( John POV )

I’ve just shut down the chat room, and am preparing to clock up a few more hours in TtA, when Jade informs me that we’ve got trouble.

“We’ve been robbed. By a group of goblins, no less. At a guess, another player is trying to use us as a food source. That or they’re scouting for a full-scale attack, but it seems pretty early for that.”

Well. Shit. It seems that the grace period is over.

“I see. Hmm. OK, med me up for a long deep-dive, would you? I get the feeling I’m going to need it.”

By the time I feel the accelerant enter my bloodstream, I’m already lost in spreadsheets.

As I log into the game, I find myself floating above the main firepit of the village, exactly where I logged out. There have been some sweeping changes in the meantime, however. The village looks sturdier, more settled, the huts better-built and daubed in crude decorations.

“Bloody hell! It’s only been, what, a few hours? What’s that in-game?”

“About a month has passed in here since we last logged in. Still, I agree, it’s quick progress.”

Jade says in agreement.

“Yeah, this is going to take some getting used to.”

I comment, still taking in all the changes.

“Anyway. How far have our people explored by now? Are we anywhere near compiling an accurate map of the area?”

Jade looks up the answer in a second.

“They’ve explored about half a day's travel-time in all directions. Not bad. Oh, except for the forest.”

“That is the first place I would have expected them to go, why didn’t they?”

I inquire with Jade. who quickly answers.

“The goblins always come from the forest, whenever they raid. So it’s been a bit of a no-go zone.”

“Sensible. Ok, so, a map?”

I ask.

Jade gives me a humorous look.

“That... might be a bit of a problem. The maps you get are in the same style and condition as the one your people use. So… enjoy!”

A small window pops open in front of me. It’s not exactly Ordnance Survey. It resembles a bit of badly-tanned leather with some unintelligible charcoal-scratchings spread across it, seemingly at random.

Hmm. It seems we’ll need to move ‘discovering parchment’ up the priority list.

“Oookay… Right. Um. I guess we’ll have to do our own scouting, for the time being. Bring up that old graph-paper notepad module, would you, the one I used for sketching D&D maps? This might take a bit longer than I’d expected.”

After a few seconds of Jade’s silence, presumably as she carefully navigates the game’s Hud-mod clauses, a hard backed notepad appears in my hand. I unstrap the included pencil and flip it open.

“Right! Any positions that might be defensible? We’ll start with those.”

“There are a few, but unfortunately there’s a catch.”

Jade mentions with a bit of interest.

“We can teleport instantly between tribe members, and any ‘travel points’ they’ve built for us, but our free-roam view is limited. We can only move at about running speed, when we’re not teleporting.”

“Ah, crap. I should have realised it wouldn’t be that easy to get around.”

I say slightly annoyed.

“Well, we’ve not got much of a choice, so we might as well get moving. We can probably get a sense of the immediate surroundings, at least.

In the meantime, we can discuss our options.”

Jade forms beside me, and we start drifting to the north-east, skimming along at an appreciable speed across the savannah. I get no say in the matter; one minute I’m hovering in the centre of camp, the next I’m being chauffeured to Jade’s destination of choice.

Once again, I get the sense that TtA is designed to be played primarily by AIs, their humans acting as executive oversight. From interpreting tribe-members mental states to database access to basic movement, so much of the game seems hidden behind an AI-only interface. It’s strange, but also vaguely liberating, to be forced into a hands-off management role. Kinda like one of those old mobile games. I decide not to mention it, in case Jade takes it as an attack.

Once I’ve spent a few moments enjoying the view, and then a few more resenting how slowly we seem to be moving, I pick up the conversational thread once more.

“So, let's start with the useful things first. How do I make these travel points?”

“It’s pretty simple.”

She says as she starts explaining.

“Much like real people, your tribe will create markers at relevant points along paths and up hills and on borders and so on. A signpost, a cairn, maybe a roadside shrine later on, that sort of thing. Then, so long as the marker isn’t located inside someone else’s territory, you can spend an advancement point to make it a permanent teleport point. Useful, but not necessarily cheap.”

“Wait, currently we get maybe a dozen points for every game year, and they expect us to use points for just… getting around? That’s pretty expansive, actually scrap that it’s really expensive.”

I comment loudly.

“Who came up with this design?”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it yet.”

She says

“So, you can get your tribe to build markers outside your territory, for scouting and stuff, but if it’s on neutral ground then your neighbours can find it too. What’s more, they can attach their travel point to the same thing.”

“Ah, so not only are they super expensive, travel points are a double edged blade, too! Anything else?”

“One more thing.”

Jade remarks.

“Apparently, if the marker gets destroyed all travel points attached will get… Unbound? ‘Release the stored advancement points’? To be honest, I’ve no idea what that actually means, the in-games encyclopedia is kinda’ unclear, and the wiki’s got nothing. Probably you just get your points back, which is worth something, I guess.”

I sighing I shake my head.

“Bloody annoying thing for the ‘pedia to be vague about.”

“Yes, I thought s- wait, hold on.”

Jade furrows her brow in surprise and concentration, as she processes data I cannot see.

“Huh, I just got access to a new part of the encyclopedia, they must have just made it available. “The Natural Growth of the World”. Funny name. It’s a poem of some sort, or a song. No, a riddle. Here.”

She conjures a papyrus scroll from the digital ether, and hands it to me. I unroll it, and read aloud.

“This world is a living place, and your people make their choices.

A plethora of paths, and yet no road is straight.

Reality’s fibers, tied in a net, vibrate to the sound of their voices.

None escape from the growing web, for all places found are linked

But the links cannot be seen or touched, the paths unknown ‘til walked

Questions precede knowledge, ask lest ye go extinct.

For knowledge is power and power is drive,

those without fail, and those who learn, thrive.”

We sit in stunned silence for a moment.

“What the hell does that mean?”

I exclaim loudly.

“I have no idea. And I’m pretty sure that encrypting important info in obscure riddles is not within standard encyclopedia guidelines.”

Jade complains loudly before recollecting her senses.

“Anyway, we’re here.”

Indeed, we’ve reached the summit of a large hill, in the middle of what might have been a glacial valley in some distant age. As a bit of scenery, it’s dramatic, but more important are the steep cliffs that comprise its northern and eastern edges. Of course, a stronghold that’s only got walls along half the circumference isn’t much better than having no walls at all, but it’s a place to start.

We spend a few minutes circling, getting a feel for the place, before returning to the summit.

“Right. This is actually pretty good.”

I say happily.

“Not easily fortified, at our current tech-level, but it’s doable. Any sources of water nearby?”

“There’s a small stream of water about five minutes northwest of here.”

Jade points towards the stream.

“It’s too far away to be much use in a long-term siege, but it’s enough to allow the tribe to spend longer periods of time here.”

I look towards the place she is pointing at and manage to catch the sun reflecting off the water.

“Right, well, that’s a big strike against for now. This won’t be a lot of use until we get to cisterns and Archimedes Screws and so on. Oh, and granaries, actually.”

Even though I speak against it, I start making notes none the less. Long-term, this place might save us.

“You raise a fair point.”

Jade says.

“For the time being I’ll narrow our search parameters to include easy access to water and food. Knocks out a few otherwise excellent candidates, but we have to work within our current limitations. I really should have thought about that myself…”

She mutters under her breath before turning around and pointing towards what I think is the south?

“OK… The next point of interest, that away.”

We set off once more, and to fill the time I ask about advancing our weapon-tech - what with the goblins and all.

Immediately Jade starts complaining loudly about the whole tech advancement system in general.

“the whole damn tech-tree thing is yet another area where data’s pretty scarce.

I’m not really sure how we get anything new apart from just waiting and hoping one of the tribe has a brainwave. I’ve got almost nothing to work with.”

“Hmm. Wait, didn’t we agree to send Zane some files on bolas?”

I mention casually.

No sooner have the words left my mouth but one of the game’s popup windows springs open before us. A brief exclamation from Jade suggests that it’s as much a surprise to her as me.

Technology "Primitive Bolas" has been unlocked.

Requirements met 3/2.

Due to additional requirements met, cost reduced by 50%.

“Wait, what?! Where the hell did that come from?!

I suddenly have the option to buy “Primitive Bolas” as an upgrade, but I didn’t even have access to the tech-purchase interface before!”

Jade starts swearing violently, she is giving of a completely different image then she did during our meeting with Zane.

“Well, I guess the game heard me mention bolas. Seems straightforward enough to me.”

I try and calm her down by simplifying the situation

“I’ve been hunting those files about the game’s directory for hours, and it only recognises them when a human mentions them?! That’s bullshit!”

It doesn’t seem like it worked, but somehow the entire scene makes me chuckle instead.

I chuckle. Jade glares at me, so I follow the chuckle with a shit-eating grin.

“Nice to know that humans aren’t completely surplus to requirements in the eyes of the devs.”

I say in an overly sarcastic voice. Jade still looks pissed but at least she is quieting down.

“Even if you’re now just going to force me to read long lists of technology names, heh.

Anyway, what are the three prerequisites techs we’ve got?”

“I can’t tell, it’s really frustrating!”

Jade Takes a deep breath and fails completely at staying calm.

“It just says that we’ve 3 of the required techs for the unlock, that’s all we’ve got.”

“So... what techs do we have?”

I ask gingerly.

Jade gestures, irritably, looking distracted, and up flies another popup window.

Skills available in community

Mundane skills

Magical skills

Primitive Leather-Working Primitive Stone-Working Primitive Wood-Working Simple Foraging Simple Tracking Primitive Leadership Primitive Weaving

Looking over the skills I remember the earlier message. And then I get it.

“Ohhh. Hold on, I think I get what that notification earlier was on about!”

It takes about sixty seconds to explain my little breakthrough. Naturally, Jade gets it in the first thirty, but argues for another couple of minutes to avoid admitting that it was obvious. I try not to look too smug for working it out before her, and fail.

Jade keeps glaring at me, before a smile cracks her angry image.

“Oh, laugh it up, meatbag. Anyway, this is going to have… serious implications.”