at the challenge was. Confused by Delia's statements about Serena not finding the idol on time making her a weak link, Jeff asked Delia if she had any strategy, where she answered none. She said that she hated the ethical issues that surround the game. In the end, Delia's non-committal to the true nature of the game sent her home in an unanimous 7-1 vote. But before Jeff snuffed her torch, Delia had one final order of business, handing the Cursed Idol to one of the remaining players, in which she chose Serena, making her vulnerable at the next Tribal Council she goes to.

Tribal Council

Tribal Council 1: Davao
Voted Against	Voter
Delia (7 votes)	Adrianna, April, Brock, Carson, Cyrus, Freddy, & Serena
Serena (1 vote)	Delia
CURSED IDOL RECIPIENT: Serena
VOTED OFF: Delia Rumsfeld

Voting Confessionals

“	At the challenge, I can't believe you can't find the damn idol, just shows how weak you are.	”
–Delia

“	Delia, I did not do anything to hurt your feelings, so I don't understand why are you attacking me like this. I know you're voting for me because I am not "normal," not because I'm weak. You might be a strong competitor, but your so-called ethical issues towards me and this game shows you are not deserving to be here. Good riddance.	”
–Serena

“	You did not came here to strategize, but I do.	”
–Brock

“	You have weakly measured a person's worth. And this overshadows the physical strength that we could have used against the other tribe. Hopefully you learn your lesson after this.	”
–Adrianna

“	I didn't really care of your statements against Serena. Well, not that I didn't care entirely, it's just that your absolutist beliefs made you a shallow person. And your "I'm not gonna strategize" speech totally turned me off. This is a social game silly. Good luck.	”
–Freddy

“	This hurts, but how you treat people outside of your circle will hurt us more.	”
–Cyrus

“	I like you, but not your actions; and your row with Serena is just pointless.	”
–April

“	You're a bigot. Go home.	”
–Carson

Final Words

“	Well, my statements towards Serena were definitely misconstrued. What I was trying to say is that, I do not support her actions and everything, but I do not discriminate her. I wished I could go back to the tribe and explain myself because I felt horrible. Serena, you're a good kid, if you think I had hurt your feelings, I really do apologize. As for not strategizing, it caught me big time. I wished I made a move when I still had the chance, but I felt overwhelmed and afraid that I could hurt anybody's feelings, but in the end, you'll realize you can never be the good guy all the time. As for the Davao tribe, wins this for me, okay?	”
–Delia Rumsfeld

Next Time on Survivor

• Serena's spirit is in an all-time low; and a fun Filipino street game will not be as fun for Cebu.  

Author's Notes

• The Philippines is divided into three island groups: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Manila is the key city of Luzon, while Cebu and Davao are the key cities of Visayas and Mindanao respectively.
• The first Reward Challenge was inspired by the "Cannon Carry" challenge from Survivor: Pearl Islands an the infamous 11-mile trek challenge in Survivor: This challenge was also used during the second season of our local show, back in 2009, which was shot in Palau. But I will not be that severe in putting my characters in an island filled with landmines like they did in the show. They were given a designated pathways, while marked the landmark-filled pathways with warning signs.
• The Day 2 Reward Challenge was inspired by the "Beach Bash" challenge from Survivor: Micronesia and the fan-favorite pillow fight challenge from Survivor: Exile Island and Heroes vs. Villains.
• When the tribes reached their camp on day 1, they found clay pots ("palayok" in Filipino) instead of the metal pots. Clay pots are used in traditional Filipino cooking, with elders stating that cooking food in clay pots make food more delicious to the bite.