The last few days had flown by in a flurry of construction and creation. Seeing the Oasis grow so suddenly had been taken more or less in stride by the nomads. The elders went around and assured everyone that changes like that were simply part of the magic of an Oasis which removed any lingering fears or nervousness, but the awareness that the Oasis was alive was now present in their consciousness. Most simply accepted it as fact and moved on with their lives, but a few adjusted their behaviour slightly. The more spiritual members of the tribe had begun to leave out small offerings for him. While some took the time to bring their offerings into the Oasis, most simply left them at the entrance to their tent, where they would stay until an enterprising pet or kid got hungry. Meals once again were being served at the camp, and while Kairen enjoyed sampling the small offerings he got, he wanted more.

Increasing the size of the Oasis was his next upgrade, for multiple reasons. More water was always a good thing, but Kairen already had more than enough to meet the needs of the tribe, their animals, and the few wild animals that came and went freely. Of more concern was the construction the nomads had begun inside the Oasis. While they were building at the edge for now, Kairen figured that they would eventually start to build inwards to take advantage of the stable foundation his ground provided. Kairen wanted to grow his pool as much as possible before they did so, while it was only grass that would be dropped into the expanding pond.

The immediate benefit of upgrading the size of the pool was the proportional increase in the area around the pool that belonged to Kairen. He watched as his boundary surged outwards, heralded by a wave of sand turning to dirt and beginning to sprout green growth. More area to move around in was nice, but the position of the camp hadn’t changed. It was now inside his boundary, and Kairen freely moved around, enjoying being surrounded by all the small pieces of daily human life.

He quickly found out he couldn’t walk through walls, even ones made of cloth. It wasn’t a question of the material or physical capability; more than once the nomads or animals moving about had passed right through Kairen’s position, without affecting the young ghost at all. He could even reach his invisible hands out in front of him and advance until it seemed like they were on the other side of the cloth barrier, not that there was anything he could feel or touch there. Despite trying to trick himself by walking backwards through the tent wall it quickly became apparent that Kairen’s viewpoint had to enter tents the normal way. Most of the tents were kept open to avoid it becoming too hot inside but walking around the private settings he saw quickly lost his appeal, and Kairen switched his focus to following the elders of the tribe around. Not only did it give him the best picture of what the tribe was up to, but they usually had access to the best food and drink, and Kairen enjoyed sampling the various treats they kept for themselves.

The second upgrade the tribe witnessed saw quite a few more people fall into the habit of leaving small things for him. While most of the bricks being produced were used to build a large structure, there were enough malformed bricks to put together a small pillar near the edge of the pond. Kairen made a habit of stopping by there to sample the food left, but the location meant that quite a few of the gifts were tossed directly into the pond, where they quickly dissolved. Those offerings weren’t a complete loss, as Kairen noticed that he received upgrade points from their actions. It was only a few points per day, but it didn’t cost him anything, and it was the first source of points that Kairen knew the cause of. It wasn’t enough for him to figure out how that part of the system worked, but it was a point he could start from.

“It’s a shame Pathfinder Ade couldn’t find any wood to bring back.” One worker chatted with another as they put the finishing touches on the building they were working on.

“Don’t be too hard on the boy. He’s helped bring back more than enough things and it isn’t his fault wood is so scarce in the Sands.”

“I’m just saying this building would look a lot nicer if we had a few beams to work with.”

The lack of wood definitely limited the tribe’s ability to build. For the most part the nomads simply adapted, using the dug-out pits as the basis for small half-buried shelters with curving brick roofs. The big building they were constructing was simply too large to try and use a domed roof, and instead a large tarp was repurposed as a ceiling for the large building. Wanting to help, Kairen had looked over his options, but while upgrading the variety of plant life did provide larger options at the second level, it would either take multiple upgrades or a different choice altogether before he could create trees. A few seeds had been planted, but no one in the tribe was proficient with plant magic and they would need to wait for the trees to grow naturally before they could harvest any wood from them.

Even with a cloth roof the new building served its purpose as a convenient gathering place. Most evenings Kairen could find a grandmother or grandfather sharing various stories before the children were sent to bed. Oftentimes the stories were myths or tales, but occasionally more personal stories were shared, from thrilling battles against monsters to the misguided courting attempts from the youth of one old miner.

“Back in those days I really hadn’t figured out what girls were like. I had already realized they were far smarter and wilier than I ever would be, but I thought that if I could just get one to notice me then they surely would fall for my handsome good looks and my irresistible charm. That’s where Stick came in. Stick was a brownish vine snake I’d picked up by accident but then decided to keep as a pet. It wasn’t like he did much, but he didn’t eat and only needed a bit of water, so my da allowed it. Now the whole tribe knew that Stick belonged to me, so I figured that Stick could be my messenger. Now I didn’t know how to write or anything, but I still figured it would be obvious what the message was when I snuck Stick into Mag’s tent. Little did I know that Stick decided it would be a great time to be active for once.

Mag found Stick not in her tent, but in the dress that she decided to put on the next day. With the way she was screaming, everyone thought some kind of monster had attacked her and came running, only to see her half-dressed, trying her best to get Stick out of the back of her dress where he had gotten all tangled up.

I, being the dumb boy that I was, simply stood there and watched. Some of the other girls helped her get Stick free and once she wasn’t distracted by a snake in her dress she started stomping her way over to me. I thought everything was going perfectly until the moment she slapped me hard enough to send me to the ground.

She kept her eye on me after that, through every trick and dumb thing I did. Somewhere along the line she decided she actually liked what she saw, and we got together, easy as that.”

The audience was torn on the ending, with some wanting to know more about how he got together with Mag and the rest wanting to hear more about Stick.

The meeting hall also became the main location that group discussion and planning occurred. Elder Gomer was the main person organizing things, but everyone had ideas, requests, and demands they wanted to make known and the meeting hall was the place they could do so. The elders did their best to listen to all issues brought to them, but they weren’t shy about giving out their opinions.

“I’m sorry, Jute, but we won’t be sending Pathfinder Ade out to find tobacco just because your stash ran out. You can try and trade with someone who still has their own stash left, or you can head outside and try lighting plants on fire till you find one that works for you. I don’t want you bringing this up again. This is your problem, not the tribe's. Deal with it.” Elder Arun coldly dismissed one petitioner. He expected people to try and handle their own problems, and only bothered with issues or problems that he saw affecting the tribe as a whole.

“Next!”

“Elder Arun, we’ve stayed here long enough.” The motherly woman began, before being quickly cut off.

“We’re not moving just because you want a change in scenery.” Aron wearily retorted. The look he sent her way told her just how often he’d had to say that line. Instead of backing down and leaving, the woman continued talking.

“Oh no! I like it here. Having so much water makes cooking and cleaning far easier. It’s about the children. We’d usually be travelling by now and they would be having lessons, but instead they’re simply running around being a general nuisance. A few are old enough to be put to work, but I was hoping you could find the time to resume teaching the younger ones.”

Elder Arun took a long moment to think about it. Everyone had been far too busy adjusting to their new circumstances, and the children had slipped through the cracks. While they were dragged in to help with a few of the more general tasks for the most part they were simply ignored and set loose to play around the Oasis. It meant the adults could focus on their work, but it wouldn’t do to simply ignore the future generation.

He nodded slowly. “I will talk to the other elders. It may not be tomorrow, but I can promise you that we will resume teaching soon.”