[Avalogs/'Super-Logs' + Game concept  by Ade M. Campbell]

Featuring extracts from:
-The Origin Walkthrough
-Gameplay Design+Development notes
-Super-Log entries from the first Pioneers (First Era)
-Founder Writings + other Fragments relating to the ‘Nature Game-World’ of Fountellion at the Time of The Spiral (compiled by John Leaven)

ORIGINAL BLURB:

A gateway to a long-awaited, always-online virtual island ('Permaworld') has opened for those who've found a key. This includes Dan Harvester, a guy who lives in a run-down apartment with his cat and runs a gaming channel. He's almost done playing and testing VR games, but this one could be his final chance to - truly - level up. What can it promise to him, and all its very first 'pioneers'?

'Fountellion'...is said to be 'natural' game-world, a N.E.P. world (Naturally-Evolving PermaWorld) full of artificial life that mimics the laws of our own natural world, with its shaping force of evolution. The game promises to be more than an open-world survival experience, for there are seven 'Insights' scattered and every player can find their own path to them. How much will Dan be changed, by his own search?

A game-within-a-game or a simulated homage to the natural world? A complete vision of a 'metaverse' design which overgrows or salvages addicted players?

There is only one way to find out: Tune in and experience Dan's 'avalogs'. For only by completing them and the fragments from the development, may you too discover the vision and legacy of 'Fountellion'...

[Dec 2017 - wattpad, amazon etc.
Minor revisions for update for paperback etc. editions 2023.
2024 : full online Arweave edition with minor ongoing additions.
Cover art by Martina Stipan.]

‘They say that those who ‘find’ Fountellion...
Find themselves…’
(from the game teaser trailer)

‘Find your Fountellion! ’
(graffiti appearing in towns and cities of the Source) 

PART 1:

Btw….

• INITIALISE….

[Extract - ‘Fountellion’ Sessions with Pioneer Dan Harvester]

SUPER-LOG (zero): A Last Chance to Level-Up...

[Extract (Promo) -
CHARACTERS YOU MAY MEET in Fountellion]

NATTER-SPHERE:

[Extract (Reactions) - FIRST LOOK: FOUNTELLION]

[Extract - Pioneer]
SUPER-LOG 1: Awakening (deeper in the… Game?)

[Extract - Pioneer]
SUPER-LOG 2: Doorway...

• WALKTHROUGH

Virtual System Experience Setup:

Reader Experience Setup:

...

PROGRESSIONS RED:
Acclimatisation (PvE) / The Parting of the Corn

SUPER-LOG 3: Treading Softly or ‘I Eat the Corn (Twice)’...

SUPER-LOG 4: This ‘Greenwise’ Guy...

SUPER-LOG 5: The Nature of the Game

SUPER-LOG 6: The Nature of the Game 2 and First Demo from the Guardian

SUPER-LOG 7: The ‘Stokermen’ Are Coming For ME !

SUPER-LOG 8: A Strange Encounter…

SUPER-LOG 9: Into the Wild

SUPER-LOG 10: Time to Try: Hunter Mode + Transformation

SUPER-LOG 10 (continued): A Ride in a Damselfly

SUPER-LOG 11: In the Arms of the Great Cedar

SUPER-LOG 12: A Red Squirrel and the Loss of Gunn

SUPER-LOG 13: Out of the Woodpecker Nest...

SUPER-LOG 14: One Last Shot at the Top…or not...?

SUPER-LOG 15: Cedar View and the First Insight

SUPER-LOG 16: Back in ‘The Source’ / Shower Thoughts

...

The Spiral Times – the official site for the books and project

Ade’s Press – author info, updates, art and news

In Fountellion playlist - a deep ambient mix to listen to while playing/reading (Soundcloud)

Gitbook - site for NFTs and evolving content

‘Welcome players… to both the story and experience of a survival-adventure ‘game’ that has become an extra reality for so many. It’s surely worth this telling, since it’s as much your story as those involved in its creation, including so many scientists – those true pioneers – who still work to discover more of its secrets, in – and out – of the Source.

But you have a choice. If you’re more interested in just the experience, then you can skip to reading only the Super-logs, although the walkthrough will at times provide you with vital assistance in understanding them. 

Play a good game, eh?’

-John Leaven – co-founder, Fountellion/Green Garden project

‘In the future, I foresee an ‘ultimate game’; a powerful reflection of, and about, the nature of our world – and a thrilling, revelatory one. Energy, change, survival, cooperation, adaptation… It will use potent symbols and invest its players with ‘real’ insight, and the power this bestows. It will prove a valuable experience for people… as it shows them an experience of ‘Life’…. from Life’s perspective... Somehow they’ll do it… For in order to combat the seemingly unstoppable ignorance – and arrogance – of mankind… they’ll need to.’

-Blake Welder (FC) – Divison tester (personal blog extract)

‘How much shall I be changed, before I am changed?’
- (access phrase to Fountellion: voice recognition)

<Pinng!> “...You've received a new email, Dan.”

“I’ll just read it on my wrist, ok?”

I'm in no mood to hear my house-bot’s dry voice today; not even to listen to confirmation of new access into another super-alluring, super game world...

Actually, the title of the message just reads: 'A Personal Invitation...'

Oh yeah, it was the one I found in the pocket of my avatar. 

I've not had a ‘personal’ invitation to anything; for quite a while. I know it’s not a fake; I have been expecting the message. Waiting, I guess. It's from my new 'friend' whom I've never met, Professor Fielding, who I've been reading about, a lot, recently. An architect... or just another thief, stealing more reality from the world? 

That's ok: he can take some more of mine. I get quite enough of a certain type of reality. 

I would like to meet the guy. I might even, as long as I don't get too bored in the interim. Attention, these days - especially mine - is pretty limited.

I take another sip of strong coffee, and a good drag of a smooth cigarette. It's the first one of the day. My day off. So it's the best one. (Why not? I'll be dead one day. And I won't know about it. Maybe, I'll be somewhere else... or just... dead... Energy = 0.)

Everything around me here is old and rotting, stealthily. Even the couch where I'm sitting, comfortably at least. Apathy? Boredom? It could be a disease - this lethargy - which has been creeping into the fibre of everything around here – and into me – for sometime, and as I begin the slide into my late thirties.

At least it's all under my control; and I've got no extra rods for my own back. Not yet.

I'm still playing video games. What the hell is wrong with that? I'm still playing. 

I take another drag.

The smoke will linger on, with the coffee, and – I hope – this 'new' game will linger too. Because I've played a few in my time. And the fun – and the point – wears off after a while. 

Metaverses are better, but more addictive. They take over. 

Virtually everyone's into some kind of one of them, these days. But then, we always have been. 

We're all players... to the end. 

Beneath the stranger games; the darker ones, aren't we all playing the same one, really? Simpler; more direct. It would be called 'Energy'. To continue its flow and its survival. It burns and smokes like this cigarette. The trouble these days is the lines have blurred. They overflow. Technology – and its ceaseless appeal – means that you can make a living playing others. Games within games. Writing about them. Winning them, if you're lucky, and if you care.

It was never about winning for me. Just progressing deep enough into them, to see new things and share time with some friends, or meet an interesting girl – that was always cool. We talked about games. We laughed – loads – at the crazy moments they create. It was fun. Then... I got bored. I played another. 

But I never felt like I was progressing... beyond their confines, or beyond the promise of the next title. Maybe they were just never good enough. They're all so... displaced still. Looking for roots... 

And here I am, still working at the gas station. It's mostly automated but they still need 'warm bodies' to help out. They say that it keeps a 'human face on the company' but actually we're engineers mostly, fixing when there are system crashes, maintaining the cleaning bots... plus other backup tasks. I talk to my other colleague sometimes, as I clean the floors under flickering strobe lighting (by hand sometimes) and on a long shift, we discuss... games... 

... and the worlds of The Spiral... or... about saving up, for the higher-spec - the better - interfaces.

I glance over to where one of them now hangs. The highest one. The only... Spiral Interface... At last... All shiny-new.

Then, I look down at the small, inviting, glowing words again, on my device. It's an old mobile, by current standards, but I like that. It does everything I need. At the same time, it distracts me, as much as it possibly can. It got so bad, I had to partition the thing into two sections. All my 'work' and gaming channel stuff in one; all my distractions locked up in the other. Now that was smart. 

Sometimes, though, I think my life should have been a bit like that. With a padlock on one of those sections.

In my small flat, with my stupid cat – as trapped as I am – I've decided to check out this new game-world...

....

Dear future... this is the end of this first, spectacular, log entry. Because that's all I'm writing this to. Some fellow souls out there... in some future time. When the pressure is off. When I've got some kind of life together and can look back.

First, I'm going to play this game. Not any of the other legion of games, drawing poor folk back into their sticky, hero-obsessed webs or erotically-charged worlds. But just this one. 

One, last time. 

Why? Not just because it's so new, or because it might be different. 'Ultimate', whatever that can mean. But because this time I have something... 

A key. With an invitation. A head start. A new start...?

Yes, I'll be one of the first. And I found it. Earned it. And whatever world it promises is going to be mine to reveal to everyone. Talk about a boost for my channel stats.

This idea makes me feel alive again, right now, within this caffeine and beyond all the smoke, encircling my life.

I'm going to know everything about it. Own it.

And then... I'm going to quit my job, and move out of this place; to the blooming countryside. Where I can see trees again; real ones. Not just this canvas photo-print I have of them, on my wall.

Yeah, that's a good enough plan.

If you like, you can 'follow' me. Follow these entries. But I better just let you know that where I'm ultimately going, no one – except the girl of my dreams – can really come along. But we'll send you an invite... if I trust you.

There are a few snags down the line. I love games. So I'm at risk – of drowning. 

What's drowning? you might ask, if you work in other industries - or come from other planets. Well, drowning is when you get lost in a game. Virtually. Artificially. Mixed. Whatever. There are many ways. Addicted, I suppose, only that's quite simple. It's when you lose a hold on your real-life commitments. Although mine are still overlapping. Maybe that's how I've kept my head out of the water. Just.

I know about others. Not so lucky.

As I finish the dregs of coffee, I'm glancing across at the gear again, hanging up. Ready for swimming. Diving. Into the virtual. The worlds of the mind, beyond this place....

Virtual water can be cold – lonely – or it can be far too hot. I've been in both. Believe me. 

From what I've heard about this game, it should be... green. That should be a nice change. I can feel myself betting – way too high – on everything it might offer me. But you've got to be in, right? Maybe this is the one…

Will I be able to wash myself clean in this green world, and be set free? Is this redemption day? There are reports. Maybe. 

But then, can the water of a river, often really dirty, be any good for cleaning? 

As ever, there's only one way to find out…

Time to go for a swim then. How far will you – we – make it in this game?

Just stay with me folks...

• Dan ‘the super-man’ Harvester 

[an Early Access Pioneer and recent Keeper
(owner: ‘Notes from Super Worlds’ Vrog)]

@spiraltimes

• Greenwise: the Guardian at the Estuary

A key figure to Fountellion is its ‘guardian’ - Greenwise - an elderly, Merlin-type mystic wanderer, but with special powers. If ever there was a ‘wise guy’ this is he: your personal tutor to the ways of Fountellion. A veritable fountain of tips and tricks and a walking encyclopedia of flora and fauna. But his true utility is his tuition; enabling the player to discover and unlock what is inside them. 

He resembles the actor Anthony Hopkins and is a cross between unruffled Kane from Kung Fu and the more urgent, eccentric Gandalf, especially since time is against him in teaching players how to – effectively – begin to apply their new powers. Later, it might be said, he is more relaxed when he knows you. And you are less vulnerable in the world.

Mostly he is elaborate AI or NPC (Non-Player Controlled) character, but it is believed that real Game Mages such as the Gatekeeper and even Fountellion founder Prof. Ben Fielding will ‘inhabit’ the character at important or random times. 

He can be calm but also shifty and on edge, forever in tune with the ‘voice of the fabric’, the movements of its artificial life and forever scanning the skies for Stokermen, who seek to ‘take’ his new and veteran subjects.

He is aware that it will only take one player to affect the game deeply and its nature so he will treat each new arrival with consideration, respect and... hope. However, if they fail to heed his teachings he may ‘impress’ upon them a sense of gravity and urgency. Players will discover his reasons over time. If his attempts fail he will abandon such players to fend for themselves, and will not respond to summons, depending. 

If any player chooses to attack Greenwise, there will be a fight and he may offer second chances to submit to his teachings. However, no player has been known to win against Greenwise. As a Guardian ‘program’ he may have extra, latent or hidden powers bestowed by his creators.

He renews his power from his territory: the estuary region where he is drawn frequently to meet new arrivals. He is less seen in other regions but may be summoned for short periods beyond it.

What else to say? This should be the start of a valuable friendship – or the end. You get points for not summoning him, but then you could die. Or worse: be taken. You decide. Does he like jokes? His students are not too sure. Don’t mess with the cloak.

BTW: Is he the real teacher in the game? He will always shift that load to the gameworld - nature, environment - as the real character you must get to know, if you are ready...

• The Stokermen

Really? No. You don’t ever want to meet or encounter these wraith-like figures, emanating from the heights of the far Tower. But… they will keep you on your toes. They are light in gravity and so drift airborne across the game-scape, using their stokers (long, stave-like instruments with a curved prong at the end) to navigate their bodies and to pick up, or spear, players (those ill-prepared for their ceaseless searches) expertly onto them. In this way they do serve a purpose – to ensure movement in players and to separate the active and focussed from the lost and unaware.

People say they are in fact the remnants of banished players, forced now to prey on the current, active ones. It is the only way they may return for another turn in the game. For once every current player ‘fails’ (by getting themselves fished out of the island by these blinkered, blighted predators), then a single ‘era’ ends and the server will re-set, if the seventh Insight is unlocked. All players are then released from the tower – marked by a green band they must work personally to be free of. 

[With thanks to pioneer and rising ‘Beta Hero’ star Dan Harvester…]

New #THESPIRAL world: Now in development is reported to be an ‘ultimate game’ - a ‘green game’ deeply-rooted to nature / the source... disruptive? What do YOU want from this? Let us know… @spiraltimes #greengarden #fountellion #SpiralMetaverse

Play the game you’re already playing… only better! ‘Nature without check with original energy’… #openthegarden
- Nattercast @DevDivision re: Fountellion Open Beta (featuring quote from ‘Song of Myself’ by Walt Whitman)

It’s difficult to write this ‘game review’, firstly because despite Fountellion’s emergence from its rich game ‘heritage’ – the previous life and death of so many VR games – it feels like so much more. The attention placed upon the environment; its life forms, the interface and the fluidity of its more intuitive experience – pushes it into the realms of an alternative dimension, almost; a new dimension in which new experiences and games can thrive anew… Or else just stop altogether – at this one.

That makes it a difficult thing to talk about and describe. For starters, how do you describe swimming to people who have never submerged into water?

The best thing is to mention and praise the elements of Fountellion that exist on top of this immediate, breathtaking, experiential gameplay: the Nature, the detail, the freedom the world gives to its players to just… be... And yet to exist, stripped of all the unnecessary game elements that make a game ‘familiar’ as a game. Those overly intricate statistics, trophies, HUD features, health dials and meters: You don’t look for them here. For this here is a game of Life. Moments. Where Life doesn’t give out trophies, it just lets you survive – better – and for a bit longer...

‘First Look’? No, I’m not going to try. I’ve got too much to see and ‘be’ on the island. An island you should go look into yourself… as soon as you can…. Who knows? You might emerge from it all again, a little older; a little wiser… More ready to appreciate – more – what lies outside, and also within, via this fantastic bridge between two, ultimate dimensions. 

Great work, Professor and team. And… thanks…:)

-more@CooperTales @CyberEmporium #choosewisely #VRfeedback #VRtales #greengame #fountellion-pioneers

‘Waves... breaking. Right now I’m thinking of them. I think of their sound, and I know they’re the simulated waves that fall across the tidal estuary on – or in – Fountellion. I remember they have a slight tinkling sound after they break, like the fall – and the call – of countless numbers of tiny gemstones. You wouldn’t have thought that waves could be enhanced, would you? Neither did I, until I landed in their foam, and gazed up at the coruscating motion of so many jewels in the super-light. I’ve come to know something of their secret treasure. It won’t always be easy listening but I’ll tell you what I can… and we’ll get back to them.  

For now, here’s a v. different scene: It’s boggy. I’ve managed to get myself bogged down in the middle of a really muddy area and now I can see these shadows – ominous – stretching across the open marsh, from the treeline where a forest begins. I feel… concern. What casts them now appear... slowly, rising up above the treetops... They’re human figures but seem unnatural; their movements, their very darkness seems out of place. And they keep on approaching, from the air, drifting within themselves like they’re restless, hungry; searching... for me?

They seem... ragged... and to be carrying something long, maybe heavy – spears of some kind? Or more like crutches, as they seem to depend on them; using them to cast off from ground, rocks or trees. I can’t make out facial features, but they’re still so transfixing. Why are they here in this simulation of nature and survival? It’s hard to tear my eyes away and do something; to start playing this vivid game...

My mind is racing with new-found abilities and the words of an old wizard/guru I hardly know. A few possible setbacks though: my Energy tattoo is low, and my legs are... stuck. I can’t use my Power. And these creepy figures, I’m guessing they are the bad news I’ve been warned about. The rain on the parade in this world. What happened to the sun and a ‘green garden’? Can’t it just be a pure survival free-roam game? Why do I feel... ok… fear. I don’t like feeling it... not here. Not this early on. It’s just a game?! Plus.. I’m recording all this, for when I’ll be allowed to release these adventures sometime. But that was for moments when I would be in control. Masterful. Not completely stupid, fearful and... helpless…

I remember, much more... My awakening to Fountellion; those first moments – they will stay with me. From a scene of just a simple, wooden, farmland gate; the stems of the cornfield stretching to the sky as I lay there… The sound of distant waves from the estuary. Then… the rest… from that feeling of fear, of vulnerability – just as when we stand in a meadow of overgrown grass, there comes a sudden sharp buzzing as if we’ve… intruded. And later on, more starkly, that howling, of the wolves… 

Well, it’s here… and in so many more moments. I remember feeling… anxiety too... for my real life. And yes, that felt strange, in this vibrant, alternative nature. 

But, in the end, I need not have worried. I’ve been able to take so much back... outside. For one thing, I now see and experience ‘the Source’ – our old reality – much more closely. I understand it better. Yes, it was all just a game, but these ‘games’ now; they shape us, you know, and they can shape our minds, and our natures too…

Tell me, have you ever wanted to fly as a dragonfly, or to live for whole days as a cat, or a wolf, or in a pack of wolves? I never thought so much was involved; their lives… so alive, or thought about what it would really, virtually be like. 

But where was I again? Oh yeah, out on the plain. Stuck in the super-mud. Appropriate. Well, that was near the beginning, after I’d met the old guide for the first time… 

I was pretty much the first ‘standard’ player on the scene. The pioneer. And what a scene! How did I get there? Well, you may have seen or 'inhabited’ my captures, maybe read something or even just heard about how I found a key into this new world – a new state of mind and being. So let me rewind a bit more, before we go back into that marshland... Because, you know, I’m wiser these days; I reckon a lot of actions can be better explained by context. And environment. So I should relate some of it, so that you can know the full score... For there might still be a few of you who have no idea about Fountellion. What it once was, and what it did… for so many of us...‘

[AUTO-TRANSCRIBED from In-World CAPTURES / AVALOGS]

More coffee with sugar = mostly drunk.
Cat = fed, watered and secured.
Phone reception = linked to VR gear.
Apartment config = auto controlled (low-level). 

‘Ok, my fellow cybernauts, gamers and explorers of the virtual… I decided I would begin at the official doorway. Oh yeah, I’ve got one of the official special access keys. Found it where it was well buried, if you like, on a Revel-planet, of all places. And so now that I’m all spiralled-up again and jacked in, I’m stood outside ‘The’ front door to: Fountellion, in The Spiral. Yes, after much time waiting. OMFG! And I’m ready to do this thing properly.

I was shown a direct path to the door by this librarian, deep within the Firecube library – so I didn’t have to float about all over the tower to find it. What a library! Every book you’ve read is visually represented there by request. But I wasn’t there to read (although if I ever had to read ‘a book’, I’d go back there, definitely). No, I showed the nice lady the key, like I’d been told to and she – maybe she was AI, it was hard to tell – at least smiled some rarely-automated emoji (or maybe it was a real smile) before leading me to a bookshelf that moved mystically ajar. It revealed… a passageway that led through to the doorway.

So now I’m here…

The door itself is pretty cool. The design, I mean. It draws you in. It could almost be for New Sherwood… a tree-house door, like. Only it’s covered. Covered in leaves and foliage and stuff. Around it, there are mysterious carvings that have also been embedded in a sort of rock or stone. You have to clear off the vines to see them. They’re kind of spooky, but enticing, you know? I keep pinching myself. I’m finally going to see what all the hype is about. Or non-hype; all the secrets that have emerged with the alleged integrity... of this whole, long-awaited project – this vision – from Ben Fielding and John Leaven. Anyway... after enough time… scrabbling? Scrambling about... I find some kind of hole, and I manage to get the pseudo-rusted iron-style key in the lock. It turns – unexpectedly – really easily, like... click!… and that’s it, I’m in… Green light glows about the door and I give it a big push. 

I feel really adventurous, you know? Like... a pioneer, maybe… Only you guys are coming with… so I’ll try and do a good job. Hey, you can count on me, right?

There have been other Early Access – beta players – I appreciate this. You can go and see their avalogs if you like. It’s no matter. I’ve deliberately avoided theirs for now. And I know you guys are going to be standing here too, yourselves, sometime real soon. And you’ll have a different time. You’ll do things your own way. But as ever, this is my time. This is my experience. I’ve earned it! Hey, I’m worth it! But... I’m so glad to have you on board. Although I’ve switched off all comments for these sessions. This is just too big. I’m sure I could use some advice down the line, though. 

Isn’t this how we all play our games, right? Partly by ourselves, and partly with others? It’s all about the quality of the moment; it depends on the situation. That’s life, eh?

Ok... anyway, come on everybody. Let’s crack open this chestnut. Come along with me… let’s go in…. Those crafty founders, Johnny-boy Leaven and Benjy-man Fielding: your ‘world’ had better be half-decent guys! We need this!

I’m still loving this beaten old door already. And the sound effects: awesome. The key scraped against the battered lock as it was swallowed by old wood. Now its hinges whinge and I’m pushing and the whole door creaks, and then... I’m falling… fading…?!

Damn, I hope I don’t break my trainer... again... [VR home trainer]... 

Stay with me, folks...’

‘The Walkthrough: this was where we realised our actual vision from the dream, as well as the ghosts of so many dying dreams.

So what follows is just one descriptive account, in Early Beta, beside a personal super-log, of the game ‘Fountellion’: a first, sample walkthrough YOU must also complete – by reading. 

For this may be the only way you can ‘understand’ the game, before – or even after – it was launched. You see, here it exists in its nascent form; caught between an idea and a (virtual) reality… and predestined to adapt, and to grow.

For it, also, is our ‘Game-story’, and, if be any good at least, may prove sufficient to stand as your story too… and a guide…

So, player… begin your story: Come and live... on the island…’

• Prof. Benjamin Fielding (FC) with John Leaven
  Project Founders + Leaders: ‘Fountellion’

The following is copied from the original walkthrough document. 

‘F O U N T E L L I O N / The Green Garden’
A unique game experience imagined by Benjamin Fielding (Fc) and John Leaven (Fc)

It’s ‘possible’ to say that the game features general stages or ‘Progressions’ which are marked by discovery of the ‘Insights’. For the purpose of the walkthrough these are followed in succession, but it would be possible to attain them in any order, after the first tuition and before the final progression. 

A VR 'Spiral Interface' / Homekit linked to EEG / brainwave node amplification
(other compatible devices for access also available).
Haptic features and further sensory including lung movement receptivity connections​.
Hunger and thirst detectors.

Required/Compatible with: Virtual ‘wet-suit’ and Trainer.
Game synchronisation = persistent.
Auto-immerse = on.

Loading game fabric and stabilising interface…..

Potential Content / Reward Value:

The following can be your reward for completed playing through all stages:

You will gain personal, interactive experience.

You will learn of the changing system that is nature and your connection to it. 

You will gain survival and decision-making experience.
You will gain opportunity for friendship and belonging. 

You may gain spiritual guidance, scientific or worldly insight via Progressions. 

You may gain Keeper award depending on gameplay behaviour.

You may gain an awareness of the original vision of Fountellion by finding of Gamebook fragments.

SURVIVE and attain each  ‘Progression’ to complete. Find lost pages from Fielding’s Gamebook.

Each overall ‘Progression’ is a mix of:

• Description and Reflection

• Example Game Action

  • Progression towards Insight

  • Gameplay Design + Dev notes

  • Game / Session Data

  • Background and Archive Info
    

Potential Content / Reward Value:

The following can be your reward for completed reading through all stages:

• You may gain imaginative experience.

• You may learn of the changing system that is nature and your connection to it.

• You may gain spiritual guidance, scientific or worldly insight.

• You may gain an awareness of the original vision of Fountellion via descriptive and personal account.

• You may gain an understanding of the story of Fountellion via Bonus Content.

• You may attain Fountellion Readership Mage Award depending on a final test.

READ each ‘Progression’ to complete, and Bonus Content for highest XP…
See Further Gameplay Details for further reference at any time.

LOAD SCREEN: Blackness. Sounds of wind, birds, distant waves…

LOAD SCREEN HINT MESSAGE: The 1st Power is ‘Super-Jump Focus Mode’: a combination of slow breathing, hand gesture and mind concentration to enable super movement or jumping.

SPAWN LOCATION: Estuary. Description: on a high hillside next to a coastal estuary. Standing inside some woodland but walking towards an old gate that leads... beyond…

Spiral doorway / portal closes behind the player. Then... fade out...

LOAD SCREEN (2): Blackness again. Sounds of wind, birds, distant waves continue...

VOICE: 

How much shall I be changed, before I am changed?
(whispered from within the corn upon ‘first waking’...)

DESCRIPTION:

You appear like a ghost in a field, gradually fading in; ‘waking up in the world’. You are now lying in a ripening field of golden barley corn and the detail everywhere is astonishing. You spend many moments looking at grass stems, insects, your hands fingering the softness of the soil and feeling the feedback sensation through the interface. The stems of the corn move perfectly in the breeze. You examine the ends of the corn, the ears; the detail. You pull at one of the brownish leaves and feel the slight resistance. You roll over onto your back and stare at blue sky, a lone cloud drifting across it. There is wind here. Then you stand up. It’s brilliant. You’re in the middle of a field; on a sloping hillside. The wind is softly reproduced out of a very rich, blue sea-line and, a fair distance below, sea water is shining into a wide estuary where the tide is out. 

APPEARANCE: Each player brings their Spiral-crafted representation or avatar into the world. This means you ‘come as you are’ to Fountellion as in most other Spiral worlds since there is no purpose in creating a fantasy alter-ego. 

Each avatar is vetted/verified as being ‘closely representative’ of their Source appearance upon start-up into The Spiral. This does not apply to Game Mages who may be ‘playing’ a character in the game or a part-time NPC (non-player character) in the game.

YOUR ATTIRE: Randomly-generated old world or fantasy RPG attire relative to sex and experience. New players wear rough shirt, boots, cloak etc. Later on: various leather enhancements for protection and stamina are possible. There are near-limitless variations of attire generated due to the random algorithm. Cloaks however, are standard issue.

You feel only like walking and exploring this world for what it is, and yet you remind yourself that this is game-scape, and that control over it will be vital for survival; that you must learn its powers and its nature.

You can see waves and the breeze moving everything around you and all you can do is look around, gazing at the sun upon the detailed imagery; the scale of it. It is very real, and yet more so, somehow. It’s the super-real. The wild fields and pine trees are perfectly simulated, obeying the extensive laws of a unique fabric filled with growing, interacting variables. You might guess that this particular area had been modelled on the coastal areas of England or any forest area further north of this.

Arriving into this scene you are drawn just to gaze at the corn and pass a hand through it, seeing the individual grains. It feels nearly possible to inhale the freshness of the air. The cornfield is sloping on a hill, so looking down again at the water you can see the tiny waves ushering the sea incessantly into the estuary, and sand from a wide open beach that lines and welcomes the sea into the land. 

It's both hypnotic and beguiling, and to think inwardly that's it's all just a virtual simulation somehow adds to this amazement.

At this time, the world will keep newborn players alone to explore intuitively...

So… after opening ‘the’ heavy door I’m fading in again, or out, of inner-space… and can now see an idyllic view of a golden field up ahead, behind a closed, wooden farmland gate. It’s not easy to see the gate because the field is so bright behind it under yellow sunshine, but I can see it must be windy as there’s lots of movement everywhere, in this totally rustic scene. I begin moving down a track inside woodland, drawn to this shimmering field beyond just… well, because. It’s nice to see a field, you know. 

But then I hear the sound of the Spiral door creaking shut behind me and I check back to see if it has disappeared. Then it does, slowly, and it feels more like a ladder being pulled up. My portal to back home, closing.  I do wonder how I’m going to get out of here without bailing out... when… it all fades… away... anyway…. Hey...

Who turned out the lights again? Is this a beta bug, already? Glitch-land? Will I have to report this?

But... in the new blackness of my visor I can still hear the sounds from the world I was – just now – witnessing. Wind. Birds. A distant shore and waves crashing… somewhere. I listen for a short while, just at the mercy of this new... presence. Then: some starter words:

“How much shall I be changed… before I am changed?”

… before the visuals pour slowly back in again and I’m laying down, in the middle of a field; that golden one maybe… looking up at blue – really blue – sky.

You know, that voice was spooky, yet seductive… a girl’s voice, in a soft whisper. It wasn’t anything overdone though, you know. No reverb. Just almost like it was whispered in your ear, before departing… somewhere… It got sort of, merged, into the sounds from these surroundings. And it’s a great tagline. It’s still echoing in my head, as I start to look around. Everything seems now to have finished rendering and let me just say: it’s overwhelming; awesome – in the original sense of the world. It’s not just a field. This is a Fountellion field. I’m like a kid just staring at everything; feeling the movement; waking up to this land with all its promise. I’m here. I made it. And I could be the first insider? The first official Beta player?

I see birds move in the sky caught in the weather variables. Insects, bugs, (tiny!) ladybirds are moving over nearby corn stems. I flick one of them off like I’m a kid, just to see the perfect touch-accuracy of the simulation. The ladybird is... flicked. Gone. A bumble bee buzzes by my ear – loudly – and it circles a moment, investigating me, before it actually avoids my presence, unlike so many worlds which would only partially bother to simulate that kind of attention… to detail. I feel like I’m a presence here. Existing. Persisting.

Standing up, I notice grassy bits sticking to my rough cloak thingy; my basic attire. But now I look around and see firstly the straightest line of the blue horizon, strangely elevated some way above green hills and a number of distant pine trees, shimmering slightly. I realise it’s the sea behind them. The distant water is azure. A shining blue. This is escapist country. We’re going free-roaming guys, that’s for sure, and we’re not coming back. Especially if it gets any better than this. 

It does.

But first I put my hand out just to let wheat stems – I think it’s wheat – touch against my suited fingers. I’m drawn again to the sea and the tiny detail on the waves moving into a wide estuary some distance below. Then I wonder: is this field ‘virtually’ growing? Will it grow persistently, just as in the Source?

I keep watching a bird as it darts about, brushing low over the field before disappearing over the hedgerow. 

If all of this is – mathematically – alive; procedural; changing, growing… then it’s simply masterful; miraculous. All of the interactions, all the variables that it must take. And it’s all hanging together – interwoven – like a tapestry. I feel I can sense the difference in this fabric to other Spiral worlds. It feels ultimate. It feels game-changing. It feels like it can’t get any better in terms of simulation. And yet surely this will only be… the beginning. 

It’s all so new, I don’t want any of this to crash or burn you know? Be harmed. Be hacked. I can only try and describe what I’m feeling. I’m feeling connected already to this land. And now I’m thinking maybe this is why I found that key. I’m feeling that it’s been worth it; all the years of playing games and looking for some... success. Some breakthrough. 

I’d go further. This place is justifying me; making my existence significant. 

Right… ok… so… next questions. What am I doing here? What can I do? How do I control things? There are no indicators in my display at all. Just the graphics, sound, haptics filling the recesses of my visor. 

Let’s check out walking and basic movement: all fine and dandy – in the usual, impressive ‘Spiral way’ – no tiny delay with the sync of my own movement-to-avatar ratio.

And I’m certainly ready to go exploring. Hell, I could just go a-roaming merrily around the landscape. I mean, I’m wearing some cool, old-world garb. I’ve got like a monk’s cloak and it’s billowing around me. I spend some time just moving the cloak and marvelling at the suit-feedback for it. 

But it’s what happens next that I’ll try to recount – for those who can’t ‘ride’ inside my recording or POV. 

I try parting both hands and spreading my fingers… and – just as I’m taking a deep breath just to prepare myself, then… holy hell… it has the unexpected effect of lifting me off the ground so that my legs are trailing underneath and I’m just hovering… It makes me catch my breath so I have to remind myself to exhale, and as I do... I begin to sink softly down into the sunny corn again below. Let’s just say I land feeling pretty excited about this flying feature and it’s only when I start turning my hands over and trying to re-start the sensation that I notice two stains on the back of both my hands. 

They’re not stains. They’re... tattoos? Both have dark green outlines but inside one is near fully-red and the other – my right one – is completely filled with blue colour. 

I’m not totally sure what they mean - yet - but I have an idea. Energy meters? The two fork-shaped symbols glow as if burning with their colours inside the skin of my hands. I try rubbing them off but the light only fades with the pressure before it… rekindles again, magically. Is my role here to be an apprentice wizard? Is this an island or an archipelago, as in Earthsea?

Let me just conclude this entry by admitting that twice I crash into the field. Bits of it cling to my cloak again. The second time I’m able to jump high enough to feel the breeze wobble me and I drop heavily as a result, but still exhilarated by the power. Tread softly? Ok, ok... I can see the real meaning now. What other meanings am I going to miss? Then I stop and look about. I realise I’m a little further down the side of the hill and I can see the sea and shore more clearly. Again, the detail just captivates me and I just sit and gaze at the view, overlooking it. The wind is picking up and I hear the sound of it rendered in my ears, inside my interface. 

I check my new tattoos on my hands and I can see the red one is not restored yet. The toll that my experimentations have taken thus far are small... yet stark. The blue one is still nearly full, however; a jumping meter?

How do I feel about this game so far? Well, I’m a victim, just now, of this incredible virtual landscape. So far the broken barley covering my cloak and the bruise on the arm of my avatar, tell me a small but alarming prospect. That I can be ‘hurt’. There is little pain but a slight tingling on my arm.

And also… the dead insect. A broken grasshopper. I must have crushed it with my second fall. This image I can still recall. Just a small thing, but it sent me one message: things die here. I watch the grassy stems that I have flattened. I feel a bit like an idiot. Just staring at them. A few of the stalks are rising in the wind, trying to stand up again. 

As I said, I’m a victim here. Vulnerable. I’m waiting… just to learn about how to exist here - as fully and as quickly possible.

I don’t have to wait much longer; a breeze passes like a wave through the barley and another whisper reaches into my mind.

CONNECTION / INTUITIVE MOVEMENT

At any point a player will likely start experimenting with movement and gesture. Gravity in Fountellion is lighter than in reality, in terms of physics of avatar movement. You will quickly discover the intense sensation of ‘super-jumping’ or ‘focus’ across the game-scape or game-map, because this is a fairly easy-to-attain basic mode of motion that can be intuitively achieved. However, it still takes practice, and more so without some necessary tuition...

‘SUPER-JUMP FOCUS MODE’ Summary: Focus is a combination of slow breathing, hand gesture and mind concentration to enable super movement or jumping.

This effect is similar in ways to Zen-style meditation and not only provides in-world exhilaration but is also healthy for oxygenation of blood.

Later, increased power-up and more practice produces more advanced, successful jumping (and later, with increased energy and progression) becomes akin to near-flying. 

PROCESS:

Inhalation / breath intake empowers initial lift, the ascent of a player into the air, and gesture (position of hands and fingers controls direction and balance).
Raising arms quickly also contributes to the beginning of the jump.

Another variable is involved: that of EEG / brainwave harnessing. If a player concentrates correctly this will also empower the move.
Running can provide extra speed for faster lift.
Gliding: once ascent has reached its pinnacle point, descent will begin to occur slowly and can be controlled to produce gliding sensation (arms outstretched).
Fast-falling: dropping arms and/or concentrating on falling will produce rapid, direct downward descent.

Prevailing island weather: this will affect (hinder or boost) the power of the mode.

The mode uses up energy on the upward, covering ground and then slow-gliding allows for more peaceful descent and terrain scanning. However, slow-gliding is slower and, in times of challenge or attack, speed is usually of the essence. 

ATTEMPT AT FOCUS:

So this is early Super-Jump with Focus. It’s exhilarating, liberating in the way that mastered swimming, diving or fast driving can be. Many players will fall initially, into the landscape, finding it a very loose and fast sensation that they do not expect. Falling will deplete energy so that take-off again gets more and more sluggish. The majority of players – not just those scared of heights in reality – will find it a vertiginous experience before they begin to master the art.

Prevailing weather conditions will also affect Focus. At the highest point of a successful jump the effect of wind is greater and can knock a player off-balance causing them to fall unless correct arm movement and gesture can re-stabilise. 

After leaping and bounding awkwardly across fields and down into the Estuary, the new player’s energy and power will begin to deplete, and jumping will get heavier and harder to sustain, after the initial ease and exhilaration.

FORK TATTOOS:

These appear on the back of both player’s hands after the first depletion in energy or focus has occurred.
Left-hand fork rune = Red Energy/Life Meter
Right-hand fork rune = Blue Power Meter

AT THE END OF ACCLIMATISATION:

Then, after a period of time [or if a player has moved beyond the cornfield]: 

Suddenly you are moved like a puppet on an invisible elastic string; pulled like a magnet. You feel your suit tighten around your waist and stomach with a gentle but firm force – across fields and wherever you have strayed and back to the corn where you began.

You lie in the field, watching the moving stems. You watch insects and butterflies, or a grasshopper, before it leaps away...

You have not seen any other players in the landscape yet, and because of the intensity and detail of the scenery around you, you’re beginning to feel a little lonesome, with a desire to share something of it with someone. Just then, a voice comes to you, like a whisper out of the rustling corn:

Female Voice of Fountellion: “Speak the word ‘Greenwise’ and the Guardian will appear…”

Brushing off broken corn ears from my cloak, I speak the word “Greenwise” just as this spooky whisper advises me to.

I like him from the start. He comes through the field; ghosts into the corn, more like. The brushing stems part automatically at his presence. And he has a controlled, capable presence; with a purpose that’s only emphasised by his firmly gripped, thick wooden staff. (You wouldn’t want to get hit by it.) Clearly, he’s some magical bloke. Or an angel. I was sure I heard wings.

“Welcome seeker-player… to Fountellion… the island… the green garden… as it... exists... at this moment.”

He’s got a voice as rough as sandpaper, and I wonder how much I’m going to need him and whether he’s going to keep disappearing on me.

He explains things well but with a mysterious air of... urgency. But while he talks now and then, I’m still zoning out to look at the world around. It’s so… busy. Seeds are dispersing like magical dust in the summery air. Bees and other insects fly on tiny missions around us, over the tops of the planted field. The level of detail again. I mean, it’s beautiful, yeah, but all so… alive. I feel young again. 

And now... I get my own personal obi-guru... 

“It sure is a nice... world... you have here,” is all I can muster.

This Greenwise dude – now leaning calmly on his Sherwood Forest-style staff – pauses for a moment, as though he’s registering and processing a response. It arrives;  his gaze meets mine and his mouth suddenly forms a friendly smile. NPC, semi-NPC. Whatever. I don’t want to break the spell of disbelief I’m under. He looks cool, in the way that any old guy in an old, worn cloak would look cool, because he’s just so… unassuming; humble; wise-seeming. Like a retired Indiana Jones crossed with a Shaolin monk.

“It’s never been my world. No... all this is still yours. But thank you, Dan... and... Dr. Fielding and Mr. Leaven have specifically requested me to say congratulations on finding the key in Revel. And being one of the first, they expect you now to have... questions. But allow me to be a guide, and not answer too much at once. There is not limitless time here. There are dangers too. And if we’re... interrupted… do not fear. Just listen to me carefully. You may also summon me again, while there is still light. Are you with me?”

So, no pressure already. “Yeah! On board.. and... thanks.” 

“Good. I will continue. I am sworn to protect this land... and yet it is not… yet... in balance... There is a shadow rising across it… and where... it can only be the player – or players; its future Keepers – maybe you – that can salvage it. Preserve it. I can only guide... and guard.”

“So you must know all sorts of ninja-type stuff?” I had to ask this, as I’ve seen server moderator-guardians before, and some of them were extremely bad-ass. 

A small smile only, but he seems wary too. The AI in this guy must be... intense.

“Only... if necessary. But you wouldn’t really want to….” 

In fact... yes, I would. It’s too much temptation. I move to punch him in the face… just... well, because… to see what happens. It’s a game, right? And already, like a kid, I’m curious about its limits, so that I can get a grip on the potential scope here: for having fun... 

Very easily though, he dodges my awkward move, grabbing the arm-sleeve of my cloak and pulling me easily – and gracefully – off-balance. I fall past him; down on the ground, where I flatten even more barley-corn.

 “...find out.” He finishes, and then immediately offers his arm to help me up.  

He didn’t even use his stick. I’m impressed. He continues.

“Sorry Dan, but that won’t work, you’re just wasting time. Soon I can show you better things... if you make it that far, of course...”

He chooses the right words, laying down this challenge to halt my impulsive quest for freedom. Maybe he’s used to this already. I decide to let him talk again; I’ll deal with any business first. But if there’s too much business here then, well; it may look nice and all, but I’ll be right out of here.

“Alright,” I concede, brushing off the clinging stalks again. “So how you do you get to be one of these... Mage-Keepers?”

“Well... I watched you admiring the landscape. That's a good first sign. Respect. Yes… you will come to respect your surroundings. But let me tell you a little more, while we have time… and time; it’s something worth having here, as you will see…”

He looks up for a moment, searching the sky, and I wonder if he’s expecting the arrival of more players or something. But his grey-green eyes settle on my presence again. 

“When I say I’m your guide, that’s all I can be. You can ask me any question relating to the game, or ‘Tell me about... ‘ and you can be guaranteed that I will give some kind of answer. But I have things I must show you – priorities – so you’d do better to listen more at first, and allow me to talk.” 

“So you mean, ‘shut up and listen’, basically!” I say, to test his response range.

“You could say that. For... how can you be expected to know enough to ask the right questions?”

“Because I’ve played other games?” 

“That will help, yes... but is this one a game? You can tell me later on, once you’ve survived here awhile...” I’m impressed – and thrilled – by his response, and also to have my own tutor.

Next, he tells me he’s going to help me ‘find my way,’ he says. I can’t help wondering what my source life could be like, with access to on-demand guidance such as this. He carries on: “But only you can find your insights, for they are uniquely hidden. No-one can find them – except you. Until the last.“ 

To be honest, I’m going to stop here. I’m going to skip some of the detail of the dialogue and training. This is not a full walkthrough. This is my capture, guys. My game story. We’ll cut to the good bits... But first, what is so great about this game so far anyway?

Well, this is still only session one, but hey, I’m feeling it alright. ‘The magic’. The interface is just the most intense I’ve ever felt it to be. It was built for this place. It’s singing now to my senses. I’m embedded, properly. Some of the other Spiral worlds, even the light-gravity planets in Revel. Well… they seem like crude shadows dancing on a cave. Why did I spend so much time in them? Maybe... they were just leading me… here?

GREENWISE: THE FIRST APPEARANCE

You speak this word of summons but see only the shimmering hillside, the sunshine moving across the scene of gold and across the fields on the other side of the estuary. You continue looking about, expectantly. In the next few moments however you hear a sound of – wings? – and then a rustling; someone approaching. A figure has appeared in the one location your avatar is not facing, so that when you turn around indeed, an elderly looking man is there, one arm holding a thick, wooden staff that is a little higher than the top of his head. He appears quite calm but there’s an expectancy there too; a keen awareness. A vague scattering of very bright but tiny green magic dust has accompanied his arrival – it’s still falling down, some of it landing on the barley, before disappearing as though extinguished in the moving stems. He is in a worn, brown cloak, and he waits now, with legs planted wide in a relaxed mode while holding your gaze. The long stems stay parted around him; programmed possibly, to bend for his presence. He is Greenwise, the Estuary Guardian. He has sandy-coloured hair and beard greying around the edges but the face is warm and kind, and mildly amused. 

He is a character with mystery. He is part NPC/AI ‘world assistant’, and part inhabited avatar (times unknown). He is known to be modelled partly on the real-life game project leader, professor Ben Fielding, who to begin with, at times, is to be ‘overseen’ by him. [Some people say he still enjoys playing the role]. In this sense he is an avatar ‘ghost’. But nowadays it is believed to be often the former Gatekeeper who inhabits the character. 

“Welcome seeker-player… to Fountellion… the island… the green garden… as it exists at this moment.” (first time greeting...)

He offers you a firm handshake on haptic feedback.

“Greetings player…” (this is his greeting in all future meetings).

[and if player has been pulled back in the corn:]

(With a broad smile) “I see you’ve learnt how to fall down already!” 

ADDITIONAL POSSIBLE DIALOGUE:

“There is much to teach you. But not all at once, no! For the game is afoot! Indeed, as it always is – though it may not always be easy to feel that it is...”

“I am only a light to help you find your way. For the insights are uniquely hidden… and if you put that light out, you’ll learn just how deep is the darkness…” 

His eyes squint and it makes him seem a little more animated and excited than before – a touch eccentric, yes – before he regains control of himself and talks more softly again.

“Yes, even as we speak… you are part of a great balance here; a system of energy. A reflection of life – it is always changing… You may find it a beautiful place, yes?  Well, it's a hungry one too... and you’ll be getting hungry soon also... for that precious energy. You will need to hunt...”

“Do you see the marks on the back of both your hands?”

Ok, great… so with some introduction out of the way, it looks like I might get some answers about this place.

I do... 

I get the low-down on my new tattoos (small fork-like runes on the back of both hands – one being my life or energy meter and the other for my ‘powers’). And a whole load of fascinating stuff... but I still get a sense that Greenwise is holding back a lot. And I’m itching to go for more jumping. I hope he’s going to show me this.

I ask him straight out: 

“So am I about to be given a resource-gathering quest? One where I have to go a-roaming around and pick flowers to survive?” 

He answers me directly and it’s a surprise. 

“You can,” he says. “And there will be times, when you’re outside like this, outside the village, that you will be forced to... fend. And you will hunt. But first, you must know what it is to be hunted… and to listen...”

“Sounds fair. I’m listening…”

“Not truly Dan. For if you were, you would hear the whispers through the corn around you. This is not the game fabric. These are – and will be – the words chosen by former mages, developers and even founders, to linger on... So if ever you seek help or wisdom in the game, or inspiration, then you will find it here, when I am… faded…”

POSSIBLE PLAYER QUESTIONS:

Despite the wonder and detail of the moving, rendering world and fabric variables, the player is beginning to question how they will fit into it all. 

Player: “What do we do here?”

Many players will wish to continue experimenting with control over movement and interaction with the landscape. They will want more. They will want to roam and test more, for learning the secrets of the land. Others will be more patient. Greenwise faces a struggle to impart sufficient wisdom – to hold attention – to ensure your survival.

Greenwise: “You must listen. While we have time.”

Greenwise: “You want to explore don’t you? You want to roam and test yourself to find the limits of the world and what is possible. You will. But first, let me explain just a few things…”

Player: “Why do I have to wait? Why does it matter? What is there to worry about?” 

Greenwise: “Well, it matters if you want to play the game, eh? For how long – how much – do you want to experience?”

IMPATIENT PLAYERS

If a player starts to acclimatise via practice, without Greenwise’s instruction, he will frequently fall, diminishing energy. Greenwise will enter a default ‘waiting cycle’, leaning on his staff and looking a little bored and restless. If attacked he will swiftly defend and be able to knock the player down with a few strokes of his staff, but without harming the player, unless the player exhibits significant behavioral abuse. 

If the latter occurs, Greenwise can become serious and intimidating.

He will unbalance the player with words such as:

“This land demands respect if you are to survive it! And you will not last much longer here without starting to listen to my every word! For when the sun goes down I shall be gone. And you cannot summon me at night. And that is when you will die… if, that is, the Stokermen don’t spear you first...”

If the player remains calm:

“Now, that’s better. Through me you will learn to acclimatise quickly. But then, later, you will ultimately learn more of the following, if you heed what I say. Otherwise you’ll learn much slower, and much harder…

• Basic Gestures, Energy and Control

• Injury, Life and death

• The Quests and Insights

  • Powers and Possibilities in Fountellion, including:
    Focus, Listening, Voice and Transformation.”

If the player continues in a non-cooperative manner:
Greenwise may either abandon the player to the world without further instruction, or banish them forcefully.

Greenwise still talks as though there is no time to talk and it’s a little disconcerting. But he gets round to an explanation:

“I can see you’ve already tried to jump. But are you ready to... find your feet? For I will demonstrate the first power – that of Super-Jumping – of which there are many levels. Follow and watch what I do. Firstly, breathe deeply…”

Inhaling, as requested, I’m taken by surprise. I feel a bit like a balloon in terms of gravity. It’s a strange sensation of connection with the landscape, as my VR trainer lifts me up and leaves my feet treading actual air. I exhale, quickly, suddenly realising the boost it would potentially give during a jump.

I copy the next move from the old mage, planting my feet into the ground, legs bent a fair amount, looking ahead and trying to guess where I might actually end up in a few moments time. 

The breeze flaps our cloaks in the interval. Now for the launch. 

He demos a bit of stuff to do with correct gesture, arm position, balance. Before the first jump, he tells me to keep in mind the prevailing weather conditions. 

“Can you feel the wind? Note the direction as it will affect the force of a jump.”

As though there were elastic bands under both my legs, I jump and then stretch into the air, inhaling deeply. Greenwise goes first and already he’s just this shape soaring skyward. A dark ball of flapping cloak. I can sense the wind off the sea to the right of us. I hear it more in my right ear. Back in reality, my trainer lifts me slightly into the air, but in this world, I’m soaring upwards.

Now I see him beneath me, arms out at his sides, descending in controlled focus. I’m not far off, but I’m wobbling, and trying to keep as steady as he is, holding the action with arms and hands. It’s working. A real virtual rush. I know a close friend who'd love all this.

Next, it’s all about the landing. You might say it’s been a concern in the back of my mind since seeing the ground taken away from beneath my feet. 

But it doesn’t last much longer. Imitating the pose of Greenwise, it’s a hundred times more graceful than my own first, shoddy attempts. I raise my hands and they act like breaks. I feel the jump slow down so I can touch down lightly, my boots pressing back into soil. 

In fact, I thought it was pretty cool the first time round, but with ole Greenwise with me, I start to see the full spectrum of what will be possible here. 

Maybe this occurs to me when I do a second mega-leap off the ground, into the wind, and Greenwise reminds me to inhale. There is a slight shimmer and my feet drag behind me in the air as the field gets further beneath me. Now I’m moving out across the shoreline, above the waves of the sea. The sun shines fantastically off the water and the white breakers. I see Greenwise beside me as we glide again, but his appearance distracts me and I start to wobble and it breaks my concentration – and steady breathing – as the sheer sensation of height disturbs my equilibrium.

Falling is… scary. I mean, I can imagine falling in reality now, so I don’t think it’s cured me of vertigo. I do manage to break with my hands a little, but still splash down into wet sand and water. Despite the shock, it’s cool to see my avatar body drenched and I just gaze fixedly at my arms, while kneeling in the shallows, at the detail of foamy water soaking into my cloak. Something – glinting – is mixed up in the white foam. Tiny red, blue and green jewels; perfectly rounded, and more smooth than glassy catch the light in differing strengths. I try to catch one but they’re either too small or impossible to catch as they’re washed in the foam and water and are revealed for just a moment atop the sand. I look up, and for a moment am completely lost in the breaking waves which are full of them, sparkling in the light and gleaming more than anything you’d see in the Source, as those millions of jewels emerge, fall, then scatter and are withdrawn into the super-sea with a sound than sinks into my senses. Then, Greenwise is next to me, pulling me up with a concerned expression on his face. And well… good! I’m glad to see he cares, even if I know he’s just an NPC. He catches my left hand and turns it over, checking the level of the red color inside the green rune mark.

ENERGY = 40%
POWER = 30% 

“We’ve gone beyond the cornfield, and with your power so low, you won’t be able to jump properly again yet. For it takes longer to regenerate here. We’ll have to walk some of the way back.” He’s scanning the sky again. “Energy and power are linked. Using a power to focus requires about ten percent energy and about thirty percent power.”

As we walk briskly – and wetly – along the seashore, I’m still marvelling at the distance that we have crossed by jumping, and at seaweed strands, and the whole transfixing sea simulation itself. But it seems I’m now going to have to listen again too.

“It’s good you just... fell, you know… for now you’ll know!” he says into the wind. “And I can use this time to explain some basics.” 

“Thanks!” I say, although he’ll have to speak louder, because the sea breeze is much stronger by the sea. I also suspect he may have distracted me on purpose up there, knowing I would fall. All part of the demo? But I’m gonna go with him for now. He may well have his reasons.

“Through me, you will learn to acclimatise quickly. But then, later on, you will ultimately learn more of the following, but only if you heed what I say. Otherwise, you’ll learn much slower, and much harder…”

The usual story I guess. And I try to keep up with him where it’s easy to listen to his captivating voice. I don’t want to miss out on his advice. You can feel the consequences all round could be... bumpy. I also don’t want to surface yet and stumble out of my trainer. Some of it goes over my head, but I’m hoping I can summon him later on for a recap.

He lets me climb on his back for a quick-jump the final part of the way (a different gesture, I note upon takeoff, which resembles a ski launch). 

When we’re safely gliding back – and down – into the field again (is this where the guy is bound to? Where he draws his extra power too?) it turns out that Greenwise was just warming up with his talk. He takes me through a whole lot more. And it’s… some incredible stuff. By the end, my mind has blown up. I just want to flex the potentials that he’s described. I want more power! But he cautions me, and luckily for him, I’m the kind of gamer right now who must take this game seriously; who’s willing to heed these warnings and not just pick up a new toy and shake it until it makes a noise. Or break it, I should say, so it can’t be played with anymore. There are VRMMOs that invite this treatment from the start, but they tend to get boring very fast. But not this one. Not this time... Not yet, I think...

FIRST KNOWLEDGE FROM GREENWISE / NATURE OF THE GAME

If players have already tried to experiment for themselves, Greenwise will say: “I can see you’ve already tried to jump. But are you ready to... find your feet?”

“I will show you the first power: To jump with focus… So… firstly, breathe... Can you feel the connection? Your avatar here is connected to this land. Go on: hold your breath.”

Very slightly, the player will feel themselves floating upwards...

“In order to jump you move your arms as you leap… and you breathe, and you concentrate… where your mind is getting used to the fabric…”

Super-jumping and slow-gliding alongside Greenwise is a demonstration of actual gesture which is easier than learning intuitively. It’s also faster and more exhilarating as he shows the best poise to adopt for strong balance at launch and whilst in mid-air. 

The player will have to follow and imitate. Later, Greenwise will jump second so that he can assist the player in mid-glide if necessary. 

Greenwise will jump in specific areas:

Down into the estuary and across the wide beach, splashing down into shallows, across rocks and pools and up onto the opposite hillside.
He will demonstrate jumping up into the branches of tall Scots Pine trees and back into the fields. 

He will not stray far from the corn field, as this area – unique to Fountellion – restores energy quicker.
Air and weather effects will affect the performance of any power.

You arrive back in the corn (after a run) with Greenwise when he has demonstrated some of the art and energy needs of power use in action. 

When he has the player’s attention: 

“The following information will be needed to ‘become one’ with all that you are: your mind, your body and your control over the environments of Fountellion. The guidance is not unique, it is tutorial. This means it is re-playable by summoning me again and asking me again. With time and practice it all gets… even better. Ok…”

The Guardian’s eyes will appear to glaze over slightly, as though looking beyond the player as he passes on the following Need to Know: 

ON LIFE AND DEATH AND INJURY (see also Further Gameplay Details)

“The constant of Death is here... Death, you could say, has honed everything around you. It keeps things… interesting… growing… changing...

Energy is of course vital to the game fabric. You are in an energy system such as the Source.

  But you will learn quickly how to survive, to conserve and to gain in energy.

And if you do not you will die, fading out to become a spirit of the island. You must then wait for respawn (and may spectate using any of the numerous elaborate viewing options). As soon as is possible, the fabric will place you randomly anywhere on the island, washed up somewhere on these shores. 

But your powers and mastery will be lost and it will take time again to regain former levels of control.”

BASIC GESTURES and CONTROL

Example Greenwise: “Now then… questions… you probably have many… so – ask what you can… But I wouldn’t ask too many, for how would you know what to ask, when you have so little experience yet? And besides, there is... urgency. You are now the hunted, even as we speak. So let me tell you the basics of what you need to know. Pick up what you can. We don’t have all the time in the world, for the day is falling, your energy is falling, and when you’re out alone you will get used to staying on the move, and listening...”

You also notice his crow-feet eyes scanning the sky a whole lot as he speaks, as though wary of danger from there.

Player (Sample Question): “Ok… How do I get out ? If I want to leave, besides T.D. (Total Disconnect)?”

How To Leave the Game Easily:

“Make a T shape like this, pressing the top hand into your bottom for a few seconds, and you will dissolve – fade out – and be back in the Source.”

The Guardian demonstrates this and you see his avatar begin to weaken with a fine haze of green dust as his hands retain the T-shaped gesture. He gains strength swiftly when his big hands break off the gesture, steadying himself again in the same spot. 

If your hands are disabled then you can think of a spiral shape and utter the phrase: 

‘Take me back to the Spiral’ – for the same outcome. 

The game of course, will continue as your avatar remains here, and if another player finds the last insight, it will be reset, and you’ll be placed into a new queue for a new instance of the island. 

Thus... you do not completely leave. Your presence here remains as a shadow and will be vulnerable or awoken if events occur to you while you are absent. So you will need to position – or hide – your avatar safely if you wish to return safely. When you re-enter you will re-’inhabit’ at this previous location.

In turn you may encounter shadows of other absent or sleeping players, and may try to waken them by shaking. 

Greenwise: 

“Go on, ask any further questions. But if you do not ask, I may tell in time....”

Player: “Are there others? / Other players?”

Greenwise: “Most other players will not be visible to you until a little later, and you will not know what form they may take.” 

Player: “What is my purpose here? / What do we do? / What are these… insights?”

Greenwise: “Much of this you must discover for yourself. But I can tell you this for sure…”

ON THE QUEST FOR THE INSIGHTS OF FOUNTELLION

Greenwise:

“Everyone has a place in Fountellion, you are needed here. Life needs you. The natives and fellow players will need you. 

Much of your time here will be spent on energy and survival. Movement is life.

The Powers and your acclimatisation to the fabric are about control over the world and your environment, just as animals in nature have distinct powers. 

If you encounter the powers of other animals you may also experience injury from other animals. 

Your presence on the island – along with the other players present – impacts the nature of the island, the life that exists in this instance, and the life of the tribe that depends on it. You are a part of a virtual ecosystem that causes many species to thrive for a time, or to die out. This has applied to humanity and shaped how it has lived for the majority of its presence on planet earth, until it became so numerous lately and more abstracted. But all players here will be made aware of this buried struggle sooner or later. The sooner, the better.

Collaboration / cooperation / communication – these are potent powers also and are keys to solving more complex problems.

What is your purpose in nature and on the island? Well, you will find – and earn – belonging here, and fulfillment, and experience to take away.” 

TWO MAIN QUEST THEMES:

“The nature quest: allows you to see and feel a part of nature again. To appreciate a connection with life. To be part of all things. Everyone’s existence ultimately enters the fabric of the specific instance of Fountellion that is generated. In other words, your avatar will one day feed the forest floor – its decomposers – with nutrients for the continuation of future artificial life here.

You have a human quest also: and this I shall now mention, but do not question me on this, for the questions and answers are what you will uncover, the longer you survive here… Your quest is to find yourself – your balance – in context with this nature, via the six insights. 

For some players, both such quests may be easy, for others not so, or not at all, but that is how a culture is shaped… or born...

However, your first quest should be to fully acclimatise to the fabric, and this is linked to both quests, and to the demands of the present moment. For now, seek the cover of the forest. That is all I can say.”

THE INSIGHTS?

Greenwise:

“The insights are old. They are symbols as to your own nature and they are manifest here in Fountellion. 

There are seven to be found, if you wish to look. They glow green and are like closed eyes that must be broken with a phrase. 

Unlocking them will increase your power and awareness of life. The life that you are very much a part of, and have always been so... but so too can they give you new strength to reach further into the island, towards... darker powers.”

Player: “Where do I start looking?”

Greenwise: “Where your nature takes you. You might be wise to seek in the village and learn more as to their nature there…”

MAP

Player: “Is there a map?”

Greenwise: “No, but you can make your own in the Source, from super-memory. Or wait until you find the Village where elders have parchment, feathered quills and dyes.” 

[see ARCHIVE: Dan Harvester Pioneer (Spoiler) Map]

ON DANGER

Player: “What will I face?”  

Greenwise: 

“Perhaps the worst danger you will face lies in yourself: in coming to terms with your nature, alive and fearful in an island crawling with creatures. There are times when you will not want to play, but to run.

But with danger comes the value of learning cooperation with a tribe, with respect for cultural values that have relevance to an immediate environment… And it is to confront the mind, and its creations.

The next danger you will face is from the Stokermen. They... are a ceaseless threat. They are your hunters, although... you may die many times before they get to you; or banish you…

You may fall from heights and find no way to restore any energy. You may be killed by the wildest animals: the wolf pack, the lynx, or – when changed – by many countless predators. 

This is why you are vulnerable when you are alone, especially when you know nothing of yourself, nor of the powers. For to survive here is to learn your connection with life, with your position in nature; not as a carnivore, or as an apex. But as a group ape who has learnt complex, collaborative sound-making... and where nothing is fixed... 

Many things will teach you this.” 

Player: “What/why/how does a player get... banished?”

Greenwise: “Mostly by being captured by the Stokermen, where, to be banished is like being banished from life; from living. On this island, it is to be taken to the tower. Or... you may be banished for ‘griefing’; going against the grain of the fabric – which will lead you over time to this outcome.

But even for the banished, the case remains that: once you have dwelt in Fountellion, you will always dwell here… and can find your way back, into a new instance. There are always incredible things as there are in nature. Such as the powers…”

ON THE POWERS / ABILITIES

Greenwise: “Let me now start by saying something of your powers here. I will teach you enough to get started… but they will grow over time if you stay true to the world.

You will see how all animals have their own strengths to ensure survival and fitness.

So too do you have your own, enhanced in this world.

I will outline them and then – here in this field – teach you the first two world powers:

• 1st POWER - INCREASED HEARING OR LISTENING

Increase your hearing range: 

This skill will enable you to listen to the wildlife in your location, which is useful in hunting.

Greenwise: “Raise one finger and keep it there, as if you are requesting quiet.”

Once the player obeys this instruction...

Greenwise: “It’s a simple gesture but can you hear my voice louder?”

Everything is now louder. The world is louder. There are birds beyond the field in trees and insects moving in the grass you wouldn’t have known about. The waves down in the estuary are louder. Noises and… yes, whispers… When performing this gesture you can hear further. Many sounds become apparent. The corn is whispering. 

These whispers are the words from current and former game mages who have been able to leave behind favourite quotes, poems or personal messages – their legacy – to linger in the field. 

• 2nd POWER - SUPER-JUMP FOCUS MODE

Greenwise: “This is best demonstrated. We will jump together in just a moment...”

• 3rd POWER - HUNTER MODE 

Greenwise: “This is a quick way of being able to see and detect nearby animals and players more easily, via a simple gesture.”

The gesture will be demonstrated - two hands using bent fingers like claws. All living things appear more highlighted than their surroundings.

• 4th POWER - TRANSFORMATION FOCUS

Greenwise: “You may transform into other creatures. But we will cover this later.”

Player: “You mean I can change into anything?”

Greenwise: “Yes. Birds, animals, insects. But there are some limits we will cover.” 

Player: “How do I change?”

Greenwise: “I will explain this in our next session, when there is more time. First you need to know how to move quickly via focus, so you will be able to escape.”

Player: “Escape from what?”

Greenwise: “Rogue players, wild animals... and the Stokermen...” 

THE STOKERMEN

Player: “Who are the Stokermen, are they a tribe on the island?”

Whether or not the question is asked, Greenwise will approach the player anyway and, firmly, looking them in the eye, will talk quickly, clearly and seriously, almost as though they or their spies were listening. 

“I don’t know what hunts you in the Source, but here you must be ever watchful of the Stokermen, or women. They are a tribe of death, searching and harvesting the land for fresh souls, taking the weak and the unready. They see and reach far, so you can only avoid them by moving and hiding, or changing. They come from above, twisting out of the sky with their long stoking tools or lances, on which to pierce players. They seem frail as ghosts born on the breeze, pushing off or away from objects for momentum, though you will come to fear their strength and to hate them. But you must understand them. For they are you. The restless. The thoughtful. The dreaming. The hungry, searching for a way back…”

Player: “Can we fight them?”

Greenwise: “Fire can buy you time. But you can rarely win against your predators. And there is nothing natural that can beat their lances. So the answer is... no! And they can come at any time.”

Player: “What can they do to us? “

Greenwise: “All they can do is catch you and take you to the top of their tower – the Dreamspire.”

THE TOWER

Player: ‘Where is the Tower?’

Greenwise: “That is not a question relative to this moment. It lies somewhere on the island … It is for you to seek, or to avoid.”

BASIC TUITION: CONCLUSION

When the Guardian has covered his basic introduction, including answers to a pre-set allowance of player questions, he will leave the player alone to roam freely.

Before transforming into a Great Horned Owl and departing, he will clasp the player by the arm firmly and issue a farewell which, depending on the developed relationships status with the player, will either include a warning or a helpful hint, either in a friendly, jocular manner or using an insistent, even angry one.

He will also say: “Summon me again when you get to the forest, but if the sun is below the horizon, I cannot come.”

FREE-ROAM

Players remain free to roam the game-scape having received basic instruction or awareness, which attempts to protect the balance of the game fabric.

They may experiment with powers until power level is depleted. 

If their energy depletes they will hear a whisper advising them to summon Greenwise for assistance, but if the sun is below the horizon then that summons will fail. 

If they do not summon him, then players will tire and pass out, where sleep will replenish energy to maximum by default at this stage of the game. 

Only the loss of total energy entails game death.

So... Greenwise finishes telling me about the range of awesome ‘powers’, which now extend to beyond simply jumping about (although I’d be ok with just doing that for a good few sessions). Now it seems there’s Higher Listening, Hunter Mode and... Transformation for strings to my bow, together with more know-how about the ‘fabric’ and finding ‘Insights’. What gets to me though is… Transformation!? I’m already looking around, instinctively spotting insects on grass stems, beetles and noticing different types of low-flying birds darting over hedgerows. He means I can become many of these fast-moving creatures or tiny, minuscule bugs? Each with survival powers of their own... “O... M… G…!”

But then the Guardian holds my arm – more firmly this time. My suit responds to the grip. He looks intensely at me, and for a moment I think I can make out a green glow of fire, lining his already green eyes, set in his nut-brown face. The fire glints; it’s a really cool effect.

“For now... keep moving. Watch the skies. Don’t be taken by surprise or stay out in the open... and you’ll buy time so that you can... get better.”

“I’m on it...” is all I can manage. But it’s true. I’m into all this. I’m well game, even. 

“Summon me again when you get to the forest, but if the sun is below the horizon, I cannot come. Farewell, player... for now…. we’ll play us a good game, eh?” Flashing a toothy grin and winking, he then transforms ‘onto’ a bird that swoops suddenly towards us; some owl of some kind. It’s got these long sort of eyebrows, which make it look... wise and cool. I just watch – dumbly – as he flies off towards the Scots Pines lining the headland above the mouth of the estuary. Maybe he ‘lives’ round here. I’m not sure, but I thought I saw some kind of house earlier, beyond the field, when I was up in the air. 

I think I could live here. It sure beats my flat. And it’s nearly – or not too far – from being real. Alone again, I’m left to green dust motes drifting in the soft wind like gemstones; birdsong, the noise and the stunning sight of those far waves whispering their continual break-up onto the wide shore below this field of golden, swaying barley.

Hey… I’m free! Mind = blown. What shall I do? Where will I go? 

Well, I’m never one for following a main quest path. Not when the basic tuition has finished and everything is then…. open. I always like to test things, when I’m fresh into a game; a kid in a sweetshop, or sandbox. [That’s why maybe, I end up very soon after – stuck in the mud and bog by the river. You remember the place? Where I started this crazy, engrossing dream-log. Although, maybe the other reason is something that Greenwise failed to tell me, but we’ll come to that soon enough...] 

The only limit to all this freedom are the marks on my arm.

Tattoo marks:
ENERGY = 50%
POWER = 70%

So it appears that Focus or super-jumping or whatever is taking up a fair bit of juice. Considering I’ve only done three or four jumps so far; I’m wary of the expenditure.

But of course I do more. I manage to get a few more successful solo super jumps under my belt, or cloak, as I leave the corn field far behind and move up into the island. I descend, arms outstretched, landing at a point where I can see more open land, with sparse trees. I’m loving the jumping, and am feeling properly fired-up about all the powers and stuff, but I’m still worrying over everything he’d said about the survival and the sun going down. 

Just then, however, out of the blue, that’s kinda what happens; and I find out why Greenwise has been so shifty since I first met him hours ago. Well, it feels like hours after all the info he’s pressed into me. 

I suddenly have much more than I’m ready to handle on my plate. Prepared? No. (But isn’t this always the way, eh? Despite a load of tutorial.)

The sky – already dim – now turns much darker. But it’s not time for sleepy bye-byes folks. Not at all. It’s some kind of... smoke coming over the line of trees which mark the start of a dense, imposing forest. The river runs through the open fields before it’s swallowed by that forest, and my plan is to stick close to it and follow it. 

But I begin to see... two black, smoking dots, like airborne insects, crawling into view above the tree-tops, through the air, in some broken attempt at flying. Then I start to make out long, impressive things they’re carrying. And I’ve little doubt they’re hunting for me…  

So… I begin a bit of frantic jumping towards the river. Trouble is... I still suck at the focussing thing. I can’t visualise in my head the correct balance of elements to trigger a decent jump. And I realise it’s boggy – peat or something, weighing my feet down. I jump again, badly. I look up and see these flying burnt human things are… much… closer. I’m under pressure. Then I miss a stepping stone. I get stuck.

[And this is where we came in...]

Such a feeling of helplessness so early on in the grip of this world is not something I’m going to forget quickly. In fact, I’m going to do everything I can to make damn sure it doesn’t happen again. Even if that means putting up with Greenwise for many more sessions. 

But right now I’m doing everything I can to focus myself out of there, raising hands quickly, trying to concentrate. It’s Luke Skywalker trapped upside down on planet Hoth all over again. Only I realise how hard it is to think when you’re stuck and there’s monsters homing in. Nearly impossible. But the mud is shifting slightly. I might just get free if I get more time. 

But I don’t have time. So I just stop for a second and stare. These Stokerguys are more than impressive. They’re so blackened as though singed from an almighty furnace. Their thin forms move crookedly, impeded somewhat, by being airborne; at the mercy of the air; trying to get closer to the ground. They don’t need to make low moaning noises as they’re more than scary enough, with just the sound of their tatty clothes flapping in the wind, their stoker-sticks knocking against each other’s in their attempt to descend and skewer me on one of the points. Now and then it sounds like they’re trying to talk but have no tongues.

ENERGY = 10%
POWER = 30%

Without a shadow of a doubt they’re going to get me. Take me off. Whatever it was Greenwise said. I whisper for the old mage anyway, but hold little hope of an appearance. I think about jacking-out, but inside the game they would still take me away; my absent avatar body. I find myself just hoping they’ll get stuck too, or their lances, in this mud, but one of them just pulls it free like a giant pin out of a cushion. 

We’ve said our prayers and now we wait for death… 

But just then a torch burns and cuts through the evening gloom. It’s moving. It comes through the air and lands close to me in a burst of sparks and light. It surprises these two Stokermen assigned to my ‘collection’, instantly into confusion. They back up, forced to drift upwards again as the sparks spread outwards from the torch in all directions. I stare stupidly at the tree-line of the forest, its dense safety and big trees more illuminated – quite near, but still so... far… and wish now I had tried the transforming thing before making this crossing. But I’ve no idea if any bugs or animals are nearby to transform into. But I do see, something… no… someone... emerging...

Is it Greenwise? No, it’s someone else. Thinner and shabbier. But he jumps as soon as he’s in the field, landing expertly on a stone near the river. He moves so fast to my rescue I promise myself that one day I will move as masterfully as he. 

The two Stokermen are both readying for another stab, each raising their long, thin staffs steadily for some fatal poke at me – or us. But I never really get a good look at them, even in the torchlight. I’m like a rabbit I’ve seen, in some video online, tossed into a lion’s cage. I cower down, hoping the sharp teeth will pass over me, so I can run for cover. But I can’t even run, so I just squint towards the river, and the figure who is my only chance of a lifeline, thinking that at least, this is just a game.

I only realise later how the lifeline reaches me exactly. The stranger picks up a large stone and throws it with two hands nearby so he can jump closer, which he does swiftly after yelling at me: “Get ready to jump!” It's very muddy and the stone makes a large thud. He follows soon after, and landing easily on top of it he reaches out, clasps my arm firmly and starts to try and haul me out and up into the air. I summon the best kind of super-jump I can manage at the same time, with the result that, suddenly – I’m flung skywards, freed from the ground, soaring above the field, up through the middle of the floating figures, and can escape into a controlled, if rapid descent into the tree cover. I don’t see how my rescuer manages to escape, although I assume it’s via some impressive move, or backflip, as I hear a crackle of dust behind me. I think I also make out a terrible, guttural moan from one of the wraiths as I leave them fast below me… but after this I’m too busy crash-landing, heavily.

...But that’s how I made it into the dark safety of the forest, standing up just to lean on a nearby tree for support. 

I won’t deny that just then I felt... pretty cool; a bit lucky, and... glad that you guys should get to see the full capture one day. It could be worthy of over a few hundred thousand hits. I find myself already trying to come up with a catchy title: ‘The Rabbit is Freed’, or something, would be more truthful, at this stage. But I feel some anger too, to be fair, at having been thrown into what feels like a golden cage right now, almost. Maybe I’ll get some real answers from the stranger...

STOKERMEN ATTACKS

Suddenly the sunshine is blocked and you realise shadows are beginning to fall across the land… These are the twisting, airborne figures of the Stokermen, seeking for new souls to gather from the game-scape...

Their strange black shapes fill the sky, looking horrifically out of place…

INTO THE HIGH TREE FOREST

Players can follow the river across a muddy plain into a dark forest. 

This area involves some use of accurate, focussed jumping, as the mud is so boggy in places that a player can become embedded, especially if they don’t select, with some care, harder areas or stepping stones to land on. 

If they become stuck in the wetland, they will have to transform or jump with great strength to break free. They may summon Greenwise to advise them, if it’s not yet dark. If still at an early stage they may even be taken by Stokermen. Staying close to the river, its creatures or hiding in water may also provide some escape. 

Staying out in the open will never be recommended by Greenwise. 

SECRET AREA: The Lake

This area is located down in the estuary, hidden by thick undergrowth or vegetation growing near to the shoreline, a little away from the beach.

A vision can be ‘found’ here, of the ‘Knife, Burning’, or else it can be shared by another player in, or around, the High Tree Forest. 

If a player, heeding a whispered summons, manages to cross the lake (by executing accurate jump combinations), then this will ‘activate’ the vision, temporarily replacing visuals of immediate surroundings.

Fountellion visions can motivate a player from game fatigue with the main quest-path, and can provide some restoration of power, depending.

So I’m just recovering from the shock and awe that is a Stoker attack and now I’m in this darkening, fairly dense forest. I’m watching the black shape of one of them, still flickering, high up between tree branches. This scratching sound comes… and it’s his stoker-lance that he’s ripping into one of the many tree-trunks. It scratches because it’s being pulled upwards by his long, thin arms, as he drifts near the tree-heights. 

I keep crouched, instinctively close to the ground... and wait. And as I wait I’ve decided something: Stokerguys are genuinely scary, exciting… and… fascinating. I almost feel like following one, like I’m drawn to them… but I don’t want to risk being taken, or plucked out of, this world just yet. 

When I no longer hear anything I start peering into the forest depths, where trees get thicker and create more darkness. It’s like Mirkwood or something over there. I keep checking for spiders as I finally get my breath.

But it’s not any spider that nearly makes me jump out of my skin again – and back to the Source. (Speaking of which, how long’s it been? My cat, Gorbash, will soon be get crabby in the (late) afternoon, just as it is here. It’s probably less sunny there. But then it’s – less – a lot of things. I’ve got to keep going. It’s my strategy for many new games: just keep going for as long as you can at first using instinct. You might just get lucky and do things well by chance, more than by skill. It seems to be working again here, for now.) 

Where was I?... Jumping out of my ‘skin’. (Well, not just yet). Because there’s the guy who’s just helped me out of the mud – flung me out; a shadowy figure himself at this range. He’s rising from a crouch position off to one side, in the undergrowth. We’re still close to the start of the tree-line and he’s got his head turned back towards the way we came, still checking across the open, muddy landscape. I can relate now to the paranoia.

“Over here,” he says, calmly though. And then he’s crouching down again; keeping low; checking the space. The torch is still burning down out there, but that gloom is passing away, to be replaced by a more colourful one. 

As I approach he looks up at me, an air of caution about everything. His eyes have a wildness to them though, and the detail of his features look thin; unkempt. Probably, he’s some kind of crazy NPC who’s here to influence me or something. Give me some side-quest now; by way of repayment. “It’s alright. They’ve moved on.” It’s a quiet, well-spoken voice surprisingly, and older than mine. What I can see of his cloak looks shabby though, and torn. A veteran… survivor? His tattoo levels must be low. And there’s something green around one of his arms – glowing very dimly. A band of some kind. It looks heavy, and must be annoying. Also, he’s just checking something in his hand; he peers down at it; inspecting it. Curiouser and curiouser... 

I stop a bit short to keep some distance. I lean against a tree, casually, like I’ve been playing this game all my life. What a joke. He just saved me from a fate worse than death, apparently. It’s strange; he’s not gotten to his feet. He doesn’t seem overly… interested; in me; in both of us being here, with an opportunity now to meet and exchange words. Unless he’s thinking, or getting ready.

“Hi...” I begin. “I was… scared out there.” I might as well be honest.

He nods, still looking downwards. “Yes, well, that’s because…. you’re supposed to be.” His voice seems to find itself; become less preoccupied. “You should think of them as... angry hornets... with huge stings. You need to fear them. Then use that fear to progress.” 

“Well… thanks for the timing. You’re actually the first player I’ve met. If you are a player.” 

“Yeah,” he chuckles just for a second, and looks up. The avatar face is also older than mine. “I’m human. Don’t worry. All too human. And a player too, though you could say I’m more of a… helper these days. And I’ve done my share of testing. But you… you must be Dan, the key-finder. Early access?” His eyes scan me quickly. My Spiral avatar very closely matches my real one, so it’s possible he’s recognised me.

“Yep.” I answer. I ask him who it is he’s helping, but he doesn’t elaborate yet. He will.

“I have been waiting to meet you... But, do me a favor, before we continue?”

“Umm… I can try…” 

“Pause your streaming, if you please.”

“Oh… ok.” Intrigued, it’s hardly an effort to speak the command to pause this recording, of which these super-logs are an accompaniment, to provide my own personal reactions and reflections. 

“Any reason for the secrecy?” 

“I think it best if I’m not… featured, just now. Captured. But you can write about me, if you like, some other time. Hopefully... a better one.”

Sorry about this folks, but… you heard the guy! I’ll update you all very soon…. Knowing a mystery - even that of nature and the universe - doesn't affect the living and experiencing of it....

So… we're back. I’ve now met (another) strange character who at least gave me his name: Gunn. (Later on, I’d find out more about him, and about this name which comes from a character in the classic novel ‘Treasure Island’). I don’t think it wise for me to share much more right now, and to be honest at this stage I still wasn’t sure who (or what) to completely trust. This is the angle I like to roll with for any game-world online I’m checking out for the first time. 

But let’s just say the meeting with Gunn and some of the things (or the way he said them) left me more… cautious, about everything. However, to be honest I was no less excited to be experiencing his world. At a later date, everything will be revealed, I’m hoping. [see Archive].

But now I’m alone again. And it’s dark. But it’s not night time yet so this mystical orange glow is filtering into the forest in places, making it look even more magical and otherworldly.

Yet again, I have to remind myself that this is what it almost is – magical. A simulated, man-made interpretation of nature’s game. Hardly real? Discuss...

I follow the river just by walking… I want to continue the freedom I was seeking before.

But I’m moving more sluggishly. I practice just one Focus Jump – up onto a tree branch and then launch off again, cruising downwards. I love the descent. So cool. I manage to land really well this time, onto a rock like I was supposed to, before, to cross the plain. But it doesn’t work another time. My power… is all good, but my energy - just too low, just as was advised, and because it’s late in the day.

I will say that my mind still burns from the heavy payload of extra ‘awareness’ about this place that Gunn dropped on me. But  I’m not too worried about ‘getting it all’ just yet. I know that if a game is good enough – and the player’s intention is true – then events should start to teach me how to balance its particular forces. And on top of this, I need my intention to stay true. To ‘play a good game’. Mistakes may occur. But at least I feel a bit more prepared now. Certain phrases he did utter at me through this twilight are still resonating…

‘I have died many times…‘ is one thing he told me.

I know what I’m really wanting to do next: find my first subject; for an attempt at this transformation business. I’ve already eyed up a few dragonflies. 

I want to master these powers as much as I can before I encounter anyone else, any village or whatever… or any more Stoker-dudes…

But then, you know what? I realise it’s me who’s really feeling tired – my mind. I really should take a break. Shut down.

And it’s not such a bad time. I only need to find a space against a tree to throw my avatar down. It seems pretty safe. There are only trees in every direction, except for the river. One way or the other, I made it… here… as was advised.

I position myself so I’ll stay leaning against a tree, watching the water, safely, when I re-enter the game in the morning. I wrap my cloak around my stomach and across part of my legs.

I spend a little time looking up at the stars coming out in the clear spaces at the pointing ends of the long tree-trunks. The stars of Fountellion, let me try and tell you, are bright and busy and as fascinating as in reality. 

It’s getting quieter. But then a sound comes and it’s a very real-sounding wolf howl. Nothing corny. It hangs for a while in the air and then fades and it makes me wonder if my avatar will be half-eaten mess or if i’ll be very rudely – and savagely – woken up. At least it was a distant howl. I decide I’m too tired not to just take the risk this time. But It’s something I’ll have to check with Greenwise when I summon him in the morning, along with the other items on my list. ‘Where is the best place to sleep?’ …In this village I guess, if I ever find it. 

I ‘Increase Hearing’ by raising one finger and listen to bird sounds and the louder water from the river flowing over virtual rocks. I think I can hear something like an owl hoot, some distance away. It makes me feel very calm, and want to stay.

But it’s time to call it a day. I make the ‘T’ gesture and start slipping out of my avatar, drifting upwards; leaving it below as just an outline as everything fades. Nice touch. A nice feeling too; of my mind leaving the settings of this fabric. It must also be a safety measure, to avoid ‘the virtual bends’, which plagued the earlier interfaces.

Back in my flat, and out of the trainer, I just feel... sluggish. I manage a mug of tea but can hardly register the evening beyond; my grubby view of other apartments opposite; the darkening windows into these doll houses where we live. A couple of black flies are ascending the pane, dropping down then starting again. 

I sort things out and crash out pretty quickly on my bed. I’ll be back in the game at that location at about 7am in the morning. Also, the visor’s set to wake me up and show me my position – in my sleep-kit – should any events occur (before I can fully suit up and ‘dive’ back in). 

It’s funny though: you know the last things that my mind lingers over? Besides the lightness of super-jumping, and reaching the highest point of a jump... it’s a lifeless damselfly, shown to me by Gunn, where it falls (over and over) out of Gunn’s grubby hands, as if he can’t keep a hold of it. Then I think of... empty tattoo marks… some well-known quote by William Blake about eternity, then nothingness…..

INTO THE HIGH TREE FOREST

LOCATION: Further up into the island, in the High Tree Forest, following the river.

TIME: Morning. After first acclimatisation.

It is bright morning and the player wakes up next to the sound of water passing over rocks, and with all the beauty that comes with light mixing with water.

Your avatar moves easily with a restored quantity of energy, and the player is able to spend time jumping across the river, reveling once more in this sensation.

But the mystery of the High Tree Forest depths is calling, with its huge, towering mix of tall pine, cedar and larch trees swaying in the breeze.

Soon Greenwise reappears or is summoned, as the player depletes in energy or is awoken, in order to learn of the second power, and to learn more about survival.

DIALOGUE WITH GREENWISE

If the player has encountered the Stokermen then this can be discussed... 

I’m waking up because there’s this crackling noise in my ears like a fire. And that’s just what it is. But first I’m seeing trees and sky so I know I’m back in the game, at least, thanks to the ‘auto-immerse’ feature. But I’m not feeling that grateful yet.

Looking around I see smoke and detailed, dancing flames from a small campfire. It’s surrounded neatly by stones that – someone – has made, so I feel a little safer. Nothing sinister attacking. And no wolves. I can continue waking up, more gradually now. In Fountellion. Yes, just another day, and I’m excited to be awoken by such natural surroundings and noises. But with so much to… master. And as a pioneer I feel a certain urgency; I need to get going – and get better – before too many others arrive and spoil my headstart, and all this surprise – of which the interface is so far the biggest. 

I’m using visor-only, not yet fully suited up again, so I need to secure the area and buy more Source-time to go and kit-out. Then I realise, suddenly, a cloaked figure is here, calmly sitting by the campfire, face in shadow, because the smoke thins for a moment to reveal the shape. He’s sitting quite close, so I can make out the resemblance – the Guardian. It seems – and feels – early, and I hear birds echoing down to the gloom of the ground cover layer where we sit, pine needles everywhere. Although the sun must be up, it would still be difficult to tell.

“We should get going,” comes the rugged but measured voice of Greenwise.

“Wasn’t I supposed to summon you?” I reply. I feel a bit irritated at having that power taken away.  Hell, who’s the player here?

“We need to seize this day. Especially while you are still… vulnerable. The Stokermen have seen you.”

“Tell me about it. After you flew off, I got stuck in a bog and nearly died – speared – even. Cheers. It was like they knew where to look or something.”

I feel hungry for some breakfast, and for the full sensation of the interface – not just this visor view. But they’re both back in the real world. “Time out. Can you at least keep an eye out while I exit for a moment and get properly suited up?”

“I can remain watchful,” he says, steadily. He’s not moved yet from his smokey tending of the fire. But I can see a bemused expression on his face where his green eyes glint in the early light. I watch them fade out with the world as I prop myself up against a tree and form a ‘T’ gesture.

My lethargy passes by the time I’ve fed and watered myself – plus an essential shot of espresso – and am fully jacked back in. But I’m even more annoyed and that’s because I’ve had a bit of time to reflect on the previous session… 

“You knew they were coming: that they would come for me...” I ask him when I’m back in my cloak-attired body, back against the tree. “How am I supposed to trust what you say now?” I even contemplate the option of fighting him again; wondering if there’s a way to beat him, with his own staff or something and just inherit his powers. Then I could go free-roaming. But… no. I still need him and his worldly wisdom. (Although just losing such a fight would still make for a high-value capture for my channel. But then… there’d be implications, and I might lose my chance for a lot more super-log viewers.) Also, Gunn’s voice comes back to me, from the previous session: ‘They’re counting on you…’ 

“Yes, I left you...” Greenwise prods the small fire as he explains. “The Stokermen are drawn to the sustained use of powers. But you had to learn... so we had to take a risk. But I never know when or where exactly they come. And I can’t protect players. I am only a guide. It is why I advised you to get to the forest. And... here you are. You escaped. You survived your first Stokermen attack.”

“Only because I had help. From a guy called Gunn. Can you tell me about him…?”

I expect renewed compliance, but there’s a pause. “Only had help? Not only. Gunn is both a tester and another player. He has worked to monitor and adjust the fabric for some time. Anything else you may wish to know, you must ask him. I’m not able to tell you anything more right now. Only about the third power: Transformation. Are you ready?”

I’m too curious for powers right now, so I’ll let things lie for now, although I am aware he’s used this – effectively – to stop any more questions. “Go on then…”

“You need to decide what creature you’d like to change into: animal, insect or bird...”

A sense of awe at the sheer scope and possibility dawns on me again. 

“So you mean I can really change into… any creature here?”

“Yes… within limits,” he says, and he makes that brief chuckle of his. 

“Go on. What’s the catch?“ But I’m still excited.

“All creatures belong to an area. A region of the island, where there must be sufficient prey or where ‘the fabric’ has a place for them. The fabric here mirrors the complex chain of interdependent life where evolutionary variables are... continually unfolding. 

We all depend on certain things. If you are as you are, wandering outside of the village, then you must know the habitats of animals, the surroundings…. Whatever part you’re in, and eventually – if you reach Mage level – the whole island.”

My mind is keeping up and to be fair, the old guy makes it sound simple, which is a good thing since I’m about to go diving, sort of, into this ‘fabric’....I  also see parallels, as my guide talks, between this nature and a lot of games I’ve played, where most require an energy system, of some kind.

“Look around you… slowly...” He asks then.

I see the river, and the rocks. The forest. Every now and then I see movement, or hear a buzzing, a rustling or a bird call, or some noise echoing.

“The island is modelled on a real island. Everything here is struggling for survival. Life-forms employing certain qualities – powers – to gain an edge of their rivals or prey. Those instinctive qualities get more complex the higher up the chain. They become choices. The choice of an eagle to attack a larger animal. Is it worth it? Does hunger match their energy? Of a village cat to tackle a squirrel. Is it worth it? Energy and stamina rule the day. When you transform, you will be entering such a world; where time is different, depending on the creature…”

“Tell me again about the Stokermen. How do they fit in?”

“They are not interested in animals. Only players. So they are your problem. They are looking to prey on you; to keep players struggling, moving, using their skills at hiding and working together. Using their surroundings here. You can use your focus skills to avoid them, but it makes them more accurate with their stokers and, after a time, they’ll be drawn to it. And they will take those unprepared or just... unlucky.”

You’re telling me now. But I feel glad to talk once again to Greenwise, and he makes me feel confident that I will gain this wider knowledge; that I will progress, and not be picked off too early, or worse, captured by Stokermen. It’s eye-opening stuff, but I’m not sure I feel – at all – comforted right now. 

“It’s harsh isn’t it?” I reply.

“Harsh? Hmmm,“ he looks away, processing some response. “Only if you see life as being something precious. Life is life. The right surroundings promotes it. It seeks to carve a place, to belong – perfectly – and to sing... Dying is not losing it’s just… dying, honing, serving new life; sharpening those remaining in a quick wind. Where we all lose eventually…” It’s like Greenwise has slipped into his ‘tuition’ mode again. But I’m surprised at how philosophical he can get….

“Since we don’t perceive death, how can we compare it? In fact, death can be release for some. The ceaseless gameplay – can stop, with all the decisions. Or if they're… unable to live.. fully... But... since we’re here we might as well… play, don’t you think? And those who hear the music, may sing the longest… Do you see all these trees?”

Lost in his words for a second, it takes me a second to realise he’s asked me something. I guess he’s not called Greenwise for nothing. “Of course.” 

“They’re all competing. For light. For energy. And they depend on each other for the competition. That’s how you get tall. It’s the struggle that keeps us fit; in our minds and our bodies. And you are part of… everything.”

“Alright,” I say, looking around at the finely-simulated tree-scape. It’s actually pretty motivating. “Well, you better tell me how to transform so I can… grow taller, eh?”

So he gets round to explaining the process of doing a transformation. In a nutshell, it  takes a bit of concentration – in decent range of a creature – followed by whispering its latin name and finishing with a gesture to... make it happen. 

“Then, when you jump in you will – by default – be placed in Auto-Ride. This means you have little control, beyond seeing, and will just be a rider inside the creature.“

“Sounds like my kind of setting.”

“For now. Because you’re not ready. But you will be, once you’ve been a rider for a while; once you’ve observed and understood the creature well enough. Then, you’ll want to override it and use the creature... for your own purposes.“

“Oh… ok... And what are those again?”

I get a chuckle out of him. “Soon you won’t need me to remind you! Transforming... can be vital... in evading capture by Stokermen temporarily, or increasing energy, or traversing the island, searching for insights… or simply increasing your XP.”

“And how do I... override?”

“You just say ‘Override.’”

“Fair enough,” I respond, but I’m actually feeling – just a touch, alright? – nervous.

“You won’t need to say that, for now. Not until you’re ready.”

“Ok…” But I’ll make my own choices now, thanks.

 “So… is there any creature in particular you want to start with?”

“Tell me about… damselflies. The Taiga Bluet.” I felt a big urge to say a wildcat. But maybe that can wait. For now, I’m going to follow Gunn’s suggestion.  

I watch closely the old guru’s face. It looks down a moment at the ground, apparently as his coding digs into the database and converts the findings into a more human response. Unless, it’s just an act. He looks up suddenly, eyes flashing in the sunlight like two emeralds; they get buried when he forms the knowing smile he was after.

“Well, we’re near water. They’ll make a good first subject. Swift, small and agile. But limited by habitat. You will learn its struggle, adopt it, for however long you need it...

Let’s go get closer to one.”

I feel the excitement surge up again. First, I get to jump, now I’ll get to jump into things. Virtually anything. I just forget to mention one thing to old Greeny-wise the Know-it-all. Games are my thing. I’m a fast learner. A natural born player. Watch out, ye creatures of Fountellion!

3RD POWER: HUNTER MODE AND ‘TRANSFORMATION FOCUS’ POWER

First, players may want to activate Increase Hearing in order to listen for animals nearby and to draw closer to them for Focus.

Transformation Focus Power is then started via Hunter Mode, where you enter your animal nature or self. This changes your POV to the extent that the green of vegetation is dulled, and valuable objects you require such as food, creatures or meat become enhanced and reddened, wherever you look.

Note: If any creature appears with a blue-ish glow then they are already inhabited by other players, who may wish to help or to attack depending.

PROCESS: 

You will need sufficient Energy and Power levels to activate.
To enter Hunter Mode you first need to make claw gesture with your fingers.

This will darken the appearance of physical or plant-life subjects so that animal and insect life appear brighter in colour.

A creature must be available first.

Next, you need only to summon and fix the image / outline of that creature in your mind and the EEG will identify the signature brainwave signal for that creature. An info box will appear when this has been correctly achieved. 

(Some players will do this even when they do not know for certain that such a creature is near. This is because there is such an abundance of the creature it is highly likely that there is one nearby, without needing to check.)

Final stage is to perform a hand gesture that completes the transformation at the same time as uttering its Latin name. 

General Notes: 

Energy levels are critical in executing and completing safe transformations:

During transformations, players will ‘adopt’ the energy level of whatever creature they are ‘riding in’. This will last for as long as players retain their creature’s energy level.
Different creatures will last longer depending on their overall energy capability / threshold.

When energy depletes a player will be ‘kicked off’ or ‘out’ of a creature automatically. This can occur a maximum of 4 times before game death. Or maybe they are consumed or attacked by another creature. When these situations occur they will change back to human form and land close by. Energy depletes by 30% every ‘kick out’.

Energy and Power meters will appear at the corners of the player vision for the duration of the transformation. 

Power level: remains their own, as they may use power to change again, or change back before energy depletes.

When the ‘ride’ is finishing, a player may activate a new transformation if highly proficient or change back into human form, whereby they will adopt their original energy setting.

Despite its use for evasion, this mode will – eventually – draw the attention of Stokermen, just as with successive Jump Focus. (Players will be made aware of this when Greenwise decides they are ready.)

Auto-Ride / Over-Ride:

You do not really transform, but inhabit or possess a creature temporarily.

‘Auto-Ride’ is the default setting, whereby a player has no control over the creature besides looking or turning of head. Keeping this setting ensures a degree of survival but is not ‘ultimate’ compared to when it has been mastered dynamically by an intelligent human player. 

To override and assume manual control: a player says ‘Override’. Mastery of the creature may then begin. 

Mastering a creature involves learning how it increases its energy and survives. This means a player can occupy this creature for longer periods, avoiding predators etc.

It is also limited by its habitat. If you transform into a creature found near to water, eg. dragonflies, then it will be unable to fly far from its area and a player will find that the energy of that creature depletes faster. 

More lives and XP are awarded for time spent surviving and inhabiting any creature for time periods particular to that creature, indicating a degree of mastery. 

Player: “Can an animal be tamed?”

Greenwise: “Yes. Only at Mage level.”

Player: “Can the Powers work together?”

Yes, but not Focus Powers. Eg. A player can Increase Hearing with Hunter Mode – activated by adopting claw gesture with one finger raised higher in the direction of listening.

An advanced player can move seamlessly between Focus Modes: Jumping and Transformations. 

Each takes time to master to the highest level.

The choice of your mastership is yours, but it’s likely that events and environment will also affect your decision and turn you into a certain kind of player, just as in evolution a creature can acquire a skill that then affects their nature, such as physical form and lifespan.

Eg. A player who is a master at super-jumping will most likely only need to transform into small animals, for his coverage will already be swift without the assistance from birds.

Likewise a player who uses birds may only be able to jump small distances.

A player who masters all will be totally attuned to the fabric, and will likely be a Mage who can fend easily for themselves for many days.

Double Transformation:

When a player has become ‘master’ of an animal then he may move from one straight into another in a near-seamless leap. This can prove difficult due to the speed with which some creatures move. Otherwise, there will be gap where he becomes human. 

There are some other combinations possible and updates still in beta phase, and these can be unlocked the more a player has progressed. 

The player may now experiment with Transformations until energy/power depletes.

However, to progress they must find a Great Cedar or similar Insight Location in the forest, and use powers to achieve it, demonstrating basic mastery of powers. Also, to demonstrate an understanding or awareness of the natural world of Fountellion.

Ok, so I’m in the forest near the beautiful river and we’re searching around for damselfly. 

At one point I hear a distant screech from the sky and for a bizarre moment I panic, thinking it’s a Stokerman on the attack or something. Too right, I’m getting paranoid. But no: it’s a large bird of prey, circling high above, with a big wingspan. So impressively reproduced though, it holds my attention. It just seems to hang on the air, conserving its vital energy – by soaring on the wind. It will  be readying its power to launch an attack. Its own, special super-dive.

We wet our cloaks searching the banks but it’s not long before we find the insect, more in the marshy areas that line the banks of the river – which is now much more like a big stream.

“You’re in luck at the moment here on the island.” Greenwise says, as we move closer together again.  

“Why?”

“It’s early summer, which matches the Source. More creatures around to use. And Fountellion winters are… more challenging.”

It’s easier when I activate Hunter Mode with my fingers clawed so I can see any living creature highlighted slightly in this reddish glow within the natural shades of undergrowth, rushes, water… Greenwise beckons to me for his attention with his staff a moment and demonstrates how one of his first fingers is raised a little higher, pointing in a certain direction. He’s using it much like a torch but for… hearing ability?

I do the same and realise I can now perform a handy combo: increase hearing at the same time as being in Hunter Mode. A sudden breeze sounds more like a wind through the rushes nearby, but when it dies I can also pick up tiny clicks and the humming of delicate wing-muscles moving rapidly in the rushes nearby.

Green letters appear in my POV – in a non-intrusive region – so I can register the words: 

SKILL ATTAINED: Combination Listening with Hunter Mode

The letters fade into the water, with a watery transition to boot. Very Nice.

Moving closer I can see many of the small, thin-bodied, blue-ish insects – like mini drones – hovering low and close above the shallow water. I’ve rarely seen them, living where I live in my habitat, in the real world. I lean over for a closer look, and see one of them land and settle perfectly onto a single grass stem. It appears to use all six legs to perch on it – making it look effortless. It’s so light it just grasps it to remain still. Resting. Its blue segments catch the light and glisten, but against the water it’s harder to see. And this is simulated. When I’ve finished gawping and look for Greenwise, he’s leaning on his staff patiently nearby. But he looks up at the sky and ushers me to give the process a go, which takes me several attempts. I know I’m getting somewhere with the EEG focus when, finally, a small box appears in my vision:

• Insect: Taiga Bluet, Coenagrion resolutum

• Type: Damselfy, part of Odonata

• Habitat: includes marshes and fens of sedge, as well as vegetated ponds, spring-fed pools and streams, and sedge beds of large lakes that are mostly semipermanent

• Adult: will eat almost any soft-bodied flying insect including mosquitoes, flies, small moths, mayflies, and flying ants or termites.
  They will occasionally pick smaller insects off plants like the aphid.
  

• Energy: secondary consumer. 

• Main predators: Frogs, toads, birds, dragonflies...

Next, the problem is keeping my concentration fixed while I make the final change gesture and whisper ‘Coenagrion resolutum’. It doesn’t help that there are easier words to say… But, at last, I stretch my arms and sort of project myself out and into the small, fragile-looking creature. It’s a bad imitation of the more ninja version I’ve seen Greenwise do... but... suddenly… it just… works...

The insect has no idea what’s coming. The landscape shifts quickly like a zoom-effect might look if you were caught inside one. That’s pretty much the best I can do to describe the... transition. But now my vision, my POV, has completely changed and I see many different ‘windows’ of light. The interface provides a sensation of lightness and suspension and I wobble slightly.

Yes! I’m changed... into a damselfly. I think. The sensation is very… alien. A bit like the way its head and eyes look to us. 

I should really stop trying to describe the interface now. It’s just impossible to find words for the change in scale and vision. But I can tell you that I feel very small. I’ve got like, two front legs which are my arms, along with four others that dangle beneath me. I’ve just seen these guys use all six to land perfectly on the end of grass stems, or clutch them, to be more exact. 

I realise I can’t hear any water sounds. I guess they don’t have ears right? There’s just a low humming of my huge wings, maybe more to help us – the player – judge their condition and add to the sensation of speed and things. But then I do hear something, a whisper in my ears, so I realise it must be Greenwise or the fabric telling me something important….

Stay close to where they live. Near water. Use vision to ‘home in’ on other flies...

My energy fork – now transferred to the edge of my vision – is depleting steadily, telling me this thing is going to need to either eat, or land – already sometime soon. 

(Creature) ENERGY = 50 %

POWER = 90 %

I can see other damselflies around me, and they’re a blur of colour until they get close and suddenly I see huge eyes and detailed bodies. In a sort of special Damselfly Hunter Mode, they’re highlighted from the surroundings, so they’re distinct. 

What I also see, is many other, smaller – isolated – shapes, and because I’m sort of hovering right now, the longer I look in any one place, my vision suddenly zooms in closer on them, so I can tell if it’s a fly of some kind – which it is. It’s… weird. But cool. Very cool... It reminds me of an old jet fighter arcade game when the target locks on. Only this is more intense.

And you should see this thing… eat. Before I know what’s happening, my ride – because I’m not yet controlling it myself – moves quickly into the path of one of those shapes and in split seconds it snatches a fly, bringing my legs up – our legs – to pluck it out of the air. I see a brief, black mass of fly-body being chewed just below my vision – where my mouth is. The fly disappears, and my energy increases. Nice. 

ENERGY = 60 %

I can’t wait to see the replay. And slow it down for you guys. But like I said, I’m not flying this thing myself yet...

So… I decide to go for it… take control and see what happens...

“Over-ride!”

Everything seems ok. I’m still hovering – freely – above the water. But now, I have only to lean slightly with my head lowered and I start dashing left or right. If I lean forwards the thing zips forwards. It’s very sensitive. 

“But… you’re not ready…” It’s Greenwise’s voice, but I’m just too busy concentrating now.

Besides, it’s time to get this show on the road. My insect is speeding – shooting – over the water with the river beneath me while I keep it steady; close to the left bank. For some time the flashing water passes by beneath me with the green jungle of rushes on my left. I’m going to follow the tip I was given and make a break upriver; get deeper into this forest. 

The width of the water thins a little and a huge waterfall lies ahead – although it probably just seems huge and is much smaller. Just as I’m gearing myself to angle upwards, a huge fish – salmon I think – flips itself in the air. It’s fine. I make out amazing detail on its scales. And because it fills my vision, at this distance I’m able to dodge in time, but... as it begins to disappear something hits me like a bullet – its tail or something – and for a moment I get knocked down into the water. Everything just goes… weird. Murky. But I force myself through it and move up again, pulling myself up so I just skim up and over the falls.

ENERGY = 20 %

As everything rushes past, so do other bugs and I’m sure at some point I feel the presence of something – much larger – again nearby. I worry it might be Greenwise chasing me; catching up to try and stop me, muzzle me again… and the thought drives me on more. I even manage to do the whole home-in-and-snatch thing, targeting and then gobbling up an unlucky fly (I think) – mid-flight – that happens to fall across my sights. It’s tricky, but all I have to do is adjust my projectory very slightly, raise my head and my legs and the grabbing and eating is – mostly – automated by the game. I race on, buzzing or more like droning, very softly. It’s otherwise eerily quiet inside one of these things. 

ENERGY = 40 %

The morsel of fly-food seems to grant me more distance but still I soon misjudge the fork meter and the speed of the depletion of energy – so I suddenly begin slowing down. Have you ever seen a dragonfly come to rest – badly – on something? I head for the edge of the stream bank and try landing, approaching just one grass stem and unfolding my arms underneath like landing gear. It’s surprisingly easy as I use my interface to bring two upper arms up to clutch the stem – while the others automatically grab it too, beneath this. I have to keep my body really steady on approach. I think I’m actually going to do it, to settle onto the wide, green tongue of grass when… I get seized, kicked off... and thrown out…

ENERGY = 0 %

I get to float for split seconds above, suspended in the air like an out-of-body death-cam POV… and, well… ick... I see – through my normal vision again – a huge dragonfly, very yellow and black-coloured, has grabbed my smaller form with its legs, and is descending with it swiftly. Next, I descend swiftly – or get zoomed-out swiftly – onto the riverbank, changing back, half in and half out of the water, so the material of my cloak is soaked all down one side. I’m lying down. 

Damn it! That was my ride!

Small, attractive letters appear for my reading pleasure, when i’ve managed to pull myself up through long grass onto the bank, and my eyes have settled. 

TRANSFORMATIONS REMAINING: 3
CREATURE MASTERY: Damselfly. Novice Level.

Eaten by a dragonfly? I look around and I actually get to see it. And my old self too, being eaten. It’s landed not far from me, on a long grass stalk. And it’s stuffing my former ride into its mouth, slowly. It’s a pretty grim sight, but as I get myself shakily together I remember I saw – just fleetingly – that it had a blue-ish glow to it... I quickly enter Hunter Mode again just to check. Sure enough, the dragonfly, as it munches, gruesomely, still has the same glow. Could it be Greenwise in there, making a point that it was time to stop and get off? By catching me like this? It better not be...

One way to find out. I summon him, to test if it’s him. Besides, I’m too excited by the whole experience, not to summon the old dude and talk about what happened. I just had a taste of a new existence: movement, flight, hunting – before I got cut off. I feel I’ve just scratched the surface; had a quick taste of the potential for more – power – over it all; which seems vast. 

Greenwise arrives via super-jump, touching down with perfect focus, his knees bent so the marshy landing hardly splashes around his boots. I look back to the grass stem and the large bulky insect is... still there. It’s now finished eating its cousin for lunch and stays longer on the stem than it should – I’m sure –  before taking off, like some kind of mechanical toy monster, to be lost over the thicker rushes. 

So it must be… Gunn! But, I’m not going to tell Greenwise that I believe it was another player who just swallowed my ride.

“I just got... chewed up.”

“Hmm… you left your habitat area. Which is partly why you’ve been eaten. There is less marsh here, so you would not have survived here for long.” His eyes have that slightly amused look, although I don’t get a chuckle this time. “You flew it yourself… well… but you still lost a life.”

“I can get more though, right?”

“Yes, but… only after much more practice, and more damselfly XP.”

“I used to think they were like, nice. But they must be pretty terrible to flies and stuff...” 

“They’re predators of the insect world. They look sweet and pretty but that’s because they’re either trying to... attract or blend in… and whatever effect works the best, is the one you’ll see more of here. The more successful power, if you like.”

I’m still reeling. I really wanted to complete that graceful grab-landing onto a grass stem. Next time then. Meanwhile, my own energy tattoo isn’t low, but it’s been dealt a good blow from ‘falling off’ the insect. 

ENERGY = 70 %
POWER = 85 %

“I think I need a hand here… and maybe some more energy.” My avatar is not responding as fluidly as it should and I need the assistance of an arm from Greenwise to help me up, my cloak still heavy from virtual water. “It’s alright for you – you’ve got a stick. When do I get a bloomin’ stick?” 

“Perhaps when I can trust you with one.” I notice him glancing at my energy rune. “Now… did you see those salmon jumping in the river?”

“You could say that.” 

“Good, then I will give you a skill and teach you how to fish.”  

“Ok, sure.” I could get some payback on the salmon at least. And I could dry out a bit.

He hands me a satchel out of, like, nowhere. “Don’t lose it. You only get one per lifetime. And your tools can play a big part in saving that lifetime.” 

GAINED ITEM: Satchel

Then something occurs to me. “But do I need to fish? Why can't I just change into one, override it and then… throw myself onto the bank?”

“You could do that. But it would be self-defeating. Ideally you need to restore energy, not expend some to conserve more. Fishing is worth the time and energy saving, depending of course, on where, when and how you fish. But I’m not saying you can’t use it up on a transformation, but you’d have to do it to attract larger prey, or numbers of fish. And then, what if the Stokermen come again? It does attract them too remember.”

The thought of this had crossed my mind, having just used some power, but hopefully it wasn’t for long enough. But I realise Greenwise is making me conscious of the implications of power-use. So we spend some time by the stream – drift fishing. Also, Greenwise makes a small fire and demonstrates the preparation of the fish before the easy part – frying it up. This last bit just makes me feel a bit hungry, but my avatar is happy again. 

ENERGY = 90 %
POWER = 85 %

FISHING SKILL = BASIC LEVEL ACQUIRED 

The game forces us to slow down for a moment, which is… nice. I don’t use games just ‘to dwell’ in this way. I don’t think… ever, in fact. And I don’t know how to fish, despite living close the sea. But, I don’t want to put too many of you guys to sleep, right? Wake up!! LOL.

Anyway, as Greenwise takes me through the process, with me marvelling at the interface for reproducing the subtle tactile experience of fishing, my mind casts over the whole situation I find myself in...

So… what will be my plan?...(I’m happy not to be able to refer to any comments on this Log. I’m making my own way again for now.) I need to get a grip on the size of this island. I can’t ask Greenwise for gameplay advice; it just doesn’t feel right. I mean, he’s either part of this game, or some spokesman, or even a founder. I’m wary. But Gunn mentioned a Village. What to do next, eh? And that blue-ish dragonfly comes into my head again, munching on my damselfly. I look around. Why did he lead me upriver here? I look around… I look into the forest shadows… I look up….

It’s then that I see the tree. Off to one side of the stream; a fair distance. But you couldn’t miss it. It’s a huge cedar, that towers upwards, winning the battle for light against its neighbouring larch and pine. It dwarfs them up top, and would allow a great view from which to plot any next moves. And it dawns on me that this is why the damselfly was a hint. Gazing up at its branches I’m now sure it was Gunn in that dragonfly who stopped me from going further upstream (not that I had much energy left). It was about making his presence known; to ensure I knew he was nearby, and that this was the place to stop. Unless... it had all been a trick, and I was heading into some – very big – trap of some kind. But... we had shaken hands. Friends-in-the-game. Or else, possibly, it could have been some other pioneer… or a random player coming in – already – through the Spiral doorway...

In any case, I feel a surge of motivation rise up; competition – to make it up there. Gain the advantage of height. Because I’d be able to change into a bird this time, and glide downwards, or something. And I get a strong sense it’s hiding something – game secrets, or an insight probably. It just looks so… climbable… with limbs ideally placed for jumping, which is something I have a strong yearning to do again.

It’s then that I also see…. that burning knife! It’s hanging in the air above the tall tree; marking a significance, or a quest. I’m sure Greenwise hasn’t seen it, because these markers would be unique to players who had found and unlocked them. 

Well folks, that cracks it. I turn to my instructor, who senses where I’m looking, and has been packing up the fishing and cooking gear..

“I want to look around from higher up… and I reckon that would be a good place,” I declare, pointing.

“It would,” agrees the calm figure. His eyes look away but I’m sure I can detect a hint of acknowledgement somewhere. It might just be me, but it seemed to impart, without confirming it, that it’s the way forward. 

“Shall we jump over there?” He asks. 

“You bet.” I say.

“Try this then, first. Watch...” and he closes his fists and performs a ski-style launch move, at the same time as he bends his knees. I watch his brow furrow as he – seems – to find focus. Then he jumps.

It’s more of a pounce-jump, faster and shorter, springing him off and away from the stream bank, and towards the big tree.

I imitate the process, inhaling after jumping, and feel a quick rush of flight, but I’m almost too slow to land, and only – just – stop myself crashing completely, by doing a sliding touch-down into pine cones and needles. It’s still an amazing thrill.

SUPER-JUMP FOCUS MODE INCREASE: Pounce-Jump

When we arrive we both stand and survey the tree. Greenwise scans it carefully; expertly. 

“You’ll have to change well to make it to the top. But such a process will ensure that you’re fully... acclimatised... 

...It will be a good test.”

BOTTOM OF A GREAT CEDAR

You may find the Great Cedar tree, within the High Tree Forest. 

You look up from its base… and may see a Quest Marker depending on whether a relevant vision has been seen. This only indicates that the location may bear significance.

A player must find a way to climb to the top in order to gain a good view across the forest.

You will need to keep moving, for delay while focussing will attract the Stokermen.
You will need to select appropriate animals and not fall.

Players will need to override at least one animal and perform two or more transformations to reach the high, inaccessible canopy of the tree, where super-jumping would be too inaccurate. 

Surviving players will have acclimatised to the physics, energy management and experienced connection to the artificial life. 

This is one path to the First Insight and the end of Progression One.

Bonus: If you transform into a bird at the top and circle around the tree, you may be able to catch a piece of the Lost Gamebook in the beak, and transform back into standard avatar to read it atop the tree. 

Well, trusty followers, I’m on a high, in many ways. The top of the food chain (although, on second thoughts, I think we humans – as biologically more herbivore than carnivore – are really somewhere in the middle). But I am at the top of this massive tree, and I’m the first early access pioneer to get this far. How do I know? Because I’ve just searched the Grid and can find no other super-logs out there... yet. 

But I’m not thinking about this too much. I’m thinking about having just been part of that great ’fabric’, for a short while. 

And I’m thinking about how I got here, and nearly died, more than once. 

What intense gameplay! I can tell you that. So… how did I get here? Don’t worry! I’m going to rewind the captures for you… and tell you all... 

I couldn’t ‘focus’ my way up by super-jumping (or pouncing), that was for sure. For one thing I’m not that accurate yet, and there was just too little space not to hit something, or miss something and fall. No, I realised pretty quickly that I would need Transformations to get me up. 

Sure I’d spent some time as a damselfly, skimming close over freshwater streams, but it was no way the extensive practice I needed. But let’s just say I’ve had a good deal more now, in the time it’s taken me to get up here, and sit, swaying slightly in this canopy… I’ve always wanted to climb a tree: but never imagined it would be quite like this. 

So... going back, I’m stood at the base of the tall tree, with Greenwise nearby, resting on his wooden staff. 

I think he was more confident about me; more relaxed. I’ve nearly learnt to fish for one thing. His settings seemed less concerned for my safety. We’d restored some energy by ‘eating’ a fish and ‘drinking’ some fresh water (actually through a straw in my Trainer). My power level is still nicely under-used today. And it’s a good thing because looking up into the tree heights the possibility of falling down becomes really apparent.

“So you’ll help me up, right?” I say – hopefully – to the Guardian.

“No… I cannot interfere with gameplay.”

Damn. “You mean you can’t protect me? Some Guardian you are then!”

“I am the Guardian of my habitat, which is the fabric of the island, and of gameplay itself… I must ensure players will not upset its balance and integrity...”

“Ok.. ok.”

“At least,” he adds curiously, “anymore than it is.”

I look over at him, and I remember that gaze, angled upwards, registering mine possibly, but without meeting it – as both of us tried to gauge each other’s… settings…

He continues. “But you need also to be aware: There could now be other players nearby. If you‘re transformed then whatever creature they inhabit will have a blue-ish glow around it. This distinguishes players from standard game creatures and ensures that no player in Hunter Mode is invisible to any other player.  

“So you’re telling me there are other players here now?”

“There could be. And… if you're not working with them, or they decide not to work with you, then there is one, sure way to be rid of them: You can kick them off their creature, by changing into something than preys on them: a higher consumer…“ 

“I see...” but I don’t say anything more for now, especially after that speech about integrity. 

“But it’s not... wise… for you never know when you may need their help, against your ultimate super-predators: the Stokermen, who form part of the pyramid of Fountellion too, in a way.” 

“Copy that.” I say, of course. Then a question forms: “What are the top creature predators?”

“I wonder when you’d ask.” He emits a chuckle sound before his eyes fix into mine. “Now you’re asking good questions! In this area? Owl, wolf and...” Then he seems to notice something and breaks off to look – behind me.  “Speaking of which, I must leave now, player… I cannot help further at this time.” He talks faster. “And don’t worry, as an owl I won’t attack you; he’s tame, although it doesn’t mean other owls won’t. Also... you might want to keep an eye out on that shrub over there, ok?”

I look behind me where there are loads of shrubs. “Where? Which one?” Always full of surprises, eh?  Then I say, before I can stop myself: “Just wait ‘till I start surprising you.”

“You just did,” I hear him mutter, before he gestures quickly again in the general direction to watch: towards a mix of bushes and shrubs. “My ride’s here. Better find one of your own. You’ll do fine, just keep... linking upwards.”

His great owl barely has to land on the forest floor in front of us. The Guardian jumps into it and swoops off, diverting, only for a moment presumably, the fixed attention of whatever it is he just saw…

“Thanks... I think,” and then I activate Hunter mode to try and spot it, and to find something to change into.  I’ve got to learn to change as fast as Greenwise, but maybe I will after I’ve finished with this tree...

I quickly scan the grand trunk, and all the things moving on its bark in tiny faintly-glowing dots, as well as dots of bees and other bugs flying past or fast around me. I’m just trying to choose a creature that will carry me upwards. I realise it’s trickier than I thought. But then the hint that Greenwise just gave me sinks in: link up…? …Maybe he means the chain. Start with something small and then find, like, a squirrel, when I’m higher up. I’m not seeing any squirrels right now. Just lots of insects. It's then that I notice a butterfly, flexing its wings in the sun, opening and closing them. It’s quite a darkly colored one so it would be pretty hard to see, except for a small red mark on each wing. 

ENERGY = 80 %
POWER = 70 %

I check the direction of the... whatever, and, as I do, I catch something; a shape, emerging now from a forest shrub, still some distance away. First, two cat-like eyes reflect a fragment of light for just a moment, until next… I get a glimpse of what they’re attached to: a shadowy, lean but stocky, powerful body. A wildcat of some kind; quite small but probably dangerous nonetheless. Old Greeny seemed to think so. Maybe if I just remain as myself I can scare it away, throw a stick at it… or… be torn to shreds. But I was also hoping to get up this tree. Where’s a squirrel when you need one?

Alright... you… I approach the butterfly a little. I’ve no idea what kind it is.  But when I focus on it, up comes its details...

• Insect: Taiga Alpine, Erebia mancinus

• Type: Butterfly, part of Nymphalidae

• Habitat: Often found in wet, open spruce and tamarack forests around bogs than in open areas. It regularly lands on tree trunks, and is often seen at mud-puddles, rarely at flowers.

• Eats: nectar

That’ll do. Completing the focus, with the whispered words and then the gesture, I’m in the zoom transition again, and then… inside the butterfly... 

At first, I’m not sure what I’m seeing. The eyesight is strange. I have tiny boxes of vision – fragmented – that fill my POV. But I can still see out, almost. As I move my head all around, it’s incredibly responsive, so just turning slightly can flip my vision to show behind me. And I still see really… boxy... Maybe this insect is going to take longer to get to grips with. I’ve also got a huge straw-like thing fastened to my lower face. 

Suddenly, I’m taking off… but it’s not me driving. I haven’t said the magic word yet and I want to see how this thing does it first. At least there’s some connection with my arms which correspond to the butterfly front legs, as in the damselfly.

“Over-ride,” I mutter soon as I worry we’re already turning away from my tree-shaped objective. 

Luckily, the fabric whispers me a tip on how to use these wings. I learn rapidly that flight involves clapping four fingers on a hand to simulate the speed contraction of wing beats. Raising my elbows just slightly enhances the strength of the beat. Everything is highly colourful and as I’m able to soar upwards, the leafy ground disappears beneath me rapidly and in great bursts – or retained hand ‘presses’ – I find I can gain rapid height. The tree is there again, looming quickly, broken up in many of the segments to my centre view, and it’s very bright. I can see other butterflies and flies looking bright also.

It takes me a little time but I begin to get the whole vision thing and a little navigation – which is a bit frantic. The best things are the flapping of wings which gain ascent so quickly, and the relaxing of them, that enables a near-weightless sensation of gliding which – depending on the breeze – can lift me upwards… or more slowly downwards…

ENERGY = 40 %

I would’ve escaped the wildcat completely but I worry about getting kicked off at any moment by other insects. Also, I just need more time to learn to drive this thing.

I bring my legs up the best I can and sort of crash into the tree trunk. Have you ever seen  a butterfly crash? Well, you can do now through this avalog. There’s a first time for everything. 

I’m falling, so I try again, this time sticking quickly and easily to the bark. I can’t see the wildcat at all but I want to. I need to see more right now, so I launch off and head further upwards as best I can, pumping the wings easily. 

A tree limb is now underneath me and it looks as wide as a road, at my size. And it’s here that I get eaten. It’s quick. I see my wings fold for a moment in on themselves. Very wrongly. The light is shut out of my tiny existence. Then I change. But… hey!... not all is lost: I’m now sitting in my cloak, on the first big limb of the cedar, looking down at the forest floor, quite a distance up. The whole butterfly idea worked in the end. But I’ve lost another life.

ENERGY = 60 %
POWER = 60 %

TRANSFORMATIONS REMAINING: 2

I dig my – familiar – fingers into the big branch, that is no longer so massive. It’s just a branch. And I’ve no idea what ate me. I look around, trying to find it. I just hear this big, buzzing sound, but that’s one thing I have less fear of here, in spite of the realism – being stung. I see a flash of blue and see a large damselfly or dragonfly, but I can’t be sure it was that which took me; possibly it was some sort of wasp. Either way, I’ve now managed to contribute to the fractional growth of such predatory insects – by feeding my last ride to one of them.

Great. But I’m sure to find something better to get me up this tree. I start scanning around, checking the whereabouts of the cat first. Or should I say: Lynx. For now I see it, a bit like an overgrown, stocky cat with eyes like a snake. And it’s he – or she – that leads me to my next ride, since its yellow eyes aren’t fixed on me anymore, thankfully. They’ve turned to another tree nearby, where, at its base: is a red squirrel. Eating something. Probably a cone. 

I can’t make any sound otherwise the squirrel won’t come my way. 

I spend time just watching the scene below; the lynx, inching its way towards the squirrel. It reminds me only of stuff I’ve seen online: ‘Amazing Animal Attacks’, and the like. Only I’m here, watching it as ‘emergent game behavior’ of this wild, evolving fabric of Fountellion. It will add to the dramatic value of these captures which is great. But also, I need that squirrel. But first it will need to escape its more immediate hunter and... come closer. Scramble up my tree, even, which is possible, as it’s not seen me.

Shortly after, everything comes to a head, and quickly. It’s the last thing any of them expected – but it makes me act and move quickly. Just like the lynx. And just like the squirrel.

A loud noise comes from the undergrowth – a large shrub – some distance beyond the squirrel. A long, lance-like object is sticking out of it and being held by... you guessed it: a thin, black-cloaked, desperate figure suspended in the air. A Stokerman. I don’t get time to inspect this one but I can tell he’s looking keenly for players, because his head is down in a prising position as he grasps his hunting tool, like a bad dancer with an oversized toothpick. He’s trying to overturn the bushes and shrubs. But the rustling; it scares the squirrel into dropping whatever it was clutching and it begins now to scurry towards my tree, just as I wanted. It veers around the lynx who meanwhile has been distracted too by the noise and is braced against the floor watching the Stoker; startled. But it focusses back on the squirrel and gives close chase. A few seconds later, the red squirrel has climbed up my cedar trunk and stopped at the first branch, without even noticing me sitting there, motionless. It does, however, turn back to look down on the lynx. So now he’s perfectly in range.

I’m going to transform. I need to hide. And quickly. The Stokerman is raising his pointed, pronged weapon, looking for a new target. I enter into Hunter Mode and fix on the squirrel, which is still fixed on the lynx and the Stokerman (the latter hasn’t seen me yet. He’s still searching in that shrub.) I suddenly get a respect for the squirrel. He’s not wasting any energy. He’s checking to see if the lynx is going to force him to expend more – to climb higher.

I concentrate on the image of the squirrel and hold it in my mind, bring up its box of details. Incredibly, I fix it first time, so I must be getting… better...

• Animal: Pine squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

• Order: Rodentia

• Eats: seeds of conifers, spruce buds and needles, mushrooms, willow leaves, poplar buds and catkins, bearberry flowers and berries, and animal material such as bird eggs.

• Habitat: grassy dreys/nests in tree branches, holes or gaps in trees.
  

• Activity: diurnal
  

• Abilities: scampering, tree climbing, branch jumping, digging, hiding food...
  

• Energy: Secondary consumer

Then I gesture towards it, whispering and... just as it notices me, turning its black eyes sharply to the side, I’m already zooming into them. And I’m in. A squirrel. I’m looking out from its POV and I can see really bloomin’ well. 

(Creature) ENERGY = 70 %

My hands clutch the tree trunk, a wide surface all around me. Because of Hunter Mode though, luckily my hands are already tensed like claws, and also my hearing automatically increases with ears… on my head.  I move my head and it jerks, the vision blurs to a new position. The hearing too. It’s a fascinating change, but I’ll worry about that later. I’m going to need fast movement. And now I’m so small, both the lynx and the Stokerman are much larger, and both are now looking up in my direction. Double the trouble.  The oversized cat has actually climbed a little up the trunk and is staring up, transfixed. I will tell you that just then, I feel something of the kind of fear that a squirrel must feel with that head – and cold, yellow eyes – looking up at me. 

But now there’s another blur of movement and I have to twitch my vision to one side – just a little – such is the nature of this new, wider way of seeing. 

There’s another lynx. And it’s running towards us, out of the bushes where it had been...waiting... 

A lynx stalking a lynx?

But it can’t be. Because this other one has a blue-ish glow, telling me it's inhabited by a player. But who? Could it be my friend-in-the-game again, Gunn, helping me out, by drawing the Stokerman to him. I will find out that... yes, it is...

He streaks like lightning and then leaps, brilliantly... landing on the back of the cat below me, who’s about to move higher, closer to me up the trunk. I see a flash of claws as they sink into the back of the tree-hugging lynx, which gets, effectively, peeled off, squirming backwards in the air. There’s a growl-type shriek as both tumble to the hard forest floor with pine needles and dusty mud spreading around the large ‘thump’ sound that accompanies it. 

Gunn is thrown off his lynx, changing into his cloaked, recognisable figure which rolls to one side. Firey, green dust motes scatter around him. He just manages to pull himself over and look up at me, as the animals are doing the same, scrambling quickly to their feet. They both scarper to a safe distance, and I lose one of them completely. Jerking my squirrel vision back at Gunn I see him with a raised arm, gesturing to me to go on through tangled hair; to climb higher and escape. I can see his reason as the next shocking thing in this sequence unfolds... As we lock eyes a Stoker-lance enters through his back, its prongs entering his body, ripping through ragged clothes. He looks down at what’s happening and he’s pulled up helplessly like a speared fish, touching the ends emerging from his shirt, uselessly.

The Stokerman is concentrating on his catch, his face and expression in shadow as, weighed down, he now has the job of lifting Gunn into the air and carrying him off. He solves it ruthlessly, pressing Gunn’s avatar face-down into the ground and pushing down. It enables him somehow to push off upwards with more force. Gunn’s legs and boots now miss the ground – flailing – as he’s pulled upwards too. We exchange one last look, as he begins not to struggle anymore, letting his legs droop and his hands just rest on the ends of the prongs that stick grimly from his chest. They’re bright red with blood, and wet bloody stains are appearing on his vampire-esque shirt as his cloak trails beneath him like broken bat wings. He’s also leaking a fine green dust that sparkles and scatters away behind him. He hadn’t cried out or anything, so I can’t think the interface had simulated much feedback or ‘pain’. But I still wonder what it feels like. But that look I’ll remember. It was… serious, yet... also resigned. Vaguely amused. He nods his head as he shoots up above the trees, helplessly skewered on the sharp, effective instrument, his arms down now, opening a little as if to embrace his fate. Something drops off one of them – it’s his green band. It falls open – unlocked – down to the ground and I see it dissolve in fine green dust... 

Won’t he get a new one now? But then, maybe he won’t be back in this instance of the game again… or even the next…

‘It’s time for me to leave… get back to the party’ his words echo again in my head.

I’ve witnessed all of this through my new-found – jerky – squirrel vision. It’s like watching with very dark glasses but which detect markings and certain colours brighter. I pick out more details like this than maybe I would otherwise. They draw me back into the moment.

I see motion again – below – before I remember… damn! – the other lynx. And now it’s making another run, in place of the other, its eyes fixed on mine. Now freed from its possession by Gunn, it gallops towards my tree base, resuming its primary target. 

Time to test drive the squirrel... “Over-ride” I utter quickly.

I turn about and start normal running movements with the interface, going upwards. I’m incredibly fast and agile. I can only control the front two legs in a mix of digging, climbing and running while the back legs seem to be automatic, thankfully. I’m already much higher, up to the second branch. I scamper along it, adjusting to it all the while with my mind, its vision and its size. I slip... and nearly fall a couple of times. In the midst of all this I’m – randomly – reminded of Donkey Kong Junior, an old pocket electronic game I inherited as a kid. Well, how games have changed. I try a mini-jump along the branch and it works perfectly. I bounce easily and clutch the branch again underneath. I also have a tail which is... weird, but I can guess its presence could be useful for motion and maneuvering with more practice. The branch is thinning rapidly until now... I run out of it. I’m forced to stop and assess my position; check my level.

ENERGY = 65 % 

My deadly hunter, the lynx, just can’t make it up the main trunk. He’s not as adapted to the tree. I turn, clinging easily to the swaying branch; looking down on him from above. But now he alters position himself – carefully – and looks up, actually licking his teeth at me and staring with those eyes as if to unnerve me. It’s working a little. He looks younger than the other one which has scarpered off, maybe more playful – and more willing to try crazy things. He’s on the first branch, where I was before, assessing something: my distance. But I hope he realises I’m just too far away and turns back. It gives me more time to figure out my position again.

From where I am, I can only guess I’m about half-way up the tree. If I can manage to stay changed as a squirrel I can make the top easily. But I also notice the dark shape of a Stokerman still in the area, flickering beyond higher tree branches. One of them has snatched a good prize, for now, but another might still be looking for me. It’s then that I notice the hole in the side of the cedar trunk, further up. I’ve no idea what made it. Maybe a woodpecker or something. But it signifies one thing only: a place to hide. From everything right now. 

Especially as the lynx now appears – in front of me. It has leapt up to my branch, shaking it severely – and me – and is now pulling itself up, to directly block the path between me and the main trunk. For a brief moment I stare in disbelief at its thick, powerful paws. It has executed a perfect super-jump of its own from the first branch to the second. And now, on the same level as me, it jumps for me. If I stay still, which is almost tempting out of curiosity, I’m finished.

I act purely on choices already limited. It’s possible I could jump higher, but I don’t know about jumping well enough yet. Falling feels wiser. So I drop down, to the first branch again and make a dash for the main trunk. The branch shakes noisily behind me, so I assume the lynx has dropped down again too. My claws lose grip for a second as I nearly get bounced off, and have to catch the branch as before, until... I reach the main trunk and start shooting upwards. It’s like reaching a main highway – and I don’t stop using it until I reach what I saw earlier: the hole. I dive into its darkness. Safe? Maybe…

ENERGY = 50 %

Yes, it’s deserted. I poke my head out and jerk my head enough to see the lynx has stopped at the first branch and is just looking up. He’s probably not even able to see me thanks to the distance I just made, so I reckon he’s not going to bother – trying – to climb anymore. He’s just too big for it, and the energy trade-off wouldn’t be worthwhile. A few seconds more and I’m right: I see him begin to back down with his paws very carefully. 

I feel a huge rush of triumph and decide to stay hidden here, until things die down.

I know I can’t stay long. There’s the remains of a nest in here so I don’t know if something’s made it recently. But before sticking my nose out again – I stop myself and think. If one of the stray Stokermen saw me, I’d be cornered. And those things could prize me out of here in no time. I also know I’ll need to change back to me soon, otherwise they’ll be drawn to me…

‘They follow the green dust… they will claim you…’

I’m already on ‘Increase Hearing’, thanks to this squirrel, but I’m not getting anything distinctive, beyond currents of wind through cone-laden tree-limbs. My mind is free to reflect.

I can’t believe Gunn was… taken! WTF…?! More of his words come back to me from the forest:

‘Don’t get burned… or drown... either by your own quest… or in the world itself… It’s a quicker world.’

And you know, I’m actually really into this game. Just listen how I’m thinking, tactically – it’s got to me. To be hunted like this. Wild, in the moment. I feel my heart racing with excitement. My mind and senses getting more in sync with this whole higher dimension. And the thrill of escape. The natural balance of a squirrel just running along a tree and the dicey rush of jumping. (I can see myself choosing this animal again, traversing multiple trees. And getting really good at… well, squirrelling.) 

But as I sit in the semi-darkness, the hole of light showing me a porthole onto this living, breathing, virtual world, with that lynx out there, looking for me, smelling my scent via mathematical variables, I imagine the real world replaced by worlds like this one… with animals preserved in graphics and mathematics. A world reflected we can play intimately but from a safe distance, through a glass darkly... but one that can help to preserve the other, natural world. Respect it. Grow beyond it. While staying close. This stuff is important. The importance of energy. Knowing these links in the chain, how these creatures are all connected. Like it or not, we are animals too, but have grown apart from these wild moments. The necessity to live in a stable habitat, without causing damage to it, and be non-invasive.

Everything is all changing. The earth is changing. What will a place like this teach us about ourselves? Can we – will we – make our peace with it all? With change? With death that keeps us sharp and shapes our fear and our skills and lives... 

There's only one path ahead of me really, just as this tree-hole is my only path… out… It’s not about wanting to play. It’s about needing to play. I’ve got to keep playing to find out such answers; keep progressing to gain a foothold in my real game, in the Source. In this way, both are linked. This game, now means as much as my reality. And if I dither or deviate… I lose you guys. I lose my audience to some other player.

And many other players will come. Maybe they’re here already. Players just like Gunn, who will do so much for the fabric; get lost in the survival and experience. Or try to go it alone seeking power, and have to work to win favor again. But they will never play as I am playing. As we are playing, viewers, listeners... and readers. We’re playing ‘to progress’. To power-up, as pioneers. Not to be lost – forever – inside this game... but to feel it and grow through it...

The sounds of the forest reach my enhanced hearing. I see a spider in great detail crawling against the dark bark.

Ultimately… we’re all playing; all progressing, in our own way; our own time, to our final insight – if even that matters. The journey is something, isn’t it? But the journey takes its toll…

‘It’s no easy game…’

For some moments I contemplate just gliding off in jump mode now; giving up on the mission to the top, and go roaming to explore and survive, without any onus to play… and in my own time. 

But... I want a good view over the island… and I think of that knife again, from the vision, burning clear and sharp. The straight path. This is its meaning for me. And maybe Gunn, and the founders, do know this…

‘They’re counting on you... ‘

Everything inside me is urging me to move, escape. But I’ve reminded myself: to think differently about the game. I realise how foolish it would be. They would see me and I would be taken. 

‘Only through balance and listening will you gain in power…’

So I force myself to wait. Although, this invites the image back, of Gunn, running through my mind again; his worn-out avatar hanging – drooping – on the end of that Stoker staff and being brushed against branches, twigs – snapping – as that figure pulls him upwards to be lost above the tree canopy. ‘I’ve given up’, he’d said. Well, you have now; distracting them. And I wanted to do something to rescue him…

But it had bought me… Time. And now I wait for them to pass on, and will carefully finish my ascent. 

‘If you can hate them enough…’

Anger flares up as I can think of nothing better than to fight these figures of the air, but I just don’t have any weapons. Only animal teeth and claws. Maybe I could jump onto their stokers, pull one – out of their hands… seize it... and stab one of them… Or become a wolf... and surprise one. But, they’re wraiths. They’re part of ‘the pyramid too’... 

‘We need messengers… keep moving….’

I poke my nose out, and then my head. I can’t see any immediate movement. It must be damn scary being a real squirrel, emerging into the open. Everything is darkened, so I can see shades brighter against tree leaves and wood. I jerk my head many times to try and detect anything. I can’t see or hear Stokers anymore. With more mastery I’m sure I could learn how to angle my ears for more focussed hearing. The rustling noise seems to be gone though. No birds lurking. Or none that I can see. Just a light breeze swaying branches and tiny needles. I hear it all so well. 

I move up, clinging to the tree trunk, ready to start my next dash for the top. There is no fork in this tree, so it should be easy. But I deviate. Unwisely. Sorry folks, but I decide to do a little branch running and try a jump between them again. It’s just so… fluid, and this animal is in its element. Its legs fasten easily to the wood and when I leap it’s an intense sensation due to my size and weight in the physics of this crazy, amazing game engine. 

ENERGY = 40 %

I feel like I want to just dominate the tree as a squirrel. Survive on my wits like this. Store up nuts and maybe win a game award, mastering it. Or gain another life. I could leave some baby squirrels behind in the tree and contribute to the lineage of Fountellion red squirrels(!) All this stuff – after – I achieve the tree-top.

Should I just say ‘auto-ride’ and let the creature take me up? Find out what it would do? But then, what if it just stayed back in the hole for the rest of the day? No… I stay in control and run the risk. Scampering upwards again though, I soon stop. For then, I notice something, out on one of the higher branches. It’s a nest of sorts. But no birds anywhere. Ok, I reckon I’ve got a little energy left to try.... Whack!! ...At this point, any further plans – I’m afraid – are cut off completely….

...And it’s nearly all over for me (or for the squirrel) as... something – a great bird judging by the loud flapping noise – has sunk its talons on our body. I feel a tightening on my suit, that’s all. But I’m thrown over and only just seem to cling to the bottom of the tree branch. So then I’m hanging... and, in only a split-second longer: it really is over. For the body of the squirrel is torn out of me, dropping beneath like a stone and it’s me who’s hanging, green specks of light clearing to reveal my human POV… my own legs beneath me again and my cloak beginning to appear ripped at the bottom, as it billows around me in the tree-breeze. 

At least I get to hang on awhile longer. Not so for my squirrel friend. I see it fall all the way. I think whatever just attacked it must’ve drained the last of its energy. I don’t even see the attacker – the bird, woodpecker, eagle, or owl – I’m not sure what it was. But the squirrel is certainly a goner. 

TRANSFORMATIONS REMAINING: 1

Far down below. I watch as a lynx emerges quickly from somewhere it’s been… hiding? Waiting? It pounces lithely onto the squirrel, just in case it had anything left after that fall. It looks up at me, briefly, to see if I’m coming down too. I might be – shortly. Wait awhile. But... it’s not sure it could deal with me. It’s not going to wait and see either, not with its own ground-focussed concerns. It swiftly takes the squirrel in its jaws by the neck and carries it off. 

I’m actually quite pleased I’m not still ’inside’ the squirrel now. It would be a helpless experience, yet again, as long as it lasted. One less squirrel in the game ecosystem. Sorry dude. My bad. But… it will keep that lynx going, refilled with more energy for its own sharpness to maintain. 

Yep, it’s probably gonna be me next, to leave this game – because I’m clinging on with just my hands, clutching the branch above that’s keeping me from falling. And I’m not really sure if I can pull myself up, as I see the sky beginning to darken through black branches.

And If that bird comes back, it may not realise how easy it would be to peck at me and my hands. But maybe it’s decided I’m too big a catch now – a bad trade-off – and figured it’d done its duty. Protecting its nest – or that hole – or something... 

But I think there’s some lessons here too. Like: Never get ripped out of an animal when you’re half way up a tall cedar tree. And if that does happen: Hang in there...

Well folks, it’s pretty intense right now. We were so close in the squirrel but... here we are. Here I am... Hanging. Beneath my dangling legs, the ground seems a great distance below, although there are some branches and foliage in the way, just not enough to prevent the inevitable wreckage of my avatar. 

ENERGY: 35

POWER: 40

I’m on my last animal life. I’ve been kicked out of a damselfly, a butterfly and now a red squirrel. That means if I get kicked out again I’m going to get killed and die. And that would suck… because I can nearly see the top.

How do I get more lives? Only by more mastery over creatures but I’ve no time for that. But if I do die... now... then at least I’m still near the start of this adventure. I may lose a bit of time, but otherwise – it wouldn’t be too bad. 

But I don’t want to die, not like this. I mean, the realism – verisimilitude – is so high here that in-game suicide; it’s not a very natural urge. Also, it may not need to be suicide, because the sky above is still darkening and I’ve just heard… a noise like a diseased moaning sound, as if someone’s in pain and they need medicine – or a fresh a player for some twisted, marshmallow campfire. Right again. One, stray, non-friendly Stokerguy is still… around… searching… Luckily, I see him, but he’s some distance, a good few trees away. So creepy. Annoying-creepy. But then, that’s the idea. 

‘You’re supposed to fear them. Then use that fear…’ 

Hanging from a branch high up (my legs suspended in the VR Trainer), I need to keep clutching the branch or else it’s that easy just to let go. I look up and can actually see my objective: the top canopy swaying slightly. Curse these Stokers! I’ve been here before… helpless. Bogged down... in that wretched bog...

What to do? Think. Maybe I’m not so helpless. I close my eyes and think of the chain. I need something bigger. What’s after a squirrel? The lynxes have gone; they may’ve got lucky but also – they know their limits. High trees are one of them. I need that thing which just attacked me. I just need to see it; get a clear view. 

It’s then that I hear a bird noise from above – a shrill screech I’ve heard before. I look up and I see it again: that nest! I don’t see anything in it, but... not too far beside it, hunched over as though on guard duty, is the shadow of what can only be a large, black bird with a white head and neck. It’s not an owl. I’d guess an eagle. And beyond him, is the treetop.

It’s my only shot at the top. I only need a quick ride up. I lift one of my fingers from the branch to increase hearing. That scratching noise, of bark being torn away from tree limbs by a Stokerman, is receding a little more, and I’m well hidden so it’s likely it will pass on… soon. But, with my energy depleting faster than usual, I’m going to pass on soon – downwards, like a stone. But... if I can fly up, I can change back soon after and still stay hidden. 

There’s just one catch. Provided I can actually make the change, from this distance, how will I make the gesture? I will have to let go of this cedar limb in order to do it, in mid-air. Which is a gamble, because if I get it wrong, I’m just going to plunge. 

ENERGY: 25

POWER: 40

My levels will only last enough for whatever short ride, so I won’t get a chance like this for the top for awhile. Opportunity scratches, it seems – with its window receding like this sound. It’s now – or nearly – never.  Besides, I don’t really have any better, faster ideas. If game-death comes, we can re-build.

I see the eagle, surrounded in a red tinge from Hunter Mode already. I have difficulty focussing on it because it’s in such shadow. I close my eyes again and try to fix the outline in my head, but nothing turns up in my vision when I open them again. I try again. Nothing. I just need the stupid bird to move... a little – to wake up, look my way… whatever (just so long as it doesn’t fly away). I figure I’ll have to try something else, so with one free hand I manage to start shaking one of the outcropping branches. With great luck, it responds; it moves… and one of its eyes in the afternoon light is illuminated briefly as it turns its head, keeping its focus on mine... Now! I concentrate: on its outline, its shape, its eyes. And get a fix. The wonderful info-box appears when I widen them again. 

• Bird: Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus

• Order: Accipitriformes

• Eats: fish and small mammals (opportunistic carnivore)

• Habitat: occurs during its breeding season in wetland habitat such as seacoasts, rivers, large lakes or marshes or other large bodies of open water with an abundance of fish.

• Activity: diurnal

• Abilities: eyesight, flying and soaring, stealthy dive-attacks on prey

• Energy: tertiary consumer

• Note: must stay still to recover some energy loss

Now, for the tricky part. I prepare in my mind the gesture I need. 

I let go of the tree, bringing my hands down... 

And fall…

Falling… a little more…..

My hands are working and through my teeth I get the words out, best I can: “Halia-eetus Leuc-o-cephalus!”

And…. something connects... Zoom! I’m shooting upwards again, ghosting through the tree branches and... into the Bald Eagle; one powerful, apex predator, as I’ve now learned. 

The dusty vision clears and I’m… very... perched. But my vision is so different. My eyes are like telescopes that swivel around. It’s awesome. They can focus in and settle on anything, or stay nice and wide – it depends on how I angle my head and for how long. 

“Over-ride,” I utter, before the bird’s A.I. decides to do anything rash. 

I move my shoulders and the feathers on my tucked wings make a sound: they ruffle. I flap my elbows and my wings respond. I stretch them. Piece of cake. (I’m starting to master this, and realise that adopting the poise of a creature – one that most easily mimics whatever creature is inhabited – is the best starting point. Move like a bird, act a like a bird, basically. The rest is just... being the bird, until it gets easier. This isn’t going to be easy, but having been insects, I reckon this will be a less extreme change.

ENERGY: 20%

Time for a first flight. I adjust my position, loosen my fingers to loosen the talons gripping the tree-branch and push away with them. Then I lean forwards and sort of… fall off… It’s nothing graceful. The bird starts dropping so I raise my shoulders to get the huge wings spread out. Then the power comes. I swoop out of the heights of the tree at an incredible speed, moving rapidly into open space and air. Super-swift and unstoppable. I see my legs and talons trailing beneath me (where not long before it was my legs doing this). I feel a moment of dizziness just for a second but I move my fingers – and see the talons correspond to them. It keeps me focussed and the vertigo subsides. 

Then – unbelievably – I see a stoker-lance crossing my path and I instinctively duck my head down… zipping underneath. I jerk my head to one side and see the Stoker pulling it like a fishing line in mid-air. But I don’t know if it was for me: I’m not sure if he knew I was there… yet. 

I lean forward now… and catch the wind, gaining such height that I see myself rise above the trees – so I get to see how much higher the cedar top is to all the rest. I can hear really well, especially the wind passing through my feathers. I spot the Stokerman again and feel a huge wave of relief as the he turns – away – from where I glide. His thin, black form – like a deranged soldier of the skies – starts heading for his companion who is now much further away, or closer to wherever their home is, with Gunn still on board. 

I can slip back into the cedar without being seen. But I’m worried about control. About landing with so little energy, so I concentrate now on turning; circling; leaning and moving my arms and body, so that I can gear up for a landing on the tree. I’ll have to get lower, and then land up – into – the tree. But where are the breaks? I soon find out the breaking comes with the leaning back, where I really shed speed as I circle lower and lower around the tree. 

ENERGY: 10%

A piece of paper of some kind – no, it’s like a scroll – seems to be flapping about around the tree summit. It’s very out of place, so I catch it in my mouth – alright, my beak – before heading round for a final pass. 

All I can dare do now is to land, so here goes nothing… I lean back as much as possible, moving my hands up to bring my talons forward. I swoop upwards, aiming at the umbrella of needle-bushes that form the canopy and close my fingers to clutch frantically at the mass of branches and needles. It’s a bit more like a crash into the canopy, which simply absorbs the impact. But it works. 

And so... finally…. I am inside the highest intersection of branches in the crook of the trunk, in the high, swaying reaches of the Great Cedar. The eagle has landed!

I take in parts of the view with my wide, and detailed eagle-vision – including some distant tower where I can see a tiny light emitting from the top of what looks more like a spire. But I’ll tell you about that next entry. I’m just too tired to try mastering, for any longer, the power of this creature of seeing and soaring. So I change back – or jump out – into my good ole self again, folding wings that become cloaked arms. The eagle returns to its nest area further down: the first creature I’ve actually left ‘alive’ in this game. I look around to try and see, or hear, that Stoker, just in case. I shift my position across, to conceal myself best I can at this more exposed height. But it’s all clear.

SATCHEL NOW CONTAINS:  Bonus Item: Fielding’s Gamebook Preface (scroll)

And so… this is how I made it to the top. A bit... mad right? WTF! But you know, it’s amazing what you can get done when it’s like you’re being hunted. Nature moves quickly, I’m learning… but, it’s a rush. And did I mention the view – through my own eyes? I look out at a spectacular view, that makes me realise how bloomin’ big this island is... But… a reward for getting here, in its own right, it certainly is. OMG…!

ENERGY: 5%
POWER: 10%

TRANSFORMATIONS REMAINING: 0

TOP OF THE GREAT CEDAR

You reach into the very top of the crown of a Great Cedar Tree. This is one of the strong indicators that a player has fully acclimatised to the physics of the game-world via the interface.

BONUS: 

Players may see a handwritten page in the form of a scroll in green lettering being turned over in the wind around the treetop. It only appears if the player has performed two or more transformations in close succession whilst in the tree. 

With sufficient energy available you can change into an eagle that usually nests and perches close to the top. This is one way you can attain the scroll, by flying and catching the page in your beak, and then return to perch in the branches and transform back into human again. 

THE VIEW

From the heights of the swaying treetop you can see far across the tree-laden island and it’s an awesome, enticing view. The sun is setting so a bloody, orange light brushes the tree-tops and also what are a range of awesome mountain peaks in the furthest distance. It looks like the trees begin to thin at their base and lean, drunkenly. 

Over to the right there seems to an amount of fog or smoke emanating from possibly a settlement of some kind. 

Off to the left there is a solitary mountain, enshrouded also in a light mist. 

Foreground: in the middle there is some kind of glittering light that draws the eye as it rises – closer – over the mass of trees, making it look like one tree in particular is… shining. It’s almost like some kind of magical party is going on in the forest with beautiful fireworks. It’s tempting too, as it is appears not far away – within a day’s reach. The glittering seems to have fire, a blue-ish silver and a lot of green dust moving within it, perpetually. 

Furthest distance: you then realise that, beyond the mountains, there seems to be some kind of high tower rising to a thin spire that pierces – and disappears into – the base of a low-lying strand of misty cloud. But it is just too far. Eagle vision allows for more details, including a light at its pinnacle.

The overriding impression for the player to receive: that they have achieved this view above the trees, that this island is theirs, openly to roam. It’s a home. And it’s theirs to explore and to discover. 

Greenwise: if he isn’t summoned then he may arrive as his Great Horned Owl. The player can then ask more about these features in the landscape stretched out before them. 

It’s an incredible view up here. But in the distance I also check on the retreat of those black shapes, so tired-looking in their efforts to traverse the air, like worn-out, floating fishermen of the sky after a long day. They’re little more than weird silhouettes now, but I can still see their stoker-tips and the one carrying its fresh prey – Casper Gunn – a bit larger than the rest. 

I feel relief to see them now so far away, but still also traces of that helplessness and anger rise up again as I watch them diminish… But, it’s just a game isn’t it? I’ve played co-operative worlds before – MMOs – but never felt so involved...

Suddenly an owl flies over the tree-tops and lands close by. It ‘casts off’ Greenwise gracefully and finds a perch not far away. The green dust glints about the bearded guru as he finds a perch of his own beside me, seeming amused and a little more relaxed, unless it’s just me.

“So you made it. How do you feel?” He asks in his sandpaper voice that just forces you to listen.

“Tired and… good. Ok, pretty high actually! And to see how big the world is… from up here.”

Greenwise smiles for a moment only and says nothing as we look out and feel the tree swaying slightly. Beneath us, many creatures – great and small – depending on its tall presence. A presence I feel I’ve got to know better.

“You’re fully acclimatised and are starting to… attune.”

“Yeah, well you were right about something else. Those Stokermen…”

“Yes?”

“I don’t like them.”

“Ahh...” is all the reply I get. And then: “But do you not like them enough? It seems they’ve captured a new player.”

I see that Greenwise has now noticed, squinting out, that one of the ragged shapes is larger than it should be, carrying a heavy item on its stoker. I still don’t mention the mysterious details of my conversation with Gunn [see archive].. I know players can work together, but Gunn knew things; had been a tester, and had wanted to be left out of my captures. 

“Is he out of the game now?”

“Not quite. He may have enough energy to pull himself free of the lance, before he’s taken into the tower… But he will fall and most likely be killed from that. It’s his last option though, for he can float as a spectator in the spirit-wind of the island, before respawning anywhere near to the coast. Washed up. Though he’ll have no mastery of powers; he’ll have to re-focus gradually.”

The guy - Gunn - spoke some words to me, and they come back to me: I have died many times.

I squint to see if there is any struggle at all from his shape, but from my encounter, I think it unlikely he’d bother to try. I think his was looking to be... removed. To sacrifice himself…  Just maybe not so soon. It makes me suddenly feel alone, especially next to the enigma that is this ‘Greenwise’ character.

“What if he can’t – or doesn’t – get free?”

“He helped you…” For a moment I reckon he knows, or had heard our whole discussion before, but he’s just on a train of thought. “So he’ll gain some cooperation points. But his Spiral profile will be marked… that he was taken.”

“And..?”

“Well... all banishment leads to death eventually. But until then… within the tower his avatar will reside – a minion of Bleakmuse. He will be forced to play as a Stokerman, searching the land for players to catch... For once all players are cleared – imprisoned – the game is re-set. Bleakmuse wins, you could say, and I have lost.”

Harsh. “So... this big boss Bleakmuse and his Stoker-minions… can they be stopped?… freed, or whatever… when the quest ends? If all Insights are found?” I’m beginning to realise my new – hidden – quest within the quest. It’s even more personal now. Gunn’s freedom.

Then Greenwise turns to me; his eyes, catching the super-light; greener than any normal green. “It only takes one player to find the last Insight. But will this stop them? Who knows? To an extent, they are... integral, to the game as you know it… but this may change. I don’t know. Everyone has the power to find their insights eventually. What happens to players who do, I cannot say! My task is to aid only in the playing… and illuminate the path.”

I look back out at the view, the expanse of trees like a jungle to pass through. If it weren’t for the limits of energy one could use focus to power all the way to the mountains and reach that tiny light, shining out in the growing dusk. 

Suddenly, something – obvious I guess – occurs to me. (I surprise myself here, as usually this sort of thing occurs to me later, when I’m in bed or in the shower or something… especially after a long session and I’m stuck at a point in a game.) First I check to see what he knows first…

“Can you tell me what you know about that… tower?”

“That light you can see, at the top of the dreamspire, is where Bleakmuse resides, ever searching for the dreams and energy of new souls to fuel his tower and make it higher. His vision is narrowed by this desire to search and secure his power. But that is all most of us – natives – really know...”

I go a little further anyway. “That’s not… the Spiral tower, by any chance?”

Greenwise doesn’t turn to me this time, but stays gazing out. “That’s for you to discover if you manage to survive, if you choose to progress, and get closer to it…”

So that’s a ‘maybe’. Fair enough, so I bury the possibility – and revelation – that it is, for later on, when I am in the shower. Further reflection is warranted. For the implications are hard for me to see here, like the mist at the foot of those far mountains. It would be such a… vision. For... just how much would they be entwined, on a Fabric level?!

“For now… look more to your hunters.” Greenwise continues, turning back to me again. So now I’m gazing out again, where I can see the black shapes are just dots, merging with the dark green of the forest blanket. “For there are three Stokermen now, one of which is an NPC. There will be more, as more players are taken. It will get harder to evade them. So your knowledge of the island creatures will need to increase. Just keep exploring. You can help others to find the Insights, or you can find them yourself, but it’s just a matter of time otherwise… before they get you…”

Gazing back into the brown features of the wizened face, I see that he’s pulled out a round object from his dusty, leafy old cloak. “But here... I’ve got something for you.”

Great. A long-distance weapon? In fact, that would be quite welcome. As he holds it, it glows with an eerie green light which is what caught my eye. I think it’s some kind of magic apple at first. But it’s got some kind of edge – or seam – across it. He hands it to me and I realise it’s something… closed. I feel the weight, simulated. It also has spidery lettering finely engraved into it just above the seam. It reads: ‘I am interconnected.’

“Speak the words etched upon it to open your first insight.” He flashes his good smile and I almost want to hug the old dude, slap him on the back so he falls out of the tree. Just to see what happens, you know. But I don’t. Maybe later. For now, I just say a word of thanks, and then do as he says. “Well played, by the way,” he adds.

This is what happens when I speak the words like an incantation:

It opens itself up like an eye waking up, which is a bit freaky at first. I nearly let go of it. It’s a human eye and there is a green fire burning around its black centre. Light pours out with the sound of tons of people all whispering together but saying different things. The scene around me changes completely; it dissolves...

[Spoiler alert!] 

The following is a bit like the ‘Vision of the Knife, Burning’ I suppose. Only much more elaborate. More vivid. More mind-blowing. 

I’ve put ‘spoiler alert’ because although these Insights seem kind of unique, I’m sure they cover the same themes, only more tailored to every player’s unique journey. What will yours be? I cannot say… The themes here are: Connection. Birth. Life. Death. Change...

No words would do the following justice as the usual green dust, sparkling like tiny dots of fire spread out and then clear, so that I’m no longer in a tree but on a vast, rounded, coral-shaped structure… and I am just one more creature.

There are so many other creatures atop every branch of the coral my eyes feel overloaded with detail as it starts to rotate and I begin to feel... vertigo. Beneath each branch and each creature are creatures that resemble them with very slight differences; tiny modifications and as I look down I see the same is true for me: there are dozens of frozen, darkened figures of previous people – upright apes – all connected. 

The wind is howling through my hair and cloak and looking up I am exposed to the elements and there are Stokermen above me. 

They are no longer holding spears but huge scythes descending on me so I’m forced to duck and to jump. I’m jumping higher and better but there are too many swipes so I suddenly lose whatever shred of balance I had since the change of scene kept me from… falling… so now I fall…

I pass by so many other creatures; mammals such as the apes and pigs, wildcats, extinct ones; sabre tooth tigers; ancestors of ancestors, all shapes and sizes...

I hear whispers… like out of the corn. Of the fabric... forming words…

Listen to me… Time and Death have honed you, shaped you… as they have shaped every form that is here.. that is me... evolving or devolving with the shape of me...

You are connected to me, these trees; and to all other creatures...

You depend on my creatures to produce oxygen to breathe, absorb the gas you exhale, provide your food, maintain the fertility of the soil… and so it is here… Everything plays its part, existing to exist and in contact with the earth…

Listen to me...

And now it’s like the game-time is speeded up as all the undergrowth, the plants of the forest and by the stream, move and shake faster and faster so the clouds move like bullets and the seasons change and all the fabric is subdued or in bloom by weather… all this, while simultaneously the death of creatures, their lives, their mating and renewal plays out. I see the cedar tree branches falling in years to come and rotting to provide vital habitats to ants, beetles, robber flies and fungi – new life springing forth...

I see captures from earlier in the game: damselflies on grass stems, caught in the clutches of frogs, and then others beside it, catching mosquitos as they fly, catching a hoverfly soon after, then landing lightly, and forming a wheel with its body as it mates with another, its colours changing in a wind of time that either warn its predators or blends with grass or with air and water. The functioning beauty and colour. Everything being honed or kept in motion by the weather or by the hunger of their fellow creatures… A grasshopper in slow-motion landing on a long, towering stalk of grass amid the sound of waves...

The whisper again: 

And I am a hungry world... A world full of energy, flowing… the flow from sunlight, into green plants… dispersing… taken in through herbivores and sometimes through carnivores… passing away to the decomposers in the soil… I am a gentle ocean wave sweeping toward landfall. I am beautiful, profound and I am inexorable...

I see the corn growing, rustling in a wind coming up the estuary from the open sea, rustling grass and needles, shimmering through the Scots Pine trees. Another gust and everything is shimmering against the backdrop of that sea that shines with a fire for more life; more energy; the sunlight catching the light of its three-coloured, shifting gemstones sparkling within...

I see another capture – outside my own POV this time – of Greenwise jumping and gliding down expertly next to me onto the beach…

His voice again: “Your jumping will get better with time, and with repeated use…”

We land together, knees bending to absorb the landing perfectly and we stay breathing in a wind, levitated slightly by the interface, and it feels fresh and brilliant everywhere with the connection, with mastery and with change…

Then, when I stand up straight we’re back on the forest floor again at the base of the tree, and I’m looking up in Hunter Mode, and I can see everything reddish-colored; moving, swarming with buzzing, rustling, scratching; all the life using the tree as a source or a home… the woodpecker hammering, the insects making holes, pine cones dropping as squirrels appear, take the cones, bury them for new trees to grow… Another squirrel is snatched up by an eagle, a pine cone dropping from its claws while the eagle still grasps the squirrel… and a new tree grows where it has fallen. This interconnection… of the fabric… of animals to their earth… of the radiant colours of the damselfly fading after its death by the dragonfly: of new life and death perpetuating is illustrated before me while throughout this a deep, resonant, fantastically moving music growing louder… like thousands of instruments attaining one single note…

I glance down at my youthful hands and see the fork marks fill with red and blue energy as I swim through an emptiness, a suspension in a wide, wide space without limit or any confinement… until I look down… And see, laid out beneath me... the whole island...

Then... it all fades into one great, green mist and dust is everywhere like tiny motes swirling in a sunbeam… as Fountellion’s nature begins to form once again around me… and I see the bulbous eyes before me of the damselfly, change into a butterfly’s, then into a squirrel’s, an eagle’s, and then into my own eyes, as I too become a Stokerman... and I get a flash of awareness; totality – insight – into the roles and inter-connections… of our role, praying on ourselves for this energy like dragonflies and wolves: the last change of eyes burning into me until... a torch cuts through the dark and lands at my feet – like in the marsh – and the noise of their Stokers withdraw… and I realise their nature again… keeping us moving, watching, jumping… above – within – a vast, mighty river, flowing… together...

And next I get a quick image of a scene of hundreds of human faces in a darkness, whispering together, like in a (village?) gathering or meeting; very green eyes catching the orange glow of sunset. Some of them turn their heads to meet the gaze of their neighbours; fearful; needing their reassurance and presence...

Then… a voice, like a mix of Greenwise and the fabric together finishes:

“Fear not the nature inside you, do not fear… fear… 

For this – and anger, rivalry, curiosity, laughter and love – and every emotion in your sphere… are a part of that great force of change…”

I’m just a spirit now speeding over a running river that fades out as I reach the estuary and next the sea where sunshine is just emerging and I’m cast off silently into bright waves frothing with jewels and then into blackness….

I hear only the waves breaking – tinkling apart – softly now as the voice is a whisper again….

Find your balance…

Find your Fountellion… beyond the seventh…

And then I’m back on my branch in the tree again, with Greenwise still waiting nearby, and I’m looking down at the view, of the island stretching away again. I stare at the mountains far away just to steady myself and the strange, coloured fireworks that glitter, rising above high trees in the foreground. 

“That was for you. It’s yours to think on not only here but to take away, beyond these shores.“

I can’t respond with – anything – for now. I'm still recovering as the tree sways in the wind. The eye has disappeared which is a good thing so I can clutch at the branches of the tree canopy around me for more support; ballast, and I notice his owl regarding me, a little higher up. Great, orangey eyes.

Do not fear… fear...

I stare into them, realising I’m breathing still quite rapidly, fearfully even. I also realise I could let go, easily, and whisper the command to exit all this… but instead I tighten my grip on the branches and carefully take in the details of the owl – so as not to look down in case I just lose it, and start tumbling. Then I figure that because the owl is here, Greenwise will be leaving soon. 

“Tell me about this owl of yours…” I hear the unsteadiness in my own voice.

“I’ve tamed him. You can only tame a creature once you become a mage and this involves mastery of many insects and animals first. The Horned Owl is a top predator. But he depends on all the links in the chain beneath him. If one link shrinks, then every animal is the lesser for it.”

I better ask him about the landscape too, and this weird, fountain-type thing which is not that far away. Its colours match the breakers I’d just now... fallen into. 

“And what about… that glittering?”

“That is the fountain. It flows continually with power, dreams, life, energy. 

I cannot say more, for you must stand before it yourself before you can learn more as to its nature.”

“I… can’t wait. But only after I see my cat and get some sleep! Then I’ll be back. Do you think I’ll be safe up here?”  My avatar will be propped up against the trunk, and will sway a little in the breeze. But to be fair, it’s still a big branch. 

“Safer than before.. yes. And I won’t need to wake you up so early.”

“Yeah... great, that’d be nice... Besides, you can’t light a fire up here.” 

This morning seems a long time ago.

Greenwise turns and looks at me. “You won’t need me for much longer. Knowledge is a power you see.”

“Are you really A.I.?’ I ask him.

“Sometimes.” He gives me a wink from those green, wise eyes of his. “You’ll be more on your own don't worry, soon enough. You’re nearly ready. But I am not the main character here. This island is the real teacher, the giver, the taker... and we are all its players. So get a good rest.” 

I tell him anyway: he’d be a handy guy to have around in the Source.

“Oh, I’ll be around in the Source, because you’ll have heard enough from me... to take back there with you, by the time you’re done playing… I hope. We’ll see!”

He zooms out suddenly, and launches off… out of the tree... Horned Owl-style. 

I look back at the view again, and feel far from ready. I spot his owl swooping to lose height and then beat its wings again to gradually get smaller and smaller.

Reassuring green letters, at least, begin to emerge above the horizon and come together to form into words. The letters get larger until they float before my eyes. It’s the comforting, deep-green, three-dimensional font-style that indicates an important game message has been reached…….

There are more words - and I also get another good-looking scroll to unfurl.

YOUR FIRST INSIGHT: CONNECTION TO ALL LIFE

Greenwise will give the player a green eye inscribed with the activation phrase: ‘I am Interconnected.’

Speaking these words opens the eye and triggers an elaborate ‘insight’ that transports the player temporarily into a sequence of immersive, revelatory visions. They concern their unique role to the living fabric of the game, its energy and powers, and to their quest for acceptance of this role within it.

Visions include ‘recaptures’ of previous gameplay, including as one example, an ascension of the Great Cedar which involved transforming into different creatures. 

THEMES:

Players will hear the voice of the fabric.

Living and dying – this inter-relationship.… 

The interconnected, ever-changing ‘coral of life’, honed by weather and death.

The competition and struggle of life...

Change: everything growing, evolving, influencing one another...

Weather forces and environmental influence or sphere… (cut-scenes)

Energy and creature powers

Importance of dependence on other people and other creatures.

Together these visions convey a sense of the interconnections and competition that enable the fabric to function in the same manner as nature and the energy pyramids of a real ecosystem.

By seeing through the eyes of different animals in order to ascend the tree, you will also have gained the first insight: animal perspective. This is realising the present. The necessity of the present and its dependence on a habitat. The absorption in an opportunistic moment, that adapts to an immediate natural environment and fulfils its role as energy conduit or consumer. For to most animals besides us, there is nothing else. And in this way they could be said to be alive, where we are – beyond childhood – much more ‘static’ and meditative, grown over-powerful in a mass community.

Includes: Previous dialogue with Greenwise...
Eg. ‘Everything is in a balance here… and you are a part of it…’ 

Conclusion:

Concludes with a reminder and awareness of the function of primary emotions in context with the above and reassurance of their relationship with the game. Connection to the Stokermen too – to symbolise the danger we pose to ourselves.

Note: Players may achieve the first insight in a number of ways and locations in the game, but can only be achieved or located uniquely by them. Its location will depend on their gameplay progression.

When the insight ends, the player returns to their previous location with full Power mark. The eye will have disappeared.

Greenwise: His role is to contribute to the motivation or inspiration to continue the quest where ‘inter-connection’ is just one of the six themes relating to the attainment of balance within nature and the game.

Letters rise in the distance and for a moment you wonder if they’re something else, appearing out of the landscape, but they hang in the air, all across the vista:

You can wave the letters away with your hands to receive a scroll.

Next: green, animated ink begins to form in a distinctive, elegant flourish; as though alive and growing quickly onto the parchment...

‘Congratulations... you have progressed. You have successfully and safely acclimatised to the game fabric and to the full power of the interface. You have tasted ‘the Spiral reality’, a further, virtual dimension. You have attuned to the fabric via use of focus modes and choices. You have found the First Insight.’

EXAMPLE WALKTHROUGH SUMMARY: 

You have encountered the game world of Fountellion.

You encountered the estuary, you gazed upon the shining waves rolling into the land.
You heard the whispers in the cornfield, of the fabric and the words of your guide, the Guardian.

You flexed your powers and used them to move and to survive.

You used communication and cooperation. 

You hunted and fished, and restored lost energy.

You became the hunted and used this experience to escape your predators.

You are beginning to feel the connection via the finding of the First Insight.

NOTE: If you experience any adverse effects it may be because you have exited / ‘surfaced’ too quickly or without using vocal or gesture command. In case of the latter, the fabric will always begin a hidden process of ‘re-acclimatisation’ to your pre-set Source-based settings. However, in any case, be sure to log all such effects with our support team for assessment. 

Flip the scroll to see GAME SESSION DATA + STATS for Pioneer Dan Harvester…

Swipe the scroll to roll it up and continue...

Note to Players – It is hoped YOU will be able to ‘write’ a similar walkthrough of your own experience of the Fountellion game world based on, or using, its advanced recording/capture production features. Such accounts – blogs, vlogs, avalogs etc. – can aid the player to realise and reflect on their own experience, their journey, their findings and to share with fellow players their unique experiences – of which this text was but a seed cast into the earth...

For new source-celebrating songs to be sung – or whispered – through the shifting corn...

Well folks, I’m home. Home shit home! In the Source. After some exhilarating, engrossing gameplay. I’m still reeling to be honest. The closeness, or lifelike, simulation of... everything… growing. The super-jumping, the animals to possess, the threat of them… stoker-things. It’s just an immense, bottomless experience. But I’m in my small apartment again, giving my cat some food to eat. (He must vaguely wonder what on earth I was doing in there for so long. We’ll just call it... hunting, I suppose). 

It’s stoney grey beyond my semi-closed, cheap venetian blinds and rain is starting to assault the cold glass with more strength. My ‘diving’ gear is all hung up and set to charge, while my trusty kettle is fired up for a hearty brew. Gorbash is squinting at me from the window ledge. Time, again, to think.

Other people buy you time. In both worlds.

I read that Bonus Scroll before leaving the game. I can’t reproduce it as it sort of self-destructed on me, but it was a copy of a page from the original Gamebook by Fielding, a project leader (and this means it actually exists – somewhere – in the Source). 

What was it all about? Well… it was background info, about the creation of the game and the vision of it, as opposed to any problems its existence may come to face… That’s all I’ll say and only: that it struck a chord. His words seemed reconciled and yet hopeful, and ended… very mysteriously...

I’ll be a little honest now, at the end of this long session. These super-captures and avalogs, this reporting – is some work. It’s an additional pressure. To create these entries. But, being a ‘pioneer’ of this world makes it feel more necessary. I guess it adds weight to the undertaking; this mixing of business with pleasure. So I hope these reports can provide an idea, some chronicle, of what it’s like to confront – and control – such a vivid reflection of the Source. I’m reviewing this whole thing, promoting it. I’m leaving behind these word-crumbs, that may lead people too through the glass of their lives – to see for themselves a different view, an older one perhaps – and back out again... Happier, sadder, or just the wiser for it. Ramble ramble....

You know, maybe I should just cut the crap and be totally honest, for once. For, you know, it strikes me that you folks – especially those just looking for some fast ‘hints’ – may still not realise why it’s really important – to me – that I get through this. Why I have to last as long as I can, ensuring that my stats are in some small way – worth something. It’s not just about the ride. It’s because I have nothing left. Most of my life has been in games. Then I found a key and got a lucky break. It was the key, and it’s brought me the huge following I need to prove myself – here – with these reports. For my own survival. For continued sponsorship. For redemption... It’s my channel you see. I have nothing else to lift me up. To break the glass between me and the world. This is it for me...

So I don’t really have a choice. There may be other rivals in Fountellion who have this – in their eyes – also. What is it? Let’s call it... persistence. I play the game because I play for keeps. Like Gunn said, maybe I do have an edge. I walk the line. But as someone who likes to live and work alone; I’m used to the glass.  So, I’m wondering what these... insights... will teach a player like me?  The first one has been pretty mind-blowing. Life and death eh?

Find your balance… 

Well, we'll see…. because we’re gonna find them together. I’ll turn on ‘comments’ again. I didn’t say that I don’t crave some company, did I? That modern, fragmented dilemma of our society.

And I leave a whole world that I must re-enter in ten hours time. My alarm will wake me. But I’ve set my Spiral Interface to synchronize, which means it will power up and show me the game if something disturbs me in there, where I lie sleeping. So I need to be ready. To jump in, even when I’m asleep, probably very soon – here on my couch. 

I better mention that simple word again. Persistence. Something I think many players – and survivors – share. 

Persist alongside me ok? Stay tuned. Come with me for more super-focussing, more types of animals, more survival and insight… Also, maybe I should try dying too… just so we can all see what that’s like. A ghost of the island. I’m currently wedged against two boughs at the top of that cedar tree. My mind buzzes with all the creatures I’d like to inhabit: bees, birds, wolves…. I could change into an eagle again and fly down, I could do many transformative things, but I am kind of angry at these Stoker-wraiths; these ragged beings from this tower, or spire thingy. I want to be rid of them, but will that be possible? Are they not bound into the fabric too?

I can still see Gunn’s head, drooping. Not even struggling in the grip of a stoker-lance. At the same time I think I saw the Stokerman’s eyes burn like embers of a fire when a wind blows for a moment. Can they be stopped? But, as the first Insight showed me, can we be stopped? Are we our own worst enemy? Of course we are...

Well, we can’t let them win… versus us, or this side of us. The less players that get captured, turned into one-track prisoners in that tower, the more chance someone has to reach the final insight… We’re all in it together, like… Life. What an intense metaphor.

So… next session, you can maybe help with my adventures by commenting. But, probably, I will just glide down from the tree, using just a little power, hoping not to awaken any… interest. That way I can start making for the fountain... the village...or just ‘go rogue’... who knows? Whether I stick to it or not in the moment, that's the masterplan anyway, for the next progression… waiting for us, in there (I tap the side of my head)... in that habitat full of life…

Images and ideas emerged and knocked about in my head when I was taking my long hot shower just now. I thought about that tower again, in the vague distance of the game-scape. If that is The Spiral Tower then… it could represent something. Play a key part in the game. But also, it would mean… Fountellion would be much more than a game; it would link in directly to all other Spiral worlds - the metaverse itself. The Division could actually lock people out of it… or inside. 

Then, oddly, a flashback came to me, from when I found the key – originally – on this deserted planet in a much older Spiral game called Revel – and it led me into all this. The sands, lone and level, from a poem, amongst the remnants of some statue… with only huge feet, bestriding… empty desert. My mind turned again. Is whoever lives in that tower… that lord… Bleakmuse or something. Is he, like… Ozymandius? …it’s crazy. But I do over-think things, as mysteries unfold. Well, not this time. I’m going to solve this one.

Stay with me, folks...

Afterwards, you know, I find myself looking at videos of real damselflies online. Doing some research. I feel a connection now to those mini-predators. I’ll need to read up on all these creatures of the Boreal. What to use for my next ride? I bet that owl just… kicks ass. I won't have a lot of time, but also, I’m actually gonna go out for an early morning walk tomorrow, for a break. Take in my own habitat, LOL. Not the crowded quays, or the Mayflower steps but the greener, sectioned spaces. Not many games make us do that, eh?!… It’s made me wonder where we’re all supposed to fit into all this changing flow of energy, before we all... came together and became… too powerful… and so ‘invasive’… 

Maybe this game will help us – a little – in our near-impossible quest... to step inside; step back, somehow, again… into nature’s line… and make the sort of choices that move in greater confluence with it. For whatever we may think we are, above it, we are – fundamentally – just more of its animals, its tools, dispersing seeds, perpetuating its processes… and we can always relax about that. Accept such a fate, even.

It’s very quiet in my small flat at this hour. Gorbash is on top of me and I’ve got a print-out of my Stats beside me on my aged, aging sofa. They tell me I’m now a Keeper of Insight. I could get used to that title folks. 

Games... they turned me into quite the dreamer. They used to make me dream, only about the ghosts of my own dreams, in an empty street, pushing against them, in full riot gear. 

Now as I close my eyes, rubbing them both because of the suit and from tiredness, Gunn’s voice returns with the memory of his limp, helpless silhouette, receding:

Its real nature was to push players through… themselves… and to guide them into finding a way back out… enlightened...

Then I think of those soft waves breaking again, echoing in my mind... 

When I’m done checking over this entry for you all, I reckon I’ll be dreaming of them tonight. And maybe for a good while to come: it’s like they’re pushing me… pulling me... back into Fountellion again.

[views: 2,835,459,100+]

Note: The Origin WALKTHROUGH continues with further Progressions and Insights that were unlocked by Dan and comrades as he makes his way through other regions of the Island towards the Tower (or The Spire).

You can also read more in Bonus Content and Archive sections (PART 2).

GAME SESSION DATA + EXTRA INFO:

STATS and PROGRESSION SCORES:
Dan Harvester [Pioneer]

AWARDS
BONUS PAGE: Preface to Original Gamebook
NEXT PROGRESSIONS: What to Expect… [spoiler!]

FURTHER GAMEPLAY DETAILS / WORLD INFO:

THE ISLAND
GEOGRAPHICAL / ECOLOGY MODEL / VIRTUAL ECOSYSTEM
OVERALL SCORES
SERVER FUNCTION
ENERGY, POWER, INJURY, DEATH, BANISHMENT

• BONUS CONTENT

GAME DESIGN + DEVELOPMENT NOTES / BACKGROUND

-INITIALISING… Progression Red
-“A Game-World of Pure Nature”
-PROGRESSION RED: Acclimatisation (PvE)
-'FABRICS’
-A Virtual Living World + Game
-WORDS of CONTEXT
-INTERWOVEN
-Some WHISPERS in the Corn

REACTIONS:
MEDIA / FEEDBACK / ARCHIVED:

-A ‘World of Nature’ or ‘NEWorld’ REVIEW
-STAND BY...
-SOCIAL MEDIA : @FOUNTELLION #whispers
-[Extract - Pre-Open Beta]
The NEW SPIRAL World - ‘FOUNTELLION’ -
Everything We Know So Far…
-Promo: (More) CHARACTERS YOU MAY MEET
-A Fight in the Green Fields of Fountellion?
-V-SOWN / ULTIMATE GAMES / N.E.WORLDS
-INTEGRAL (NATTER-CAST)
-AVALOG @CYBER-EMPORIUM
-HINT: Names !
-PLAYER FINDS ‘SECRET’ AREA IN ‘FOUNTELLION’ -  A Game of Wonder and… Fulfillment?
-‘I am... a STOKERMAN….’
-Just Another Day as... A VILLAGE CAT
-Promo: Trailer
-PRESENTING: ‘FOUNTELLION’
-TRAILER REACTION: ‘The Nature of the Game Fountellion’

ARCHIVE: Declassified:

-SUPER-LOG 8b: The Real Nature of the Game - or How to Get Better at ‘All This’

-SUPER-LOG 8b: continued...
My Half-drowned Friend and the Vision of a Knife, Burning

-ARCHIVE: FURTHER TERMINOLOGY

-ARCHIVE: MAP by Dan Harvester (Pioneer)

-ARCHIVE: Poem: ‘Relinquish’

• ‘SOURCE’ INFORMATION

-AUTHOR NOTE

-COPYRIGHT

-Cover Art + Concepts