A Very Anarteq Tour of the Soo

A Very Anarteq Tour of the Soo was a journey by Dozerfleet to the area around Sault Ste. Marie on both the US and Canadian sides at the tail end of September of 2019, as part of a campaign to gain cultural notes and stock photography for development of Anarteq: Guardian of the Soo. It was inspired by the relative success of an earlier campaign: Ciem: Inferno: The Grand Tour.

While much of Isitoq's life in Yellek and North Bay would have to be saved for a future tour, this one zeroed in on his assignment to get close and figure out what the Screwworms and Wishpon were planning for Sault Ste. Marie in particular - by taking on a cover job as a tour guide. First, for the boat tours. And then, for visitors of the Canadian side once the boat tours wrapped up their season. Key areas of interest were his lodging, the St. Mary's River, the Boat Tours dock, and any areas related to Jissika's shenanigans.

Notable quotes
"If he [Anarteq] is anyone, and he's like us, and it's off-season, he'll be like everyone else: hunting. Drinking beer.  Or maybe handling off-season paperwork in the office if he has no life.  After the end of October, this town goes dead."

- woman working for the Soo Locks Boat Tours

Stories affected
Guardian of the Soo is set up by The Tragedy of Lord Zeras, Feud of Three Worlds, Of Angels and Icicles, Lohtz, The Gray Champion: Freedom's Apparition, Of Emeralds and Sapphires, Experiments and Offspring, Cherinob, and Ciem: Inferno.

The events Izzy and Jissika endured in Sault Ste. Marie set the stage later for Ciem / Anarteq: Kahoopiliana, Anarteq: Tropic Mercenary, Cherinob 3, and Anarteq: Envoy to Lough Melvin.

Locations in Sault Ste. Marie only specifically relate to Guardian of the Soo, and not to any other story. This is a contrast from the Ciem: Inferno tour, in which Boonville (Gerosha) and Evansville are of central importance to a multiplicity of tales within the greater mythos. So far, Guardian of the Soo is the only Dozerfleet story explicitly set in Sault Ste. Marie.

Itinerary
The trip was initially planned for a four-day voyage; but was shortened to only three days when the locations requiring capture proved fairly easy to capture in only two days. In some ways, capturing the footage for Sault Ste. Marie was actually easier than capturing similar footage for Boonville and Evansville.

Initial plans called for waking up at 5:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, September 25th of 2019, from the Grand Ledge House, then driving to Mt. Pleasant for fuel. The actual time of departure was 4:23 AM. Fueling was done in Grand Ledge, and supplies were checked over.

The first stop was not St. Johns nor Mt. Pleasant, as were initially planned for. Instead, the van came to a stop in Roscommon, at a Marathon gas station. This was a quick stop, followed by a crossing over to I-75 after traveling prior to that along MI Highway-127. The next stop was in Mackinaw City, to visit Colonial Michilimackinac. Unfortunately, the pumpkin butter purchased here didn't survive the trip home.

The reason for stopping here was to celebrate the founder of Dozerfleet having been in that exact spot nearly exactly 20 years prior with a high school class. The seagulls were far less aggressive this second time.

Afterward, a slight detour was taken from the initial plan to head straight to Sault Ste. Marie. Instead, St. Ignace was toured. This was done in an effort to locate anything remotely useful for research on any Inuit presence that may have been in the area in the past. However, Chippewa were far more of an influence. The Museum of Ojibwa Culture had very little in the way of useful artifacts, and was built out of a retired old church building.

From there, it was straight on to Canada. Customs were suspicious of the project and tour; but permission was granted to remain in Canada for a few hours and complete the Canadian side of the tour.

One of the main locations in Guardian of the Soo is the HD Sports Grill, which has since become a Montana's. Therefore, eating dinner there was imperative. The entire dinner was paid for with Canadian cash. After an unsuccessful effort to use a debit card to buy syrup at the duty-free store, the frustrated Dozerfleet founder drove back to the US side. A curious border guard wanted to know more about the story. Finally, the van was able to cross back to the US side. The evening was spent in the far end parking lot of the Sault Ste. Marie Meijer store.

After a very cold night in the van, the tour resumed. Day 2 consisted of going on the boat tours, as well as gathering all the US side shots possible. Around 4:00 PM EDT, with all shots finally gathered that were doable, the tour's main purpose came to a close. It was on to the Lower Peninsula - and to find a place to stay the night. Oddly enough, the cheapest lodging that allowed for a heated room and shower was the Quality Inn Hotel and Suites...of Big Rapids!

The night spent there was quick. And soon thereafter, a quick trip to St. Johns was made, to visit Uncle John's Cider Mill. A picture of a crystal on sale there became a good reference point for the Abdygalis Shard that Izzy has to find and eliminate. From there, it was back to the Lansing area to wrap everything up.

The following Saturday, photo processing began. On Sunday, this led to the article about the tour being written.

Targeted cities
Unlike Ciem: Inferno: The Grand Tour, this tour didn't require as much drastic travel nor as many cities to be the central focus. Only the Canadian and US sides of Sault Ste. Marie were imperative for a majority of stock photography. Even so, this actually required more careful planning, due to international travel being involved.

Landmarks
Key areas of interest included anywhere Izzy would've gone to for work as a tour guide, anywhere he or Jissika would have been when uncovering Wishpon or Screwworm activities, anywhere he may have had lodging, anywhere Jisska may have had lodging, and any area where a major battle took place.

Successfully photographed
The following landmarks were either successfully or partially successfully photographed:

Unsuccessful photo jobs

 * Interior of Soo Marine Supply
 * Only one exterior shot was possible, due to security purposes.
 * Interior of Soo Builder's Supply
 * Again, only a few exterior shots were possible, enough to demonstrate a little of their supply.
 * Interior of 1011 Wellington
 * Only the exterior shots were even attempted, as no resident appeared to be around and be willing to discuss interior shots.
 * Interior of Cloverland Electric
 * The building had very strict security protocols, containing a lab and equipment in use by Lake Superior State University.
 * Upclose shots of the US Coast Guard Building
 * Time in the day was running out to capture this, and it wasn't essential.

Surprise photo opportunities
Various images were taken of North St. Mary's Island, including a cabin on Whitefish Island viewable from the distance. While not the cabin being aimed for in photo shoots, it was an interesting take all the same.

Several locations along the St. Mary's River proved very helpful for research for Izzy's cover job; particularly pictures aboard the Hiawatha tour boat.

Locations excluded from the tour
One of the key locations in-story is a structure located on Whitefish Island, owned by the Batchewana First Nation. However, this location was closed due to flooding. Some pictures were taken of the island; but the actual photo of where Greg Nomarche is seduced by Nemara was absent from photos taken.

Reaction from locals
Most reactions upon hearing the reason behind the tour was a reaction of cynical curiosity.

Other tours
This tour may have been made for Anarteq: Guardian of the Soo; but that story happens one month after the opening month in which events happen in Ciem: Inferno. A tour was arranged for that as well, to Boonville. The success of these two became the inspiration behind many other possible future tours.

Future tours
These are tours that could be considered for the future for further developing Anarteq mythos. For non-Anarteq-related tours, see the list of future tour possibilities at Ciem: Inferno: The Grand Tour.


 * A Very Anarteq Tour of Yellek
 * This would be a trip to Yellek, Ontario, to understand the Sundue family's life, times, and legacy.


 * The Life of Kahmohoalii Tour
 * This would be a trip to Captain Cook, Hawaii.
 * Research on Hawaiian history would be conducted, to build a life timeline and take photos to establish the long life and times of Pakulihi Lekaho.
 * This would include Lohtz, Ciem / Anarteq: Kahoopiliana, and Anarteq: Tropic Mercenary.


 * The Cuiart ar Lough Melvin Tour
 * This would be a trip to Lough Melvin in Ireland, for Anarteq: Envoy to Lough Melvin.