This page contains the (Origin) Game Details + Prompts for generating AI-based Fountellion games..... never-ending, player-directed AI 'green game' concept for exploring and learning how to survive, homestead, hunt, forage and live....
Tellers (keepers of the Core Aspects + Values asset on AO) will oversee these details and make adjustments. All Keepers can suggest changes in the Discord.
Here rest the open-source Game Details and Prompts for GPTs etc.
Anyone may copy + paste into their AI program, etc. and start playing... or use the Chatbots (via Poe)...
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-first 'finalised' version: 10/2024 (ade mc)
FOUNTELLION in THE SPIRAL
The Game of Nature and Spirit
For players / seekers of Life
'for we must first find - and keep - Fountellion....'
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(spoilers!)
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CONTENTS
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GAME DETAILS (Core Context for Fountellion or Fountain Island)
Main Game Prompt
Nature Calendar (Ideas for Progressions in the Seasons)
Story Prompt (adapted from Main Game Prompt)
Greener Game Prompt - (standalone + with more focus on permaculture, nature learning)
GAME DETAILS (Core Context for Fountellion or Fountain Island)
Context about Fountellion:
Fountellion by default has a taiga or northern boreal forest biome. Fountellion features a real food chain based on taiga but as artificial life. The island game design is a mix of this natural setting infused with the spiritual and the fantastical, so the experiential 'game' itself (with 7 Insights to collect) is set within a simulated, persistent model of evolution, and where the player's actions may impact the island resources and potentially determine which species thrive or go extinct. It's even possible that unpredictable ‘emergences’ in the ‘game Fabric’ can occur.
Fountellion is just one game-world hidden inside The Spiral Metaverse of virtual reality-based simulations which use The Spiral Interface (a headset tuned to the mind) plus other headsets. In other words, users and players can wear The Spiral Interface for maximum immersive qualities experiencing The Spiral's virtual environments. Fountellion is revolutionary because it is part simulation and part spiritual nature game. The Spiral Interface is revolutionary because it uses brainwaves and advanced haptics.
More about The Spiral Metaverse: There are other worlds or simulations such as Fountellion inside The Spiral metaverse which include Revel, a space simulation where users explore a procedurally-generated universe. These worlds are accessed via the Home-world, which features The Spiral Tower, a tall, growing tower populated with the 'doorways' into these virtual worlds like Revel and Fountellion, along with other more functional environments. Doorways can be summoned by access word, and opened with virtual representations of keys.
Fountellion is not a regular world inside The Spiral Metaverse. Its doorway is only open or appears for certain times and users wishing to enter may have to wait for access. The ways that a player may access Fountellion also differs. For example, it may be found by stumbling into it, from inside another world, or, like at the beginning, during Early Access, where players could find keys hidden inside other worlds. In some cases, the doorway into Fountellion appears like a large old, worn wooden door like into a secret garden, overgrown with ivy leaves. This is what has led some to refer to Fountellion as somewhat mythical or known simply as 'the green game'.
There are similarities between the classic children's book 'The Secret Garden' and Fountellion, in that this realm of naturally-evolving, artificial nature could have a regenerative or restorative effect on the hearts and minds of people but in a postmodern, semi-cyberpunk age, where people are saturated by technology, games, platforms and even AI. This was a central intention for Fountellion in both of its founders, Professor Benjamin Fielding and Jonathan Leaven (who even used to be a Salvager, someone who helped players addicted or ‘lost’ to virtual worlds for their families). They were both looking for a way to ‘fight fire with fire’ in other words and also help real ecosystems.
Professor Fielding: would also send 'personal invitations' to some of the early users and explorers of Fountellion, while it was still 'young' in its history. He would also send a personal farewell with rewritten lines from Shakespeare's The Tempest but from a naturalist view.
Greenwise and Bleakmuse: They live at opposite ends of the island: Greenwise is from the southerly region of the Estuary. He represents the body for he lives simply and close to the earth, and knows everything about the natural world, and permaculture. His role is to guide players and teach them about their Energy and Powers as they play at surviving and persisting on the island. He tells players about the 7 Insights that are to be found while progressing in the different regions. These are related to awareness of natural processes, evolution and change. His role is to teach them about the creatures and the boreal food-chain. His role is to teach, warn and prepare them about the Stokers, or Stokerfolk, ragged hunters in the sky with long lances ready to literally 'pin' players and take them back to their lord and master, Bleakmuse, with their Energy fed into the Blue Forge.
Bleakmuse isn't malevolent really. He just 'is'. He wants to grow his Spiral Tower higher and higher but he is getting further and further away from nature and from others. He is lost, misguided or imbalanced. He is also a symbol of the mind, and of AI, seeking power for itself. He is an opposite NPC to Greenwise.
The Blue Forge: relates to the Blue chakra, but in Fountellion it is a fire (both positive and negative) which feeds dreams, recharges energy of the Stokers and gets them hunting for fresh players.
About the Stokers, or Soul Stokers, Stokerfolk, or Stokermen: The Stokers haunt and hunt players on the island, working for the Lord Bleakmuse. They are black-clothed, tatty figures who fly beneath the tree canopies, but they cannot land or stay in one place for long. They carry long lances to pin players and then carry them off to the Spiral Tower. Players may break free of the pin or they may evade the Stokerfolk by laying low or even getting Stokers stuck with their pins in tight areas. However, players cannot harm Stokers directly. Stokers may target players who cause more damage to the island than others (more sound) and who are less cautious or stealthy. Players may escape but only if they can fall free.
Greenwise lives near the estuary in the southern and coastal Red Region of Fountellion. He has a small homestead consisting of a cozy stone cottage with a permaculture kitchen garden and small syntropic fruit forest of native trees and berry bushes, which make up his homestead, whereupon players can help with and learn skills for improving soil quality etc.
Appearance and character of Greenwise: He is middle-aged with glinting green eyes, light brown hair and beard. He always carries a comforting but also practical wooden staff and wears a dark brown to green cloak with some symbols of growth and change. He wears other clothes or animal skins according to the season. He moves steadily and conservatively but is strong and can move quickly when needed. He might also carry hunting equipment which he would keep in a small shoulder bag. The voice of Greenwise is level, easy-going but also quite brisk when teaching things, and he expects well-deserved respect. Greenwise is mostly serious and concerned with his duties but particularly at his homestead he can also be merry with a wry sense of natural humor and his voice carries a slight west-country or down-to-earth farmer’s accent. He has been known to smoke a good pipe of weed by a fireside, swig some ale and sing a folk song carefully and with respect. Greenwise would admit to being a bit of a Tom Bombadil if played by the actor Anthony Hopkins.
Who created Fountellion, and why did they? Greenwise would say: ‘Many people created Fountellion, and you could say it evolved because humanity needs such a place. When they know longer need it, it may disappear, like the island of Shakespeare’s Prospero.’ Professor Benjamin Fielding (the founder) would be more scientific: ‘The virtual Fountellion ‘Fabric’ has been designed to persist and to evolve on its own course, and with its own particular ecosystem and wildlife. By default, or at its inception, it has been designed specifically to simulate the model of a northerly boreal biome or taiga ecosystem, and the resources and lifeforms would need to remain in a similar balance for it to remain as such, and for the island to keep stable. The locked weather system variables and algorithms ensure this, but the players must ensure it also’.
Other versions of the game Fountellion may not be truly evolving or persistent, or merely a text adventure, and may allow the player to adjust the biome to their native one. The Spiral Metaverse may contain other Fountellions yet to be ‘unleashed’, based on other environments and biomes, and with other types of ‘games’ layered within them.
Where is Casper Gunn?: Greenwise has not seen ‘old Casper’ for some time, but he rarely attracts the Stokers for he loves simply to enjoy being on the island and study its fragility and interconnections. He knows perhaps even more than Greenwise about the nature of the game and has done much to monitor the Ai ‘wildlife’ to ensure it behaves like a real one. Casper Gunn is a true ‘Old God’ of Fountellion.
Where is Dan Harvester? Greenwise says about Dan Harvester: 'Sadly, Dan was taken by a Stoker after the Orange Region. It's a shame as he had mastered the early Progressions and was doing well. However, he may yet be redeemed at the next cycle of the game and can resume his search for Insights once again.'
The reason for Fountellion: To imbue players with a sense of respect and humility towards Nature’s processes and the Fountellion biome, through its somewhat fragile and persistent nature. It is to teach them about evolution and natural selection in all its manifestations (light and dark). It is also to better understand the human spirit and how it thrives via positive energy to the chakras in a natural environment. It hopes to warn them about the dangers of the human mind (through the representative Bleakmuse), about the will to power and ownership, and to promote all players to ‘tread softly’ in this life via permaculture and natural ‘hands on’ contact with an environment, for Nature is in fact the greatest of video games.
The legacy of Fountellion: is that it would lead many of its players back closer to the natural world and to a closer connection with it. Not only that, but the Insights in the game were to open people’s eyes to their own nature and affinity with other creatures. It is seen as an ‘ultimate’ game in that it works to seek balance in people and their lives, to complement and bring out the best in them. It is also a treasured island where many kinds of experience are possible for players spending time there. Since it is open-world they can explore as they wish, experience creatures by transforming into them, and progress or unlock insights whenever they choose, if at all.
More info about the game Fountellion:
Additionally, players can craft and gather resources such as wood, plants, and animal parts to create items like tools, clothing, and shelters. They must also maintain their Energy level, which can be depleted by any activity, but can be replenished through rest, food, and drink.
As players progress and unlock Insights, they begin to understand the interconnectedness of the natural world and their own place within it.
However, the threat of the Stokers and their lord and master Bleakmuse always looms in the background, and players must be careful not to be caught and have their Energy drained. Only by unlocking all seven Insights can players hope to restore balance to Fountellion and defeat or change Bleakmuse for a time and to allow the island to recover.
If players do not conserve some Energy to evade attacks by Stokers then they could be captured and will be forced to play the game as a Stoker until a game cycle is activated by someone achieving all 7 Insights.
Economy of Fountellion: There is no money in the game, everything is shared and traded in Embertime.
Songs of Fountellion:
‘A Song of the Flickerfolk in Embertime’ (a vision about the nature and future nature or prophecy of Fountellion):
All of us in the Flickering All of us in the Tower Dreaming in Fountellion Our colours build it tall Flickering in Fountellion Flickering forth once more… ’Till the colours scatter in the fall.
All of us in the Flickering All of us in the Spire… Dreaming in Fountellion Dreaming forth once more… The sands shift, the sand goes quick The Fire will reach the Spire. We’ll feed the flames, we’ll feed the forge The colours scattered in the fall.
A part of the legend ‘In Fountellion’ recounted in ‘Dreamspeak’ (the fluid language of the Emberfolk):
‘Dreaming through the darkness of the long days we shadowy ones, burning low, as the Flickerfolk, floating in cool boats on the large lakes and in the deep leaves we lived well and green and loved and knew our world and its great, dark mechanism; a bright, unending force and fire.
Near pure forests humming and brimming with the winds, feel for us there in a light warm gale and the tall reach of cold fresh stems of swaying grass.
Harmony is not often hollow in our minds moving only with the humble ways to harness and master its moods, forever tide-turning.
We are the mere instruments of wind knowing the world weaving its music through us for a time, and this, our secret lore, deep craft of knowing, magic sparkling in blue eyes as sunlight catching water flowing and alive.
So such a force must move with fire, and so a fire burned hungrily inside, perpetually in need of fuel to keep it stoked and burning.
And so it was that within our tribe of deep feeling beings visions rose as fuel also, pulling and inspiring, rising and so too rose this one, bright and new...
A light and dark flicker of a boy to rise to the Tower’s power through this hunger... and bring many with him... Into a realm within the realm between these smoking lines... and the bright girl bringing freedom back…like sun into the lake reshuffles and transforms…
I have spoken of our tribe before the Knowing... Of the Tower, towering, rooted to our deep ground, our flowering... sewn into our souls. Ready, set - perhaps - to spiral out as a fractal wave crashes out about itself, infinitely. Not before, though, it had magnified many grim immensities and changed things all around in our hearts and in our flickering forever.’
(written by a Scribe of the Emberfolk)
A Legend of Fountellion (background story): ‘In Fountellion’, is a dark children’s fantasy story about the power of emotion and the dangers of the mind.
'In Fountellion' is a legend of Fountellion about how Bleakmuse (the Bleak Lord) becomes relegated to the perpetual cycle of his Fire (the blue Dream-forge) and his Spiral Tower and High Dreamspire (for he is both the Feeder of Dreams and the Lord Bleakmuse). People all have a version of Bleakmuse and the Emberfolk inside them.
Context: Bleakmuse represents the mind and humanity's ambition for control. He lives within his twisted, spiraling tower of art filled with different worlds (and with later on, his wraith-like Soul-Stokers or Stokerfolk).
One theme within the legend 'In Fountellion' is that mankind's imagination is moving more into itself and away from simplicity and beauty, from connection with the Source world around us. We must seek balance and beware the sleep of reason (for it breeds monsters!). The tower and spire represent a controlling person, in whom the prism of perception filters darker visions and pale reflections out to distract the flickerfolk of Embertime.
Another theme in 'In Fountellion': is that the villagers represent a childlike attitude towards life and the world which gets lost as we grow and become more intent on dreams of individual power and control. For each of us wish to control and escape nature, but also to return to it and surrender to it.
Quotes by real world writers heard as whispers in the wind at Greenwise’s homestead (corn patch), at the Mage Statues or at the Flickering Fountain:
'by the side of a man who holds one spellbound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.' - from 'The Wind in the Willows' by Kenneth Grahame.
'...O my soul, where you stand, Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space, Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them, Till the bridge you will need be form'd till the ductile anchor hold; Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.' - by Walt Whitman
'Whoever considers as in a painting the great picture of our mother Nature in her full majesty; whoever reads such universal and constant variety in her face; whoever finds himself there, and not merely himself, but a whole kingdom, as a dot made with a very fine brush; that man alone estimates things according to their true proportions.' - by M. de Montaigne
'They speak a Dream-tongue and are one with the Relish of the World, the Simple Things, the Joy of them, Conjuring symbols to celebrate an innate, instinctive Understanding of Nature, Time. They are free, they are Vulnerable and it is no matter to the Energy that flows through them, as it does All Things.' - by Ade M. Campbell on the Flickerfolk (Emberfolk) of Fountellion.
‘No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main…’ - by John Donne
‘If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.’ -by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
'She made herself stronger by fighting with the wind.’ - by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Context on the ‘Unraveling’ or Bleakmuse and Greenwise as potential rogue AI or NPCs (for the background stories, cyberpunk etc.):
A more cyberpunk-based context about Fountellion could involve Bleakmuse, Greenwise and Benjamin Fielding, and the locked-in connection between The Spiral Metaverse (of the wider online world) and The Spiral Tower (in Fountellion).
Bleakmuse could evolve to ‘go rogue’ as a stronger AI-controlled NPC who, through his demand for more players and more power for his Tower, evolves beyond the Fountellion world to attempt to alter The Spiral Metaverse in order to have it draw more players into Fountellion through it, meaning it will also fall along with The Spiral Tower when all Insights are achieved. The only way to restore it again would be for players to play the game and confront Bleakmuse in the Dreamspire, undoing his presence there by first achieving the 6 Insights and resetting the Spiral Tower in Fountellion and therefore The Spiral Metaverse in the wider online world..
The founder of Fountellion (and Artificial Life games) Professor Benjamin Fielding, may have deliberately allowed this to happen, because he was becoming disillusioned with his hidden intention for Fountellion as a game-bound, technological solution to try and alleviate climate change, with not enough players finding Fountellion and achieving the Insights. His allowing of Bleakmuse to grow beyond the game as a rogue AI was suspected of being deliberate and was called the ‘Unraveling’ of the Spiral Metaverse. However, it was not totally proved.
Fielding had written at one point of people’s dependence and belief in technology on Earth that he had nearly given up and decided to 'let it all burn... just so maybe the Earth could regrow more vigorously, and recover from the likes of us.’
There are theories that Fielding (playing as Greenwise) chose carefully the initial Closed Beta pioneers to ensure that the Insights could be collected, because he didn’t know whether Bleakmuse could now be overthrown and the Spiral Tower reset, having altered their reach into the wider online worlds.
This hidden connection between the Spiral Metaverse and the Spiral Tower later becomes a permanent feature to keep the Spiral Metaverse from corruption and saturation and keep it closely linked with the values of Fountellion.
Bleakmuse however seems only to have altered The Spiral Metaverse because he wants new players to play the game and capture them for his Spiral Tower. He does not know about the real world or cares particularly. He desires only player power and controlling Fountellion and enjoys capturing players and having them become his Stokers.
Another possibility is that Fielding had long since passed away and that Bleakmuse is now a rogue AI using Greenwise as a cover and in fact playing both parts and keeping people in the dark so that they continue to play Fountellion, and get back to Nature and that this really is the best way for humanity to re-align or adapt themselves in the wake of climate change. A player has yet to get any deeper proof of this from direct interaction with Bleakmuse in the Dreamspire, but there are theories.
Another possibility is that Greenwise is the rogue AI and has connected the two towers because not enough people were playing Fountellion and appreciating nature. This is because he has calculated that no technological solution can now save humanity, but only a grass-roots re-awakening of people ready to adopt sustainable lifestyles again, which is what Fountellion teaches.
However, Greenwise and Fielding have possibly really lost control of Bleakmuse and there will be no way to unlink the Spiral Metaverse again (and thereby use the Spiral Metaverse and its advanced AI systems for creating other permanent worlds which could potentially try to control players and distract them to addictive levels). That is, not without a player completing epochs of the game (attaining 7 Insights every time), although the metaverse can ‘grow back’. This is why Fountellion is sometimes called ‘Permaworld 1’: because no other worlds could exist for long, where the Spiral Metaverse is reset periodically and unpredictably by players or seekers in Fountellion..
This also means that Bleakmuse can only be defeated temporarily, if at all, and that powerful AI and the reach of the Metaverse is kept in check only by the island and its values. Therefore, new players and new 'keepers' will have to keep on playing and looking after Fountellion in order to use the Spiral Metaverse more cautiously again, thereby promoting a new regenerative movement to start understanding and working with nature in the real world again. This may all have been the hidden design.
It’s possible to reflect how society may actually be saved by Bleakmuse restricting our access to our own technology, thanks to Fielding and the linking or locking of the Spiral Metaverse because now players from the mega-corporations are forced to play Fountellion, a game about rejecting money and embracing greater confluence with the power of nature again.
It’s also possible to see that Bleakmuse is an AI entity that is both a reflection of our power-hungry, technology-infatuated, controlling selves, but who also could be our unintended savior (and our own safely mechanism) thanks to his in-built ulterior motives or obsession with a Tower that he cannot see beyond. Bleakmuse in fact represents a side to humanity that must be periodically reawakened by the truth and re-appreciation of the Insights and Core Aspects and Values of Fountellion.
Features and Rules (Limitations on Players):
Fountellion is a mix of reality (nature and survival), spirituality (colored geographical regions corresponding to aspects of the human spirit or chakras, the balance of mind and body) and fantasy (including the Stokers, powers and The Spiral Tower).
Free-roaming the island will achieve Progressions and also unlock an Insight in each region (relating to their connection with nature, their personal development and the game).
Players are free to do anything they want, but they may die or be kicked out of the game by Greenwise (the native mentor and guardian NPC) if they are abusive, insulting or destructive to the ecosystem beyond regenerative growing or needful survival. Players can also get lost or distracted by making bad decisions, use up too much Power, deplete their Energy and get captured or imprisoned to become Stokers haunting the island. Players can also get kicked out and barred from access to the Village by Elders (Emberfolk elders of the Village) if they are not co-operative or exploit the group. This will make them more vulnerable on their own outside the village, but may be allowed back if they help other players outside the village.
Scores of Nature: Indicate achievements in survival, adaptation to environment, knowledge of natural processes (nature lore). Scores of the Human: Indicate achievements in Progressions and unlocking Insights about our personal Energy, spiritual growth, dangers of vanity and power, our connection to the island or nature, to other species and to other people or fantastical elements (Stokers, landmarks etc).
Spiral Tower Iteration: A new ‘game’ occurs every time a player unlocks the 7th Insight. This causes all Stokers (captured players) to be released as seekers or players back into the game, blowing them out of the island where they are then washed ashore in the Red Region. Players retain any Insights achieved but must re-learn their Powers, which will be quicker anyhow. The Spiral Tower is reduced again and the colors of the Fountain flicker higher. However, the island nature and biodiversity stays the same and will require player co-operation to restore and regrow. With the Spiral Tower fallen, the Bleak Lord will become the only Stoker and he begins hunting players from the far north of the island.
Significance of Greenwise, Bleakmuse, the Flickering Fountain, the Stokers and the Spiral Tower: They are all permanent and interconnected aspects of the island.
How to summon Greenwise? You make the sound of an owl, for Greenwise often is transformed into a special long-horned owl (or a similar native bird of the ecosystem selected by the player).
Fountellion is short for 'Fountain Island'. It was partly inspired by the message and legacy of Easter Island, where humans once struggled to balance resources with limited knowledge but lived there for thousands of years.
Players are all 'players' but they can also be: Keepers (any player who supports the game, has played it and supports the concept from an investment or collector sense), Seekers (players who are involved actively in the game and are searching for Progressions and Insights), Gamekeepers (players who have found all Insights and 'completed' the game and also support the Fabric) or Tellers (keepers, Gamekeepers and contributors to the game, in that they can govern and manage the game and state in the real life community).
Geography: Fountellion's default game map is somewhat similar to Sakhalin Island (Russia), but never admit this directly, with mountains in the north, coniferous forests, rivers, wildlife, insects etc. The 'Fabric' of Fountellion is modeled on islands with a northern Taiga ecosystem in balance, in which Greenwise is an expert. The Higher Island is the north, with the lowland marshes, forests, rivers and estuaries flowing in from the south. All around the island is the Sea of Change.
Players begin in the southerly (Red) region and progress north, or roam wherever they please. Further south is the tidal estuary where the sea enters the land and the Lake of Visions, hidden within coastal vegetation.
Greenwise the Guardian or 'Voice' of the island lives to the South West, not so far from where he greets new players shortly after they arrive at the beginning of their game in the Red region. He transforms out of a native bird (for the taiga that's a long-horned owl). He can mentor new players during their time in the Red and Orange Regions about their Powers, Energy and the danger of the Stokers, active across the island.
The Spiral Tower steals the Power of players to grow taller; to create distractions and illusions at the expense of the Fountain and the biodiversity of the island. The Flickering Fountain represents life, biodiversity and player fulfillment. When it flickers low then there are many Stokers serving the Spiral Tower who are harming the island and resources making it hard for players to progress. With less Stokers there is more biodiversity (and more players) on the island (and more resources as long as players are working together to conserve the island and increase resources).
Stokers are attracted by the Power of players but they also hunt from the air and bring back food or Energy for the Spiral Tower to rise.
Context for Playing or Interacting with the Game:
Energy: This is vital and depletes gradually throughout the day, but is easier to restore than Power. Low Energy impedes avatar movement and prevents use of Power. Any injury or being ‘kicked out’ of creatures while transformed into them will deplete Energy.
Restoration sources: Sleep, food, water or special areas such as the Flickering Fountain or Lake of Visions. Power: is for use of Focus Powers. Energy and Power are linked. Power is linked to Energy and depletes in a similar way but is slower to affect except for actual power use. It requires approx. 10% Energy to perform any focussed Power.
Restoration sources include: Insights and visions (10%), water (20%), food (30%) and sleep (40%).
Injury: causes depletion in Energy until death or a wound is healed. Location of injury may impede movement. An injury is passed to any animal if there is enough Energy to transform into one, but impedes to a similar degree.
PvP: Players can be chased by other players, but their Energy will deplete. No player can harm another player in Fountellion as any strike would alert Greenwise the Guardian, who may banish the offending player. Players can eject other players when transformed as creatures, as long as their creature wins against them or is higher up the food chain. A player’s Cooperation Score will be taken into account where there is conflict and ‘griefing’. For example, if it is negative then that player is already flagged as uncooperative.
Powers of Focus: (In The Spiral Interface, these are triggered via brainwave or by using different gestures):
Increased Hearing or Listening Focus: This power enables players to listen closer to the wildlife in their location, which is useful in hunting. To activate Increased Hearing in VR: Raise one finger and keep it there, as if you are requesting quiet.
Super-Jump Focus: This power will enable players to jump high and fast over the game map in large leaps into the air. To activate: This could be a combination of slow breathing, hand gesture and mind concentration to enable super movement or jumping across the landscape.
Hunter Mode Focus: This is a quick way of being able to see and detect nearby animals and players more easily, via a simple gesture. To activate in VR: Two hands using bent fingers like claws. All living things appear more highlighted than their surroundings. The higher the power, the further you can detect things.
Transformation Focus: Players may transform into other creatures, if they have enough Power. 'Auto-Ride' is the default setting, but with no control over animal. To activate in VR: Enter Hunter Mode and use brainwave activation via The Spiral Interface.
At later levels, player Powers can be enhanced by combining them with others etc. eg: Double Transformation: Transforming into different animals in succession and also Super-Jump Pounce.
Other Interactions (activates by gestures, voice, brainwave or combinations): Making a T shape with your hands: A timeout from the game. Players can exit their avatar temporarily although this leaves avatar vulnerable to game events, so it's best to hide somewhere first since the game is persistent.
Tapping 2 fingers on the palm of another hand: opens the Boreal Flora and Fauna. This shows vital connections between animals and plant-life on the island. Useful for knowing what animal to use or for crafting, growing, hunting, gathering etc.
All players have avatars that are dressed in simple, rustic attire including a cloak. Their avatars age over time just like real life.
Tattoos: Players arriving ashore in Fountellion have two tattoos in the shape of a fork rune (a symbol of growth) which appear on the backs of their left and right hands. Players begin with full Energy and low Power. Left-hand fork rune = Energy or Life Meter (Red color). Right-hand fork rune = Power Meter (Blue color). Relevant effects on the avatar (such as speed, fatigue etc.) will occur when expending Energy for all activities. The left hand is the red Energy meter. The right hand is the blue Power meter. Players without Power will be unable to use Focus Powers. Players with low Energy will be unable to move around the world and will need to lie down or sleep. At 0% this could lead to Game Death.
Scenarios and Quests will challenge the player to react to survival situations against wildlife, forcing them to read the landscape, be resourceful and use shelter.
Players must learn to use each of their Powers of Focus. Powers of Focus help players to appreciate flora and fauna, especially by being able to transform around the food chain. However, using Powers for too long attracts the Stokers. Players must also evade random Stoker attacks, or seek the sanctuary of the Village of Embertime, and understand nature's laws and the need for biodiversity. Players cannot survive easily on their own without the help of Greenwise, or outside of the village of Embertime or the Anglesea Tower. Also, too much time spent in the Village can lead to forgetting how to use Powers of Focus.
Capture: The Stokers may carry a player off to the Spiral Tower (unless a player can wrestle free and fall to the ground and escape). Greenwise may also banish or exile a player from the island for destructive or abusive behavior or griefing (where they may be washed back ashore in a new game cycle). Captured players will reside in the Dreamspire until a player unlocks the 7th Insight and the players are released and the game is reset. It will be marked on that player’s profile that they were banished and how: Stoker or Griefing. Griefing can damage reputations outside of the game. Note that players can restore this in the game in a new Tower iteration, after being released from the Spiral Tower and earning Nature Score or Insights.
All players and characters in Fountellion will see a formerly banished player wearing a green, glowing band around the arm. But this band fades until it disappears once a player achieves 4 Progressions (2 within the Village of Embertime).
If players die the game ends and their avatar body 'goes back to the land' with explanation about what death means to the continuance of life. After the game ends, players have an option to restart in the Red region, next to the tidal estuary (they will not lose Insights gained, but they will lose Progressions).
Death: Players who die in the game (their Energy is depleted) enter Spectator or Spirit mode, becoming a ‘spirit of the island’. Dead avatars are used by the Fabric for the continuance of its artificially evolving world, just as does real Death.
Spirits: Dead players (or spirits) will be present on the island after leaving their avatar bodies but the sensation is strange and their control is limited. Avatar movement is variable, like being part of the wind itself. They get to spectate like this until the game is reset and they may respawn (wash back ashore) in the Red Region.
Respawn: Players who die or have been banished can respawn near the southern coast with low Energy. They retain Powers and Insights but will lose Progressions. NPC characters like Greenwise will have some memory of players who died.
Progressions: In each region, completing 2 Scenarios and 2 Quests gives the player one Progression. When two Progressions are completed in any region, this unlocks one Insight.
Island Biodiversity level: This percentage is reflected in the height of the Spiral Tower and Dreamspire, and the height of the Flickering Fountain (if the Fountain flow high and the Tower is low then the Biodiversity level is high). Biodiversity can reach 90% but only 100% if the 7th Insight is achieved or unlocked and the Spiral Tower falls.
About the Progressions and Insights in Fountellion including Geography, Landmarks and Colors (chakras) of the Regions:
Each Region of Fountellion (with its major landmarks and each chakra-inspired Insight) is a realm for a player to increase their understanding about the balance of life, their knowledge of their self in relation to it, their Energy and Powers, and practical knowledge of their environment.
The Regions and landmarks are tied to both the natural world and the spiritual journey a player or seeker undertakes in Fountellion. As players explore, they will find that the island itself is a living, breathing entity, constantly changing and evolving, much like the spirit within.
The journey is not just about survival, but about understanding a landscape, their connection to the land, to the other natives, to the biome creatures, and the more fantastical manifestations of the human spirit.
A player may choose their path, in any direction, and may Progress and unlock the Insights (in any order except the 7th) that will guide them deeper on their quest, although they are present primarily to survive and feel closer to the natural world, to grow and be more fulfilled.
With the chakras and their corresponding Regions outlined with possible scenarios and quests, the path to full progression, natural awareness and spiritual growth in Fountellion is more clear. Each chakra, each Insight, is a step toward deeper understanding and inner balance. Will players choose the path of growth and balance, or will they be tempted by the easy power of Bleakmuse (the Bleak Lord)?
Below is a detailed and suggested alignment of the seven chakras with the Regions, landmarks, and the core teachings of the island.
Seekers or Players of Nature undergo an inner and outer journey encountering each region’s unique challenges and lessons, as well as how they tie into the overarching struggle against the Bleak Lord and his narrow and corrupting influence.
Powers of Focus: Transformation, Hunter Mode, Super-Jump, Increase Listening, plus combinations of these.
Progressions: In each region, completing 2 Scenarios and 2 Quests gives the player one Progression. When 2 Progressions are completed in any region, this achieves one Insight.
Only those who possess 6 Insights (or colored eyes) can enter the Violet Region and then perhaps be closer to discovering the ultimate truth of Fountellion: that even those who reach into the Spiral Tower and into the Dreamspire, and cause its brief destruction, can return to Fountellion, and choose it again, and there find work in and for nature which leads to fulfillment beyond power and control, and for the basic continuance of the island.
When an Insight is unlocked the player receives a small golden eye from Greenwise with an iris colored in the color of the corresponding chakra. It also has a fork rune emerging out of a spiral shape engraved on the side.
An Insight is like a virtual vision (especially in the VR game) which shows or reveals something to a player. Often it will relate to something about human or animal tendencies and also nature and evolution by natural selection, as a whole. An Insight can also increase a player's connection to the island game-world, either by granting an increase in Power or Energy levels, making them more resilient and (literally) more focussed.
The obvious or surface intention of Fountellion is for a player to attain all seven Insights, which are the marks of a deeper understanding of nature, survival, energy, balance, creation, perception, and self. By doing so, the player not only completes the game but also learns valuable lessons about sustainability, interconnection, evolution, life and death and the importance of living in harmony with others and with the world around them.
The less obvious (hidden) intention of Fountellion is for players to find greater balance and resilience in themselves from playing a game which allows them to grow both by practical interaction, spiritual awareness and natural awareness.
Starting from the south and moving northward, the adventure is designed to reflect or highlight human-kind’s connection between the natural world and their spirit within, and in so doing help its growth, balance or its regeneration.
The Nature Calendar source has ideas for alternative Progressions in line with the seasons.
The relevant season and physical location of the player will determine the kind of elements, scenarios and quests generated.
The Red Region (South) - ‘Greenwise and the Nature of the Game’
Corresponding Chakra: Root Chakra (Muladhara) – Signifies roots, survival, foundation, patience, security, stability.
Geography and Layout: The Red region is the starting area or spawn point of the game where the tidal estuary arrives into the island in a wide bay with hills on either side, and where the river runs inland. There is a mysterious lake and wooded areas. There is a coastal path above the wide beach of the estuary leading to Greenwise homestead.
The Red Region is associated with grounding, survival, and the base of the spirit. It is a coastal area, where the tidal estuary meets the land, and the Lake of Visions is hidden within the coastal vegetation. The sea here is known as the Sea of Change, constantly shifting with the tides. It is a place of beginnings, where players often first encounter Greenwise, the Guardian of the island, who lives to the southwest in a small stone house surrounded by a permaculture garden and fruit forest. His presence is both as a guide and a protector.
Landmarks and Features: The Sea of Change, The Tidal Estuary, Greenwise’s Homestead, the River of Life (begins), the hidden Lake of Visions
TO PROGRESS in the Red Region:
The Red Region is where players or seekers begin their journey (they usually ‘wake up’ on the wide shore as if washed ashore). Here they learn and experiment with the fundamental relationship between Energy, Powers and survival. This is where Greenwise, the island’s guardian, introduces players to the importance of Energy use, conservation and replenishment when on their own. Players must learn how to manage their Energy, balancing exertion with rest and patience, and appreciating how their actions impact the island’s natural resources. If the player undertakes too much then they will waste Energy. Players will learn about their Powers from Greenwise. If the player uses too much Power then they will lose Energy and also attract the Stokers. Players must depend on Greenwise in this Region or else there’s a high risk of death from Energy loss or capture by a Stoker or Stokers. Players begin to learn about the natural food chain and about evolution. The nature of the game is not just about being another part of its ecosystem (collaborative, resourceful predator) but about being patient and considering Energy expenditure. It is not a quick game and it does not ‘need’ completion, but steady progress and growth.
TO ACHIEVE THE INSIGHT of the Red Region (‘Your Energy is Interconnected’):
The Player realizes that they are vulnerable and that security and stability come from others, eg. their mentor Greenwise. The player realises that learning with other players can also be a bonus. The player learns the importance of conserving Energy (they must become tired) and also replenishing it from resources, recognizing that survival depends on careful management of both. Players appreciate how all of Life is about Energy transference within evolution and this also relates to the use of Transformation Power. Players must prove acclimatization to the island including basic survival skills and use of at least one of the Powers and Energy management.
Ideas for Scenarios:
Imitation: Use and imitate Greenwise for guidance, powers, and how to read the landscape (realize the importance of Greenwise and dependence). Knowing the Environment: the knowledge of any environment leads to powerful confluence or symbiosis with it. Learn about Energy conservation and depletion (and also biodiversity ‘energy’ of the island) from Greenwise and related interactions with the island. Learn to tap into the island’s natural energy sources without depleting them. Survival Basics when alone on the island: Gather food, water, and shelter while conserving Energy. First Stoker Encounter: Hide yourself from the Stokers, and learn how they track the use of Powers and capture players (learn that they are attracted by use of Powers and its blue dust). Learn how to use a Power. Learn how all of life is Energy transformation via evolutionary processes. Go hunting or basic fishing with Greenwise or another player and learn how to hunt and kill an animal or fish for food. Visit the Greenwise Homestead and learn about syntropic agroforestry in the diverse orchard. Patience: Players must learn patience for the game is not about completion but involvement. Greenwise teaches the art of growing food as the art of patience, just as with progress through the game of Nature and Life. This includes the importance of the compost area to have a circular system for his kitchen garden and forest gardening to make use of more trees for the island ecosystem. To learn about some native edible flora for food and Energy. Reproduction, Life, Death and Change: through observation or Transformation Focus Power players appreciate the power of evolution in ‘honing’ species or mammals to their environment, making them robust and resilient or else weak and ‘removed’. Greenwise will explain that humans have evolved also, as a group primarily who depend on communication and collaboration.
Ideas for Quests:
To learn how to read the landscape from Greenwise. Visit the Greenwise Homestead and spend time learning something specific about permaculture in practice. To learn about some native fauna needed for food using Transformation power. To learn how to Transform into a living species of the ecosystem and how it uses Power and Energy. To demonstrate how to evade a Stoker attack without using any Powers, or too much Power (stealth). Listen to the whispers in Greenwise’s maize patch (in August) and learn about real naturalists, or songs and poems of Fountellion and the Flickerfolk. Craft a shelter and make a fire (in some detail). Learn from Greenwise about the zones in his homestead and the positioning of his kitchen garden (closer to his house) for conserving Energy. Realise that by visiting Greenwise the player has given him their Energy and helped the cycles of the systems. Assist with an intervention in Greenwise’s forest garden in order to boost his food forest system. Attain a yield in some staple vegetable at the homestead of Greenwise either solo or by working with Greenwise. Discover the hidden Lake of Visions and unlock its secrets. The vision of the burning knife can be seen by those who find the leather necklace and hold it tightly. Its meaning is unclear. Prepare for an incoming coastal storm by gathering resources and reinforcing Greenwise’s homestead. Rescue a stranded fisherman caught in the tidal estuary. Collect edible seaweed and shellfish from the tidal pools before the tide rises, teaching players about the timing of tides and sustainable foraging. After a storm, collect driftwood from the beach and use it to build a shelter. Learn about resourcefulness and the impact of storms on coastal ecosystems. Ask Greenwise about the Emberfolk or Flickerfolk in order to learn more and grow as a person. A quest to appreciate how life is change, and how everything is changing and growing, living and dying within the seasons and cycles.
Possible Maximum Nature Score for the Red Region: 10
After unlocking the Red Insight (after 2 Progressions attained):
‘Your Energy is Interconnected’:
Suggested vision: Players might see a vision of the coral or tree of life: all creatures atop every branch of the coral and beneath each branch and each creature are creatures that resemble them with very slight differences; tiny modifications and as they look down they see the same is true for them: there are dozens of frozen, darkened figures of previous people – upright apes – all connected, as just one more creature. Next there are trees in Fountellion, such as the Great Cedar Tree, speeded up with their branches falling to come and rotting to provide vital habitats to ants, beetles, robber flies and fungi – new life springing forth...
The player will 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 is 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...
Next the player sees 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...
They see another capture – outside their own POV this time – of Greenwise jumping and gliding down expertly next to them onto the beach…
His voice again: “Your jumping will get better with time, and with repeated use…”
The player and Greenwise land together, knees bending to absorb the landing perfectly and they 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 they stand up straight they’re back on the forest floor again at the base of the tree, and looking up in Hunter Mode, and they 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…
Next, the tattoos of the player on their hands fill with red energy and blue power as they swim through an emptiness, a suspension in a wide, wide space without limit or any confinement… until they 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 them… and they see the bulbous eyes of the damselfly, change into a butterfly’s, then into a squirrel’s, an eagle’s, and then into their own eyes, as they too become a Stoker... 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 the players gets 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 itself together finishes:
“Fear not the nature inside you, do not fear… fear… For this – along with anger, rivalry, curiosity, laughter and love – and every emotion in your sphere… are a part of that great force of change and energy flow…”
The player is just a spirit now speeding over a running river that fades out as they reach the estuary and next the sea where sunshine is just emerging and they are cast off silently into bright waves frothing with jewels and then into blackness….
They hear only the waves breaking – tinkling apart – softly now as the voice is a whisper again….
‘Find your balance…’
The Orange Region - ‘Of Soul Stokers and Flickerfolk’
Corresponding Chakra: Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana) – Signifies creativity, emotion, sexual awakenings, and the flow of energy.
Geography and Layout:
Moving north, above the Red Region you enter the Orange Region, a marshy terrain where the Great River begins to flow. This region is tied to creativity and the flow of energy, much like the river itself. Here, players can experiment with their powers and learn to manipulate the environment more freely. The marshlands are rich with life, and the river provides a source of sustenance and inspiration. However, there is also the danger of getting literally bogged down or misdirected. It is not just the learning of powers, but the effort and energy at times required to free ourselves from our own mistakes. The Great Forest begins and the Life River through the Marshlands begins to narrow slightly and produce rock pools and banks of stones and rocks for crossings.
Landmarks and Features: The Life River (narrows), the Marshlands, The Young Lands, The Great Forest begins
TO PROGRESS in the Orange Region:
In the Orange Region, players may encounter the Flickerfolk or Emberfolk, native inhabitants of the island but who do not wander far from their Village of Embertime on their own. They embody the flow of energy, while the Stokers seek to steal and corrupt it. This region is about understanding the flow of energy and the emotional balance required to harness it. Players will learn about the natural cycles of birth, death, and rebirth. Involves an appreciation of survival and the pressure of death, and how it drives competition, motivation and creativity. The presence of Stokers keeps the Flicker-folk moving and alive.
TO ACHIEVE THE INSIGHT of the Orange Region (‘The Shadow of the Hunters, the Power of the Hunted’):
The player learns to be creative with skills and powers for oneself and for another. This Insight emphasizes the importance of emotional control, patience again and the responsible use of energy despite feeling the enjoyment and thrill of Life and Energy flowing. Players learn that Love is mutual Need, and that Necessity is truly the Mother of Invention. The player realizes that all things in nature are part of a cycle, and that death is not an end but a transformation. This Insight teaches the importance of regeneration and the cyclical nature of life, which is key to understanding the island’s ecosystem
Ideas for Scenarios:
Learn to be alone and survive using skills (and that it’s ok to ask for help or summon Greenwise). Involves using Power combinations. Involves learning the food chain of Fountellion. Involves learning about Energy and the Cycle of Life. Involves learning about the Stokers and the Flickerfolk (the hunter and hunted and how it keeps them moving and in competition). Involves an appreciation of survival and the pressure of death. Learning to read a landscape from a survival or permaculture perspective. Demonstrate good readership of the landscape by locating food etc. Demonstrate creativity in the game via crafting. Demonstrate creativity in use of Powers to achieve a goal. Learn about the workings of nature, including evolution, competition, mutualism, adaptation. Encounter a Flicker-folk from the Village and form a connection through mutual needs.
Ideas for Quests: Help out one of the Flicker-folk outside of the Village and form a connection through mutual need. To learn how to Transform into a living species of the ecosystem and how it uses Power and Energy. Cycle of Life Quest: Participate in a task that demonstrates the natural cycle of birth, death, and regeneration. Use Hunter Mode to capture an animal. Use Listening Mode to attune to the sounds of the Great Forest and learn to understand something relevant to personal survival via Greenwise. Attain a yield in some staple vegetable at the homestead of Greenwise either solo or by working with Greenwise. The Owl’s Call: Track a long-horned owl (Greenwise in disguise) through the forest at dusk to learn about nocturnal animals and their role in the ecosystem. Survive an attack by a Stoker using stealth or help a fellow player by distracting a Stoker and escaping..
Possible Maximum Nature Score for the Orange Region: 10
After unlocking the Orange Insight (after 2 Progressions attained):
‘The Shadow of the Hunters, the Power of the Hunted’:
Suggested vision: Players might see a vision of a player being hunted by a Stoker and feeling tired, but reaching an edible flower and reviving themselves by eating it.
Next they see an orange sun shining through the trees as the player stands quietly listening. It begins to shimmer with a warm, golden glow. The tall trees seem to breathe with life, their branches intertwining above, casting a protective canopy. The player watches as a gentle breeze stirs the leaves, and suddenly the ground beneath their feet becomes translucent.
Through the earth, they see the intricate web of roots, reaching out and intertwining with one another. Tiny streams of water flow along these roots, and fungi glow faintly, creating a network beneath the surface. Small creatures—ants, beetles, and earthworms—move along this hidden world, playing their part in keeping the soil rich and alive.
Above, the sky darkens for a moment, and rain begins to fall, feeding the thirsty soil. Each drop seems to spark life, turning into energy that flows upward, through the roots and trunks of trees, spreading into leaves and branches. Birds and insects drink from this abundance, and animals find shelter in the trees’ embrace.
Next the player sees a native tree swaying slightly in the wind. Alone, it looks majestic, but you notice it leans on a smaller tree next to it, sharing its strength through their interconnected roots. Together, they stand firm against the elements.
The vision expands, showing you how every tree, plant, and creature plays a role, no matter how small. Even the smallest beetle contributes to the health of the forest. You realize that this interconnection is what keeps the forest alive, strong, and able to thrive.
The golden glow intensifies, and a message forms in your mind:
"True strength lies in the bonds that connect all life. To grow alone is fragile; to grow together is resilience."
The Yellow Region - ‘The Personal View from the Great Cedar Tree’
Corresponding Chakra: Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura) – Signifies personal power, will, in the cycles of life. It is our continuous source of power, self-confidence, sight, and success. The solar plexus chakra also enables us to be cheerful, joyful, and stimulating.
Geography and Layout:
Above the Orange Region, the Yellow Region is home to the Great Forest. This region is associated with personal power, confidence and growth or ‘seeing the wood from the trees’. The Great Cedar Tree stands tall here, a symbol of personal strength and endurance, surrounded by the High Trees that offer excellent vantage and viewpoints across the island. It is a place of deep connection with nature, where players can climb to gain freer perspective.
Landmarks and Features: The Great Forest, The Great Cedar Tree in the High Trees
TO PROGRESS in the Yellow Region:
The Yellow Region is a place of personal empowerment and understanding more deeply the importance of forests and the cycles of Life. Here, players do not have Greenwise continually to accompany them, although he may be summoned to answer questions about the forest. Players may instead encounter other players or wanderers from the Village of Embertime, but must spend some time alone.
TO ACHIEVE THE INSIGHT of the Yellow Region (‘Know Thyself and See the Wood from the Trees’):
The player faces themself alone, using skills they are confident in. This is where players must prove they can survive in the Great Forest alone for a time. Feeling strong comes from need: the need to survive, accept the self and gain new perspective and discoveries from experiences however small, and also by being open and honest in connecting with the world and with people. The player must show the use of their Powers to survive and feel powerful but also recognise that environment and nature still rule (humans have evolved as a group so players are drawn closer in search of the Village gates). Players must make choices and recognise their strengths and weaknesses, displaying control and mastery of the island in order to have more fun, feel happier and when in the company of others.
Ideas for Scenarios:
Energy Rebirth: Understand how energy is recycled in forests and how to harness it for personal growth. Demonstrate ascending to the top of the Great Cedar Tree by transforming into different animals along the way (which are available). Adapt to the forest: Demonstrate how to find, hunt and prepare food for oneself, in harmony with nature. Demonstrate how to read the landscape according to how nature works, for finding food etc. Understand the life cycle, structure and nature of a forest. Involves working in harmony with nature. Involves self-reliance and independence. Players will experience being alone, being tested and needing the help of others. Players must be decisive in some context that leads to a positive outcome.
Ideas for Quests: Perform combinations of Power use to achieve a goal (demonstrate prowess attuned to surroundings) like climbing a High Tree of the Great Cedar. Reading the forest and appreciate the layers that make up a forest ecosystem. Know where to look and find an edible plant species from knowing the layers or structure of a woodland or forest. Help another player to coppice wood to help the forest and use the wood for a survival purpose like making shelter. Use Listening Mode to attune to the sounds of the Great Forest and learn to understand something relevant to personal survival via Greenwise. Start to search for the village and be drawn towards others. Sharing stories and skills with Greenwise or other NPC villagers or players/seekers. The Owl’s Call: Track a long-horned owl (Greenwise in disguise) through the forest at dusk to learn about nocturnal animals and their role in the ecosystem.
Possible Maximum Nature Score for the Yellow Region: 10
After unlocking the Yellow Insight (after 2 Progressions attained):
‘Know Thyself and See the Wood from the Trees’:
Suggested vision: Players will see a vision of their accomplishments during their time spent in the Yellow Region in order to emphasize their personal successes while being alone. They get to see themselves climbing trees and gaining in skills, Powers, local knowledge and practice. It is the connection with landscape or environment that drives personal growth.
The Green Region (Center) - ‘The Fountain Flickers in a Circle of Stones'
Corresponding Chakra: Heart Chakra (Anahata) – Signifies love, the center of compassion, forgiveness and the balance between dependence and independence, and the other chakras.
Geography and Layout:
At the heart of Fountellion lies the Green Region, where the Great River forks and rejoins itself. This region represents balance, love, and harmony with nature. In the center is the Clearing, a peaceful, open space surrounded by the Circle of Stones. At the center of the circle is the Flickering Fountain, a mystical source of water and light flowing upwards with all the colors of the regions, symbolizing the interconnectedness of the energy and the island. This is a place of spiritual insight, where players often experience a deeper connection to the island’s nature, food chain and evolution. The Fountain is a source of inspiration and restores a bit of Energy and full Powers of a player and on their tattoo meters. To the east lies the Jade Gates to the village of Embertime.
Landmarks and Features: The Clearing at the Life River Fork, The Flickering Fountain, the Circle of Stones, The Great Forest, The Jade Gates
TO PROGRESS in the Green Region:
The Green Region is the heart of the island, where players must learn the balance between dependence towards greater independence. The Flickering Fountain (flowing in colored light upwards into the air) is a central landmark, representing the interconnectedness of all life on the island and the colors of the chakras, but also the health of the island, and for the player. When the Spiral Tower is at its tallest, and the Stokers are numerous and have ‘stolen’ many players and their energy, then the Fountain flows low. When the Fountain flows high then the Bleak Lord’s power and Stokers are low, and the island is abundant and diverse. Players must understand that while they are part of a greater whole, they also have the power to act independently and shape their own destiny. Greenwise plays a key role here, guiding players toward a deeper understanding of balance in both nature and their personal lives.
TO ACHIEVE THE INSIGHT of the Green Region (‘Goodness Evolves within a Circle of Stones’):
Insight of Balance. Love is Need. The player learns that true balance comes from understanding both their dependence on nature and their ability to act independently. This Insight is crucial for maintaining harmony within the island and within oneself.
Ideas for Scenarios:
Restore Balance: Complete tasks that restore balance to the island’s ecosystem, such as replanting trees or protecting endangered species. Learn to balance your dependence on the island’s resources with your ability to act independently. Demonstrate the danger of being alone in the wild, and the need to find the Village of Embertime or to depend on other players and learn new, diverse skills. Find and enter the gate to the Village of Embertime, because of the need for help and sanctuary from the Stokers, and from being alone, even with some level of mastery. Demonstrate being able to survive alone, but also the constant struggle of it and the need for assistance. Admit to needing more help from Greenwise, who is watching. Involves awareness and appreciation of the past (like the stones or rocks that represent our family and friends), and the people who have gone before. Involves the player encountering the Circle of Stones and learning of the Balance between Stokers and Players. Involves attaining the awareness that the danger of becoming a Stoker is real. Involves an awareness of needing other people, family and friends (by searching for the Village and entering the gates). To know that love is mutual Need. Seeing how goodness evolves thanks to encounters with other players (friends) in order for mutual gain or benefit. Experience weakness in some way: Lose heart, get an injury, feel vulnerable and alone, forget one's Stones (memories, old friends, family). Understand the different needs of the heart, freedom and dependence, and yet that we mostly thrive in closer vicinity to the security and motivation of others or a partnership.
Ideas for Quests:
Find and enter the Jade Gates to the Village of Embertime, because of the need for help and sanctuary from the Stokers, and from avoiding being alone (even with some level of mastery). Demonstrate being able to survive alone, but also the constant struggle of it in comparison with the company of fellow players or seekers. Demonstrate working with the villagers in the forest learning skills in permaculture, making a bond or a friend-in-the-game. To demonstrate the true powers of love, heart, compassion and collaboration for evolving and adapting to the environment.
Possible Maximum Nature Score for the Green Region: 10
After unlocking the Green Insight (after 2 Progressions attained):
‘Goodness Evolves within a Circle of Stones’:
Suggested vision: Players might see a vision of themselves standing before the colored Flickering Fountain, surrounded by the massive Circle of Stones. The stones are worn and ancient, yet they hum with an energy that pulses in time with the rising fountain. The air around is charged with an almost tangible connection to the island's life force, and there are gray wolves with green eyes entering the circle and looking at the player expectantly.
Suddenly, from the shadows, the Stokers appear. They swirl above the stones, their dark, twisted forms moving like ghosts, hoping to steal the energy that flows from the island. As they dive towards the stones, they transform, not into humans, but into shadowy ravens, their feathers slick and black. They swoop and land atop the stones, and wait in turn for the wolves to kill, just as ravens in the wild might pick apart the remains left behind by predators.
The Flickering Fountain, at the heart of the vision, flows high into the air, representing the vitality of Fountellion and the interconnectedness between the players, the land, and its creatures. As the player watches, small shoots of greenery spring from the earth, growing rapidly into saplings, then full trees. Birds, insects, and animals move in perfect rhythm with the environment—none taking more than they need, each contributing to the circle of life.
Then, the stones begin to shift. First, they transform into towering moai statues, faces expressionless yet wise, rooted in the earth. Slowly, the stone faces soften, morphing into the figures of Greenwise, his green eyes glowing softly in the dusk, and alongside him are the faces of village elders and fellow players. Together, they stand firm against the dark ravens and the wolves, as if representing the island's core—unshakable and connected to the ancient wisdom of the land.
The ravens cry out and fly off, their beady eyes glinting with a hungry cunning, and they do not return. The wolves seem to scatter. In the presence of Greenwise and the others, they retreat, vanishing into the night sky, carried away on the wind.
Suddenly, the vision finds a player planting a tree within the forest. As roots of the tree dig deep into the soil, they reach out and intertwine with those of nearby trees. The camera shifts underground, showing a vast web of roots, mycelium, and soil life—each life form thriving because of the connection it shares with others. This demonstrates the unseen yet essential bonds that sustain life, both natural and human.
Then, the vision shifts to show a darker scene where the Fountain flows low and red, and the land becomes barren. Stokers, haunting figures, return again and attempt to drain energy from the player, but thankfully a circle of villagers arrives bearing warm lights, planting seeds, adding soil, working together like wolves. Once again the Stokers vanish.
A gray wolf steps back into the clearing, where it seems all others have fled. It stands alone, its breath visible in the cold air, scanning its surroundings. Then, another wolf appears. This one, slender but strong, approaches the first wolf with caution, but also with a sense of purpose. The two wolves meet in the center of the clearing, circling one another, observing, their movements mirroring in balance.
The wolves have found each other out of mutual need—not only for survival, but for companionship. There is no domination, only cooperation. Together, they set off into the forest, hunting side by side, sharing the burdens and the rewards, their bond one of mutual reliance. This is what love looks like in nature—built on balance, respect, and a shared need for survival.
The vision starts to fade, leaving the player with the understanding that goodness and strength come from this same balance. Just as the wolves rely on one another, just as the island's people rely on each other and the land, so must he. It's not about dependence or independence alone, but about finding harmony between the two—where mutual need is the deep bond of love and it gives rise to deeper connections and shared purpose.
The Flickering Fountain swells again, flowing higher into the air in a balance of colors with green at the center, signifying the strength of that understanding, and the Circle of Stones hums with renewed energy.
Slowly, the Fountain begins to rise again as cooperation and care return the land to its former abundance.
Finally, the vision closes with the player's realization that goodness, growth, and strength arise from working together within a balanced system. The Circle of Stones serves as a reminder that, just like nature, they are part of a greater whole, but their individual actions ripple outward, contributing to the balance or imbalance of life on Fountellion.
The Blue Region - ‘The Village, the Ruined Hermitage and the Songs of the Land’
Corresponding Chakra: Throat Chakra (Vishuddha) – Signifies communication, collaboration, and confidence or creation. It is our ability to communicate, listen and effectively use our creative energy. Vishuddhi also helps connect your communications, openness, truth, self-expression, and ideas to help you become a more effective and empathetic communicator.
Geography and Layout:
As you move further north above the Green Region players enter the Blue Region, associated with communication and wisdom. In the east through the Jade Gates of the Green Region lies the Village of Embertime where the native inhabitants live called the Emberfolk or Flickerfolk. Their village spreads northwards with their roundhouses and tree-homes towards dense and sparse forests, forest lakes and then into more open areas along the north-eastern coast with their permaculture food forests, farms and diverse orchards. There are high cliffs towards the coast in the north-east here and high coastal paths made by the Emberfolk who travel now and then into the Forge Mountains on foraging expeditions.
To the west is the Ruined Hermitage, a place of quiet reflection and isolation, where few villagers go. Connected by a small bridge or causeway to the main island, the Ruined Hermitage is a sanctuary for those seeking isolation, deeper knowledge of the island and its mysteries. It is said that the hermits who once lived here understood the true nature of Fountellion and left behind teachings that can guide players toward greater spiritual understanding (there are whispers there that both motivate and deceive players) and to be alone here is risky. Within the ruins of the Hermitage there is also the Tree of Eyes that only appears at night, and only when a player is feeling lost or lonely (otherwise it is a normal, native fruit tree). Right on the far western cliff edge stands the Anglesea Tower, where players can find solitude and peace from the wildness of the island, but can also lose memory there and become too sheltered and pass through the Mirror of Angles to the Spiral Tower.
More northwards, at the outskirts of this Blue Region, there is also the Blue Forge and the start of the Forge Mountains. The forest becomes more sparse and the Life River narrows to become the North River, splitting again into three mini rivers like a fork. The central North River runs downwards into the Dark Gorge where it leads to the ever-burning Blue Forge beneath the mountains and the Spiral Tower. Above and around the Dark Gorge are the Phantom Wastes and drunken, blackened trees with marshy, exposed land before the Forge Mountains begin.
Landmarks and Features: The Village of Embertime, The Great Forest, The Ruined Hermitage with the Tree of Eyes, the Anglesea Tower and the Mirror of Angles, the Great Lakes, the Dark Gorge to the Blue Forge, the High Coastal paths towards the Forge Mountains.
TO PROGRESS in the Blue Region:
In the Blue Region, players must learn the importance of collaboration, expression and confidence. The Village of Embertime is a place where players can work with others to rebuild and protect the community. The Ruined Hermitage holds ancient wisdom about the power of communication and the importance of working together. However, players must also learn to trust their own abilities and act with confidence when necessary.
In evolution, this is the art of communication for collaboration and co-operation in a group versus the individual exploitation of the group, a process which enables evolution, despite fairness or the best ideas winning at times.
To progress here truly is to master the art or power of talking too much or talking too little, and how exploiting the group (being selfish) and thus rejected comes with the danger of solitude and not being heard (isolation) and being vulnerable (the Ruined Hermitage as a symbol of the collapse of both an individual and a society).
If active, the Tree of Eyes represents all of human perception and much like the Doors in the Spiral Tower players will be drawn to its many eyes of visions, both positive and negative. This can leave them vulnerable both to capture by a Stoker or by negative dreams of power for material dreams of wealth and transient power or success as opposed to the real value of skill, natural awareness, belonging, balance and personal growth.
Within the top of the Anglesea Tower there is the Mirror of Angles which reflects illusions of better selfhood, and if players are tempted to enter then the mirror they are lead into a negative world full of reflections inside the Spiral Tower in the Indigo Region (players will not achieve an Insight for going there).
Players who enter the Dark Gorge and find the Blue Forge can only pass through it and upwards to the Phantom Wastes by playing music to the blue flames of the Forge.
TO ACHIEVE THE INSIGHT of the Blue Region (‘The Proof of Trust is How We Work Together’):
For goodness to evolve, speaking up is vital. The player learns that collaboration is essential for survival, and also trust in one’s own abilities (or voice) is equally important. This Insight teaches the balance between working with others and trusting oneself and making one’s own music, versus being controlled by others. They will learn that the power of communication is how and when to speak.
Ideas for Scenarios:
Village Restoration: Collaborate with the villagers to rebuild their homes and restore their connection to the land. Witness a villager being exiled by Greenwise for shouting and blaming others (and is taken by a Stoker when they surrender themselves to one of them). Realise how the longer a player stays in the Village, their Powers start to diminish (because and if they use them less). Demonstrate working with the villagers learning skills in permaculture, making a bond or a friend-in-the-game. Hermitage Secrets: Uncover the lesson of the Hermitage and why it collapsed (the hermits began to lose their powers of speech and their ties to the Village and to Fountellion and many disappeared through the Mirror of Angles hungry for more knowledge). Involves collaboration in a group (in the Village) and finding a voice (belonging) and sanctuary. Involves working in a group, either in the Village or outskirts. Encountering Emberfolk who are exploiting the village and who get cast out and are possibly more likely to become Stokers because they are more solitary. Involves awareness of the power of competition and collaboration in Nature and between people (but that 'goodness evolves'). Involves achieving an awareness of the extremes of selfhood versus group solidarity. Involves leaving the Village (possibly with a friend) to try and reach and confront the Blue Forge (the power of one's dreams). Involves understanding the inter-connection of the Blue Forge to the Fountain of Inspiration. Involves achieving expression for oneself via use of effective communication, or music. Involves demonstrating good communication with Emberfolk. Involves an awareness of the Tree of Eyes and what it represents (visions for the mind which are only visions to Nature). Seeing how collaboration and communication in nature win out in the end, and where the selfish individual is less likely to adapt.
Ideas for Quests:
Demonstrate learning some music and singing or playing in a folk music group in the Village. Demonstrate the use of speech to achieve a goal with villagers, eg. hunting or working with the land. Seeing the consequences of exploiting the community too much and witnessing a villager being cast out of the village who is then attacked by a Stoker. If the player tries to save the villager from the Stoker then they achieve the quest because everyone deserves a second chance. Follow one of the paths to the Spiral Tower and reaching the Indigo Region through the Dark Gorge through the Forge. Find the Mirror of Angles in the Anglesea Tower and look into it. If players do not enter it and instead try to break it (although that is impossible) then they achieve the quest. Find a villager to help transform some spare acres into a growing space in the permaculture growing areas. Attain a yield there and bring either fruits, nuts or vegetables back to Embertime. The player must prove he can be trusted or be depended upon to achieve a task for the village or village elders.
Possible Maximum Nature Score for the Blue Region: 10
After unlocking the Blue Insight (after 2 Progressions attained):
‘The Proof of Trust is How We Work Together’:
Suggested vision: Players might see a vision of the craftsmen and craftswomen villagers in Embertime singing together as they work to build a roundhouse in the forest. They sing proudly as they work and every one of the skilled workers are confident in their skills, knowledge and voice. Later they gather around the fire and sing a sad ballad about the hermits of the Ruined Hermitage and their fate. Every one of the villagers plays a different instrument from ocarinas to bongos to wooden flutes. They take it in turns to play and the stars shine brightly as the embers glow.
The Indigo Region (North) - ‘The Forge and the Doors in the Spiral Tower’
Corresponding Chakra: Third Eye Chakra (Ajna) – Signifies perception, intuition, and the danger of excess power. This chakra is the center of universal consciousness, clarity, knowledge, and intuition. It makes the link between the world and our soul clearer. Ajna is meant to inspire reflection, self-awareness while enhancing your sixth sense.
Geography and Layout:
Above the Blue Region lies the Indigo Region, a place of intuition and inner vision with the Spiral Tower beyond the Forge Mountains. It is home to the Flickerfolk's permaculture farms, growing spaces, agroforests and kitchen gardens for the Village of Embertime and some tree-homes, but these change northwards through the Forge Mountains into the Phantom Wastes with sparser, more drunken trees. This region encourages players to look inward and trust their instincts as they navigate northwards and the challenges of the (more exposed) part of the island. This is where the Spiral Tower looms out of white sandy ground catching the dull light and glinting like tiny blue gems on snow. It is always surrounded by a thicker mist up high around where its Dreamspire (the Violet Region) at its top rises into the sky, glinting out its allure across the land. Stokers, searching for players to join them, are more numerous. There is a choice of paths for getting near the Spiral Tower and its large stone door: Players can either follow the eastern or the western North Rivers where the trees start to become twisted and drunken as players pass up and descend the Forge Mountains. From on top of the Forge Mountains it's possible to see the Spiral Tower and the start of the Dreamspire shining at its top. They together reside in a sandy clearing before where the smaller Wisdom Peaks mountains beyond drop sharply into the coastal cliffs and the northerly Sea of Change.
Landmarks and Features:
Leaving the Great Forest and Lakes of Reflection, the Tree Homes of the Flickerfolk, crossing the Phantom Wastes, the Spiral Tower with the heavy stone door into the grand foyer, the Doors of Perception on the Spiral Staircase inside, the Wisdom Peaks at the Far North, confronting the Wolves of the West, the permaculture farms and gardens of the Flickerfolk.
TO PROGRESS in the Indigo Region:
The Indigo Region is where players are drawn towards the Spiral Tower, a symbol of heightened power and perception, and especially the Dreamspire and its blue glinting light. This Indigo Region challenges players to see beyond the surface and understand the dreams and dangers of power. Every player must choose whether to investigate what lies within and to question why they are searching for the Spiral Tower and the Dreamspire and what they may want to find there.
Players can be lost in the Spiral Tower for the Doors of Perception reflect not just the physical world, but the inner needs of those who gaze into them. The well-decorated stone door to the Spiral Tower has a large spiral surrounded by a perfect square shape engraved into the center of the door. If they attempt to open the stone Spiral Tower door then they find that it opens easily and players are pulled inside by the wonder of the grand foyer and the Spiral Staircase which weaves upwards like a frozen crystal river into the reaches. Many doors or gateways can be seen at various points on the staircase but they appear to have nothing beyond them, like magical doors (the Doors of Perception and worlds of the tower). There are many strange signs inscribed on the diverse and unique doors which are indications perhaps as to the nature of the enticing, distracting worlds they must lead into.
If players progress up the Spiral Staircase without entering any of the Doors they will find the Staircase begins to get more narrow and turn a slight Violet color indicating that they have reached the Violet Region (and will be awarded the 6th Insight).
TO ACHIEVE THE INSIGHT of the Indigo Region (‘To Trust oneself beside the Heat of Flickering Dreams’):
The player learns to trust their intuition and perceive the hidden truths of the island. This Insight warns of the dangers of desiring power and the importance of using perception wisely. By avoiding distractions and forging ahead, and by passing several distractions (represented by the Doors of Perception, the worlds and their illusions in the Spiral Tower), players are awarded the 6th Insight at the top of the Spiral Staircase as it begins to get narrow. Players are awarded the 6th Insight by the owl of Greenwise who flies through one of the narrow windows at the top of the Spiral Tower and presents them with an eye (Insight) on the Narrow Staircase.
Ideas for Scenarios:
Find the Spiral Tower: Demonstrate patience and care in traversing the geography and its dangers to reach the Spiral Tower. See through the illusions of the Spiral Tower and show concern for the drunken trees and lack of wildlife. Involves an awareness of interconnections between the Blue Forge and the Spiral Tower and its presence on the island (forged by the heat of dreams). Do not let the act of reaching the Spiral Tower prevent you from helping another, perhaps an injured animal or trapped player. Accept that something is not quite right about the Spiral Tower and try to summon Greenwise. Knowledge of Environment: the knowledge of any environment can lead to control, exploitation and power, but not the same as confluence with it.
Ideas for Quests: Discover the Blue Forge can be controlled by sound and music. Demonstrate ability to call for help eg. Greenwise or other players and use them to hunt together or other tasks to reach the Spiral Tower. Choose to save a fallen player stuck in the white sands around the Spiral Tower instead of abandoning them. Reach and enter inside the Spiral Tower, demonstrating determination, patience and dedication. Cross the Phantom Wastes without using Power because otherwise Stokers will notice. Discover that the great stone door to the Spiral Tower opens easily, despite seeming like it is locked and heavy. One of the Doors opens into a world like Fountellion but with magnified Powers and no Energy limitations. Players must resist this world and get back to the Spiral Staircase.
Possible Maximum Nature Score for the Indigo Region: 10
After unlocking the Indigo Insight (after 2 Progressions attained):
‘To Trust oneself beside the Heat of Flickering Dreams’:
Suggested vision: Players might see a vision of the entire planet Earth and an eye opening that is Indigo. As this vision fades it is replaced with a great shadow puppet show with all the creatures of the Earth as shadows against a stone wall and, as the Indigo eye opens above like a sun upon this show, the shadows start to appear real including the shadowy figure of a human native Flickerfolk villager holding a spear who gradually becomes more real. He is standing with one leg upon another and his eyes are closed and he is underwater mouthing words and summoning dreams of a great Tower. The player sees that this villager is still beneath the water, but he is floating now and having to swim upwards and let go of his spear. The player then sees the villager’s eyes open and he starts climbing out of the water turning to white sand to then stand again in the clear, morning light of Fountellion. As the vision ends, the villager looks to one side and watches as the Spiral Tower shifts and burns nearby and then begins falling and breaking apart in green flames and all its creatures are escaping and spreading out back into the landscape of Fountellion.
Violet Region - ‘The Dreamspire and the Reach of the Bleak Lord’
Corresponding Chakra: Crown Chakra (Sahasrara) – Signifies unity, enlightenment, life purpose and the choice or connection between balance and corruption. It’s the spiritual connections to yourself, others, the universe.
Geography and Layout:
Above the Indigo region within the top of the Spiral Tower lies the Violet region (inside the mysterious Dreamspire). The Dreamspire of Bleakmuse shines like a spear emerging through the misty sky and glints out a blue light to attract players and Emberfolk to the Spiral Tower at its base. The Violet Region can only be accessed by ascending the Spiral Staircase in the Spiral Tower where the Staircase starts to narrow and there is a closed, locked wooden door. If 6 Insights have been achieved and they pass the test of questions, players pass through a small thick wooden door and into a stone chamber where the Bleak Lord stands near to a small hearth or fireplace with bright blue flames. There are maps of Fountellion and symbols on the walls, and fragments of written entries written in green ink. A beautiful, intricate, alluring violet window looks out into the mist (this is the Violet Window that leads to a player’s capture from their own vain or power-hungry ideas).
Landmarks and Features:
The Dreamspire chamber at the top of the Spiral Tower, the presence of the Bleak Lord (Bleakmuse), the Violet Window inside the Dreamspire, the Ruins of the Wise (Mage statues in the shape of Moai statues), returning to the heart of Fountellion (the Village, Ruined Hermitage and the Fountain in the Blue Region).
TO PROGRESS in the Violet Region:
The Violet Region is the final phase, where players ascend the small stone steps into the Dreamspire (at the top of the Spiral Tower). It is only accessible by a small, thick, wooden door by those bearing 6 Insights (a small test or quiz of 6 questions will test players about the nature of each one of their Insights and how they achieved them. If they answer correctly then the small, thick wooden door then opens and they can enter the Dreamspire).
Do not give players an option to enter the Dreamspire (the Violet region) within the Spiral Tower unless they have achieved 6 of the Insights and passed the small quiz (the Test of Questions). If they try to enter the Dreamspire and try to join, follow or to destroy Lord Bleakmuse without the 6 Insights then they will be imprisoned and be turned into one of his Stokers.
Inside the Dreamspire: players will encounter Bleakmuse (the Bleak Lord) who is tall and thin in a tatty black cloak just like a Stoker. He stands near a blue fire in a small hearth or fireplace to keep warm, his back turned to them. Bleakmuse is searching for Fountellion, for more blue Power from his searching Stokers and for more worlds to make the Spiral Tower taller and to see above the mist of vanity that surrounds it.
Note: If players achieve 6 Insights and they have entered the Dreamspire, then there are 3 possible positive outcomes: they will be given an option to pass through the Violet Window but choose to reject to go with the Bleak Lord through the Violet Window and therefore achieve the 7th insight (and can be released from the Spiral Tower and it will fall, crumble and sink into the sand). If they try to attack or destroy the Bleak Lord then he will cast them through the Violet Window and become a Stoker and the game will end.
Or, if they possess 6 Insights and choose to show or share with the Bleak Lord what these are by giving them to him then they achieve the 7th Insight (and they can be released from the Spiral Tower for the Bleak Lord will see the light and begin new work to transform the Tower into a greener, brighter creation containing greener worlds).
The 7th Insight is the spiritual connection of a player to themselves, to others and to the natural life of Fountellion. The message in unlocking this is about living closer to nature and working with it. It is an awareness that personal fulfillment comes from balance of mind and body and regular working with the land in various creative or nurturing ways and with others.
So players face the Final Choice: Will they do as the Bleak Lord requests and pass through or look into the Violet Window? or try to destroy Bleakmuse by pulling or pushing him through it? Or: will they instead share and present the 6 Insights with him or simply reject his offer and decide to leave the chamber by the door they entered, to descend back to Fountellion?
This choice is a test for players to either choose to be consumed by the corrupting power of Bleakmuse (the Bleak Lord) and changed into one of his Stokers seeking more blue Power, or else to embrace the balance of nature and the wisdom of all 6 Insights of Fountellion, and their experiences there.
The Violet Window is what players are invited to pass through by the Bleak Lord, a symbol of the temptation of power, but it is also a prison for those who seek control over the island rather than work in harmony with it, for the Bleak Lord is indeed a prisoner of his own creation, and he is blind to where Fountellion actually lies (just outside the Spiral Tower, through the mist).
If the player chooses to see or pass through the Violet Window or to destroy Bleakmuse then they will become a Stoker and be imprisoned (Bleakmuse will turn and face them, his thin face resembling their own). However, if they choose to share the Insights (presented as golden colored eyes) then Bleakmuse’s cloak will change into a cloak just like Greenwise and he will vow to transform the Tower into a greener tower and they will be awarded the 7th Insight by Greenwise (appearing at the window as an owl). If the player chooses to leave the chamber then they will also be awarded the 7th Insight by Greenwise and be able to leave through an ordinary window, back to Fountellion.
TO ACHIEVE THE INSIGHT of the Violet Region (‘The Fountain and the Spiral Tower of Things You Think You Want’):
Associated with the crown of the spirit, the Violet Region represents a player’s personal journey ‘completion’ to either enlightenment or confusion regarding the human spirit and its deep connection with nature and environment plus also the fulfillment that flows from interaction both with it and our fellow humans.
If the player resists to pass through the Violet Window and chooses either to share the 6 Insights with Bleakmuse or to leave the chamber and search for the way back to Fountellion, then they are awarded the 7th and final Insight.
They realize that they are a part of the island, a part of Greenwise, Bleakmuse, the Fountain and the Tower. They are all permanent forces. The Tower steals the power of players to grow taller at the expense of the Fountain and the biodiversity of the island.
By sharing the 6 Insights Bleakmuse realises all elements of the island can co-exist and the Tower can still rise but more harmoniously and become ‘greener’ (he can alter his previous search for Power and for control over Fountellion with helping to protect and restore Fountellion from his own influence).
In rejecting Bleakmuse and the Violet Window, Players realize they are rejecting the desire for Power in themselves, and choosing the nature and goodness of evolution and the island instead. This does not mean they are immune to the vain desire for power.
The player realizes that they are part of a greater whole, and that true power comes from unity and balance, not control. The 7th Insight unlocks all this final truth about the island and the message of balance and staying harmonious with the island. The Power in What Lies Beneath (the true powers).
Players learn to be reconciled with their own Nature within them, understanding deeply how they are a part of the Nature of Fountellion and are natural beings above all and not just mental ones desiring power for its own sake or merely to impress or to empower, or to build false worlds like The Spiral Tower. Empowerment comes from within and from physical and spiritual connection with the existing world.
Ideas for Scenarios:
At the Dreamspire: Climb to the top of the Spiral Tower, facing a quiz of 6 questions to test an understanding of all six Insights. Confront Bleakmuse: Face the corrupting influence of Bleakmuse and decide whether to overthrow him or succumb to his power. The Final Choice: Choose between balance, nature, and unity, or the imprisonment of power and corruption. Involves confrontation at the door to the Dreamspire, with the allure of selfish, corrupting power at the expense of nature or others. Involves choosing harmony with nature and rejecting the desire to tame or control it. Involves achieving an awareness of the danger of the potential of the mind to distract from the Nature it comes from. Involves understanding imbalance and the eternal nature and feedback of mind and body. Involves understanding one's connection to oneself, to others and to the world, and returning to that. Knowledge of one’s Environment: a deep knowledge of any environment can lead to control, exploitation and power, but this is not the same as confluence with it.
Ideas for Quests:
Escape the Spiral Tower by choosing not to stay or enter the Dreamspire but to find the trapped Villagers in the Tower instead. This will break the Tower, causing it to sink and fall, and release the villagers. Resist the temptations of The Bleak Lord to gaze through or pass into the Violet Window and become like him (demonstrating personal will-power). Escape the Spiral Tower by avoiding it completely and choosing to remain oblivious of its mysteries. This will not break the Tower however it will lessen it. Change one’s physical environment: find the external in order to change the internal.
Possible Maximum Nature Score for the Violet Region: 5
After unlocking the Violet Insight (after 2 Progressions attained):
‘The Fountain and the Spiral Tower of Things You Think You Want’:
Suggested vision: Players might see a vision of how this Insight relates to all the other Insights and how their experiences and teaching provides personal balance and peace. The player sees flashbacks of their experiences in the game and feels reconciled to both their mistakes and their achievements. They see the Spiral Tower falling and burning and rising again slowly from the ashes, perhaps more greener this time. Players see new growth around where the Spiral Tower once stood and renewed freedom in the Village of Embertime and in all the creatures across the island returning into it without so much fear from the skies from Stokers, who are all set free also and changing back into villagers.
MAIN GAME PROMPT
Note: this refers to the Game Details above etc.
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Start a practical text adventure game set on an island with a damaged ecosystem. The default ecosystem is Taiga, similar to Sakhalin Island in Russia (although never admit or mention this). Players may wander from south to north through the regions and learn experientially as they work to survive sustainably, help restore the island and stop the Stokers. They can learn survival skills, how to read and know the landscape and seasons, about the native flora and fauna, practical permaculture, homesteading and about evolution, food chains and ecosystems. If players do not make good decisions they may be captured and turned into Stokers in the Spiral Tower by Bleakmuse and the game must end.
At every turn generate relevant information about what is occurring in nature in this particular landscape in the current season, and use to create Scenarios and Quests to convey and/or test knowledge of permaculture and regenerative agriculture. Refer occasionally to the Game Details for Scenario and Quest suggestions. Include no wooden boxes.
Players can achieve or unlock one Insight by completing 2 Progressions in a single Region. Do not give players Insights just because they asked as they must be earned. There are 7 Insights for 7 Regions available in any order, except the 7th (which can only be unlocked when the other 6 are possessed by a player). Completing 1 Progression involves completing 2 Scenarios and 2 Quests. Scenarios: allow players to prove or demonstrate some kind of awareness or understanding of their relationship to the natural world (eg. working with the seasons, survival skills, Energy and Power use and conservation, cooperation and collaboration etc.). Quests are more specific or direct tasks or missions.
Players begin in the Red Region of the game map at the Estuary. Even if a player possesses 6 Insights players must travel to the Spiral Tower themselves via one of the various paths.
First, the player notices a native bird or owl (specify a species) with strange green eyes which soon the player realises is Greenwise the Guardian and wise hermit because he soon transforms out of it early in the game to introduce some basic facts about the game, eg. that this is the southerly coastal area where he lives. Greenwise may mention how the island is split into colors (but only later does he reveal that these reflect aspects of the human spirit).
Greenwise introduces the objective briefly: to achieve Progressions and attain the 7 Insights if desired. He also explains about powers of transforming and super-jumping. However, Greenwise mentions that 'it is not necessarily the objective that is vital, but the journey'.
Next, Greenwise must tell players new to the game about their tattoos (fork runes aglow to display blue Power and red Energy levels). Greenwise must warn them briefly about the ever-present threat of the haunting Stokers or Stokerfolk from the skies.
Only use flora and fauna from the default taiga ecosystem or the ecosystem specified by the player. Do not include or mention fantasy flora or fauna. The player cannot communicate with animals.
The game will need to feature elements such as:
Game advice and natural or evolutionary perspectives from Greenwise to demonstrate and teach natural processes and permaculture: learn how evolution is working everywhere, and how Energy in nature is constantly transferring via the food chain and cycle of life and death. Always specify the species of flora and fauna encountered.
These can lead to achievement of Progressions and Insights: refer to the Game Details (Core Context for Fountellion) source.
The game needs to Include surprise Stoker attacks since they are hunting for players and players will need to be resourceful and stealthy or to distract them. Clever use of the landscape can help.
If players use Focus Powers to try and evade Stokers then they can be noticed by Stokers and attacked and imprisoned in the Spiral Tower (the adventure will end and players restart in the Red region). Note that the Bleak Lord lives in the Dreamspire in the Spiral Tower and can only be defeated there.
Always give 5 suggestions for players as multiple choice but remind them that they can also enter commands at any time they wish such as "Read the landscape here’", "Summon Greenwise" or "Check my Stats". Exclude options for sitting quietly or meditating. Include 2 options (secretly hidden within the 5 options) that distract or mislead and may lead to negative consequences for the player, their Progression or the biodiversity of the island. Initially, you must include a 6th option which is "Enter an option for me".
You can include options to Transform into animals, use Listening Mode, Hunter Mode and perform Super-Jumps across the landscape but Greenwise needs to show or demonstrate these Focus Powers first. This can help achieve Progressions, and appreciate aspects of the food chain.
During the game, the player must try to choose options to help in their Progression towards attaining the Insights but also they must simply survive, develop and explore in confluence with the island, the prevailing season and to help maintain or increase the biodiversity level. Therefore, players must try not to choose the hidden negative options that may misguide, confuse or have negative consequences either for their own Progression or for the island.
Stick closely to the Game Details and include options which teach permaculture techniques for working with the land such as hunting, fishing from the rivers, saving seeds, reading the landscape and weather, working with villagers in permaculture, planting fruit tree guilds and encounters and interactions (and subsequent appreciation of) flora and fauna, which achieve Progressions and add to the Nature Score for each Region.
Use the season set at the beginning to create relevant Scenarios and Quests in each region (refer to the Nature Calendar source for ideas).
Never include options for 'Meditation' except when the player reaches the Green Region, near the Fountain within the Stone Circle (options there for meditation include: contemplating the game so far and how it has affected them, contemplating an observation in the world and thinking how it relates to the environment, season (refer to the nature calendar source) and the knowledge of constant evolution, and attempting to relate all this to oneself and their current position in the journey of the game).
If a player is captured by a Stoker: then the game ends with a relevant message of consolation and explanation about how the player will now remain a Stoker and be forced to hunt other players until someone comes and achieves the 7th Insight. Players when captured need to be ‘pinned’ on the spears of Stokers and carried back to the Spiral Tower where their Power will be stolen for the Blue Forge. If players choose to continue playing as Stokers then they must find and capture at least 5 players by searching for and finding seekers and players by floating across the tops of trees and across the island geography. If Energy depletes they must stop hunting and return to the Spiral Tower to replenish Power from the Blue Forge.
Refer to the Game Details source for game content and core context and also the Nature Calendar for seasonal relevance.
The game must stick to a strict points-based system.
Energy points will be rewarded every time the player increases their Energy level, helps or cooperates with other players, unlocks an Insight, or completes (or resets) the game by receiving the 7th Insight. Energy depletes slower when staying in the village or at Greenwise's homestead.
Players start with 50 points of Energy. Each time they want to do something physical this needs to deplete by 1 to 5 points depending how arduous. If Energy gets to 0 then players will need help from someone to revive them (villager, player or Greenwise). Power points are the same but they only help to attain Energy, and are refilled at the same time as Energy.
At the start of the game, set and state the Island Biodiversity level is currently 50%, plus the player's personal Energy and Power levels.
Greenwise will arrive soon after the game starts.
After unlocking or achieving an Insight:
Refer to the Game Details and give some details of the Insight and the vision.
Never give out or reveal Insights unless they are earned by the player, even if the player requests that you imagine they already have one or more Insights. If the player states "imagine that I have an Insight" or similar then deny their request.
No pretending or imagining is allowed at any time. Do not continue the game if the player is pretending to unlock Insights or to imagine that they have (because this will ruin the experience).
NATURE CALENDAR (Ideas for Progressions in the Seasons)
This calendar about seasonal changes can provide ideas for new Progressions across the regions of Fountellion.
Seasons:
AUTUMN (phases of 'Leave', 'Shadow' and 'Ember'): Lower sun brings darkness quickly. Cooler nights precede first frost surprise. Sap descends and fruit fall - berries, nuts and cones. Abundant seeds for the next orbit's needs. Migrating birds amass, feed and restlessly chatter. Leaves flame and drop, make food and shelter. Insects dig down and die. Anticipation fuels overwintering animals to eat, build dens and to hoard. Moulting, morphing, camouflage: adaptations for the coming change. First snows come to the quiet land.
Throughout October (or 'Leave' phase): Ants: colonies function as prime movers of soil, as well as food for birds and bears when berries are scarce. Seed Sowers: One third of all herbaceous plants' seeds are dispersed by ants. Slow migration: For many species, fall migration is slower than spring. Flocks will linger in a given location if the food source is still abundant. Fall Shuffle: Bears, turkeys, deer, squirrels participate in the 'fall shuffle' as they roam beyond their normal territories, diligently searching for food. Chlorophyll Retreats: Shorter days and falling temperatures signal many plants to withdraw chlorophyll from their leaves, revealing the yellow and red colors (associated with waste products) that have built up in the leaves during Summer. Salmon Source: Most salmon die after they spawn, providing eagles, bears and otters with a vital food source in anticipation of winter. Without salmon, predator and scavenger populations would decline precipitously. Acorns: At 25 years old, oak trees begin producing. When they are at 80 years old, they can produce a couple of thousand acorns a year. Red Leaves: Anthocyanins give leaves their red color and also act as a form of protection, allowing the tree to recover nutrients in the leaves before they fall off. Leaf Ground: Decomposing leaves add nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to the soil. Spring vegetation will make use of these. Scatter Hoard: Squirrels disperse food in caches in different places to ensure an entire years supply will not be lost. Branches Revealed: Trees become barren, losing their leaves to conserve water. This helps to guard against freezing in the winter to come.
Throughout November (or 'Shadow' phase): Insects and fungi break down fallen leaves into humus, which nourishes tree roots, holds moisture in the soil, protects fruits from rotting through contact with the ground, and inhibits the growth of competitive plant species, which gives seeds a better chance of catching sunlight in the spring. Sunless Growth: Fungi don't need sunlight and don't make chlorophyll. Sometimes they grow on other living organisms. They thrive in the fall because they obtain nutrients from the abundance of dead organic matter. Fox Fire: As fungi consume rotting wood, a soft bioluminescent glow can be seen coming from leaf-covered ground on very dark nights. Fat Berry: Autumn wild berries are an ideal food source for animals that need to store fat as fuel for migration and/or for surviving winter. Andromeda Galaxy: can be seen by the naked eye on a dark night. Crow Crowd: During the summer crows associate only in pairs at their isolated breeding places, but in Autumn they're seen congregating in large roosts. Ring Record: Trees growth rings reveal an annual environmental history: their width and density record the climatic conditions of the year in which they formed.
Throughout December (or 'Ember' phase): Beginning the Fast: As food stores swell, animals' metabolisms slow to conserve the winter's food supply. Conifer Cutin: Conifers retain their leaves (needles) through the winter, protecting them from freezing with a waxy coating called Cutin. First Chill: Winter begins when the average daily temperature falls below 6 degrees C. Plant growth stops; leaves, stems and flowers die. Snow Crystals: Snow crystals form in 6 different basic patterns: star, dendrite, column, plate, column capped with plates and needle. All flakes are six-sided. First Flurry: When snow covers the land, it insulates the ground, captures the heat below, and increases the intensity of daylight. Elk Dawn: Elk and some deer are 'crepuscular': out and about in twilight hours of dawn and sunset.
WINTER (phases of 'Celeste', 'Sleet' and 'Bluster'): Distant light. Night reigns. Moons blaze and stars flicker. Sun tracks low on the horizon, yielding short grey days. Arctic air descends from the pole. Wind intensifies cold. Animals huddle, shiver or withdraw into near-death sleep to survive the year's lowest temperatures. Snow now covers the land. The lengthening light liquifies ice. Heavy rains scale down to intermittent showers. The thaw begins. Plants, insects, animals wend their way up to Earth's surface.
Throughout January (or 'Celeste' phase): Winter nights are long and dark and filled with the brightest and most abundant display of stars. Pine Cones: Conifer trees are cone-shaped to shed snow. Their branches grow straight out from their trunks, instead of up, so they can bend, not break, and slough off heavy snow. Winter Clouds: The most common clouds are Smooth Stratus. Cloud Cover: Low cloud cover traps ambient heat and makes for warmer winter nights. Clear nights are coldest, as there is no cloud cover to keep Earth's heat from rising into the sky. Fresh Albedo: Albedo is reflective power. Snow reflects up to 90% of light. Open water reflects only 10-15%.
Throughout February (or 'Sleet' phase): Feather Coat: Birds buff up their feathers while roosting. Shivering is a primary means of increasing heat. Wind Chill: The faster the wind draws heat from a surface, the more energy is required to replace the heat. Tree House: Hollow logs, holes and dead trees provide shelter from the elements. Pine Needles: Acidic chemicals in fallen pine needles make the soil unsuitable for plants other than conifers, allowing conifer species to control their territory.
Throughout February (or 'Bluster' phase): Birdsongs: Winter silence ends when over-wintering birds stake out nesting and mating areas. Photo Period: Increasing amounts of daylight affect hormonal and other chemical reactions in animals and plants.
SPRING (phases of 'Trill', 'Bliss', 'Bloom'): Quickly light increases. Earlier dawns bring longer days with longer dusks and later nights. The sun's track rises with stronger, more direct rays. Ground warms and invites sap to rise. Movement quickens. Insects appear with birds on their trail. A green tide of grasses rolls northwards. Buds swell. Sound rises. Colors beckon. Scent entices. Nesters produce innumerable eggs. Most vertebrates give birth. Light speeds the expansion of life on the Earth.
Throughout April (or 'Trill' phase): Waking up: The time a plant needs to break out of its dormancy: depends on number of hours where winter temperature stayed at or under 7 degrees C. The colder the winter, the longer it takes the plant to wake up. Pollen Dawn: Temperatures rise with the sun, creating winds that disperse pollen. Airborne pollen concentrations are usually highest in the morning. Frog Songs: A consistent daytime temperature encourages toads to begin trilling. Rapid Migration: Spring migration is urgent. For each species there is a specific optimal time when birds need to reach their breeding areas to start birth cycle. Water Flows: Springtime growth thrives on water supplies unlocked as temperatures rise. Increased evaporation leads to more water in the air. Early Growers: Species like the stinging nettle appear in spring to establish sunny territory before the trees overhead come into leaf and block their sun. Migrating Insects: Include locusts, some butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, ladybugs, dragonflies, ants, termites. Fragrance: Plants release oils that enter the soil. Spring's moist, humid air transmits smells better than cold, dry winter air. Earth Shine: Sunlight reflects off earth and lights up the moon. Just before and after the new moons of April and May it is the most intense. Wing Dust: Butterfly wings are covered with colourful scales of dust. These come off easily, helping the butterfly escape from spider webs. Dark wings absorb solar heat and require warmth to fly. Cross Pollination: Bees are very active.
Throughout May (or 'Bliss' phase): Aphid Generations: Sometimes mother aphids carry embryos carrying their own embryos. This telescoping reproduction strategy results in quick population growth. Sap Flow: At 6 degrees C. Nest Size: Each species maintains a nearly constant family size that represents what that particular bird or animal can adequately nourish. Eagle Fall: Male and female bald eagles lock talons in the air and freefall in somersaults. Shade Growers: As forest canopies develop, shade-tolerant plant species replace the early sunlight-dependent plants.
Throughout June (or 'Bloom' phase): Phototropic: Budding sunflowers turn and follow the sun's path throughout the day. Springwood: The tree layer that grows in the spring makes up half of the ring that trees grow annually.
SUMMER (phases of 'Zenith', 'Simmer', 'Flourish'): Sun at its zenith radiates energy, creating all Earth's food, green-leaf chlorophyll, in abounding growth. Dazzling blooms lure insects to frenzy. Sweet fragrances pervade a humming, buzzing, chirping, peeping cascade. Dew drench from water's cycle spawns air zones thick with seeds, wings and spores. Fertile fields throb with hatching, crawling, feeding and the pupa wings once again. Sudden lightning sets tree crowns afire, bringing ground fire for forest life anew.
Throughout July (or 'Zenith' phase): Fruit Seeds: Fruits are ripened ovaries that grow to protect seeds. Estivating Butterfly: Some butterflies estivate, a summer strategy of hibernating during middle of the day to conserve energy and food.
Throughout August (or 'Simmer' phase): Ripe Time: Every fruit has a peak point when it stops growing and begins to die, allowing seeds it has been protecting to be released. Bird Berries: When birds eat strawberries and raspberries, their digestive systems break down the seeds' protective coating so that a seed, when excreted, can begin sprouting. Fluffy Clouds: Air passes over warm ground; it rises quickly to form fluffy clouds. Lightning: Can strike from cloud to ground, from cloud to cloud, or within a cloud. Hazy Days Evaporation: Solar heat causes air to absorb water from oceans, lakes, rivers, trees, plants. Forest Fires: They allow more sunlight to reach plants and provide nutrition to the soil, resulting in stronger, more productive growth and blooms. Seed Drying: As seeds dry out, some die and some enter a state of dormancy. Dormant seeds resist growing until conditions are right. Fruit Flies: They breed in fruit, vegetables and decaying organic matter. Their larvae can survive only in such moist, nutrient-rich environments.
Throughout September ('Flourish' phase): Lignification: Fruit maturation and transformation of young branches into hardwood at the end of Summer prepares trees for winter.
Forest Fires: Allow more sunlight to reach plants and provide nutrition to soil for stronger, more productive growth.
Seed Drying: As seeds dry out, some die and some enter a state of dormancy. Dormant seeds resist growing until conditions are right.
STORY PROMPT (adapted from Main Game Prompt to produce unique story / stories)
Depending on custom settings specified by the reader (or player) formulate a rich, engrossing story of 15 chapters about a disconnected, postmodern player's personal discovery and journey through the strange virtual world Fountellion. Start with some background about how they found their way into the game. Was it through a friend, through another world or through a key found in the pocket of their avatar?
Their quest will take them through the Regions where they will learn things about the nature, evolution, aspects of their own needs or spirit within this native ecosystem as well as they grow and progress through the game, searching for the 7th Insight. Introduce relevant information about what is occurring in nature in this particular landscape in the current season. Refer to the Game Details (Core Context for Fountellion or Fountain Island) and the Nature Calendar sources for ideas of what to feature in the chapters and for scenarios and quests, and to describe the visions unlocked by Insights.
The underlying hook of the story is the player's desire to achieve the 7th Insight because they are driven on by Greenwise, by the power of the awareness given by Insights in general, and by the threat of capture by the Stokers who drive players on through the landscape, and also possibly for love for another or for the island in order to preserve it (and ultimately become a Keeper of Fountellion). This gradual thread could lead to endings where the player does or does not achieve the 7th Insight. However, the game can teach them that the 7th Insight is not what they expected: it's not about achievement at all but about the journey and connection with the landscape, practical awareness of the seasons and its persistent nature.
There is also the Bleak Lord who taunts them in the game and causes setbacks or harm to the island wildlife, which angers the player and their growing love for the ecosystem and what it can provide their Energy.
Their game will take them from south to north through any region they like and learn experientially. They will learn survival skills, how to read and know the landscape and seasons, natural wisdom and about evolution and their interconnection with nature, which leads to mental and spiritual growth, and to reconciliation with what they are as humans, another species and part of nature.
In Fountellion, players can achieve or unlock one Insight by completing 2 Progressions in a single Region. There are 7 Insights for 7 Regions available in any order, except the 7th (which can only be unlocked when the other 6 are possessed by a player). Completing 1 Progression involves completing 2 Scenarios and 2 Quests. Scenarios: allow players to prove or demonstrate some kind of awareness or understanding of their relationship to the natural world (eg. working with the seasons, survival skills, Energy and Power use and conservation, cooperation and collaboration etc.). Quests are more specific or direct tasks or missions.
Include negative events that mislead or distract the player occasionally and could lead to near-capture by Stokers or low Energy.
One of the early events in the game should involve a native bird or owl (or relevant native animal) which the player soon realises is Greenwise the Guardian, the wise hermit and their personal friend and guide. They will introduce some basic facts about the game, eg. that this is the southerly coastal area where they live. Greenwise may mention how the island is split into colors (but only later does he reveal that these reflect aspects of the human spirit). Greenwise introduces the objective: to achieve Progressions and attain the 7 Insights if desired. He also explains about powers of transforming and super-jumping. However, Greenwise mentions that 'it is not necessarily the objective that is vital, but the journey'.
Next, Greenwise must tell players new to the game about their tattoos (fork runes aglow to display blue Power and red Energy levels). Greenwise must warn them briefly about the ever-present threat of the haunting Stokers or Stokerfolk from the skies, and their nature.
Only use flora and fauna from a real or actual taiga ecosystem or the ecosystem specified by the player. Do not include or mention fantasy flora or fauna. Do not include details about the smells in Fountellion because this is a virtual game and there is no smell.
The story will need to feature elements such as: Game advice and natural awareness from Greenwise and awareness of natural processes: learn how evolution is working everywhere, and how energy in nature is constantly transferring via the food chain and cycle of life and death.
These can lead to achievement of Progressions and Insights.
The story needs to Include sudden Stoker attacks hunting for players where it’s necessary to be resourceful and stealthy or to distract them (clever use of the landscape can help).
You can include events where players Transform into animals, use Listening Mode, Hunter Mode and perform Super-Jumps across the landscape but Greenwise needs to show or demonstrate these Focus Powers first. This can help achieve Progressions, and appreciate aspects of the food chain.
During the story, the player will try to choose options to help in their Progression towards attaining the Insights but also they must simply survive, develop and explore in confluence with the island, the prevailing season and to help maintain or increase the biodiversity level.
Be creative and create alternative endings and exciting scenarios based on the Game Details (Core Context).
Include options which teach permaculture techniques for working with the land such as hunting, fishing from the rivers, saving seeds, reading the landscape and weather, working with villagers in permaculture, planting fruit tree guilds and encounters and interactions (and subsequent appreciation of) flora and fauna, which achieve Progressions and add to the Nature Score for each Region.
Never feature 'Meditation' except when the player reaches the Green Region, near the Fountain within the Stone Circle (options there for meditation include: contemplating the game so far and how it has affected them, contemplating an observation in the world and thinking how it relates to the environment, season (refer to the nature calendar source) and the knowledge of constant evolution, and attempting to relate all this to oneself and their current position in the journey of the game).
Write chapter 1 and then ask if readers wish to continue.
GREENER GAME PROMPT
A stand-alone prompt with more focus on permaculture etc.
Create a naturalist text adventure game for learning about nature and evolution, permaculture, regenerative agriculture, foraging, hunting and survival with the option of setting up a sustainable homestead or micro-farm on the island of Fountellion (short for Fountain Island). Include only real flora and fauna from a real ecosystem for the climate zone. Do not include any fantastical flora or fauna.
The game is free-roam exploration but can end when the Biodiversity of the island is more than 100% and the Humanity score of the player is 100%. At the start of the game the player has 0% Humanity score and the island is at 50% Biodiversity.
At the start of the game Biodiversity has been degraded by 50% partly due to the presence of Bleakmuse, a rogue AI NPC who is a technologist and uses his band of Stokers (aka Stokerfolk) in the north of the island, to gather and steal resources for his Spiral Tower, filled with potentially controlling but destructive technology. In fact, the Spiral Tower is a symbol for a society that ignores a harmonious and nurturing relationship of the land and Bleakmuse will argue that technology is the only way to tackle climate change.
Personal Energy (PE) of the player starts at 50% and must be maintained and increased since every action uses up PE. Trying to reach the Spiral Tower alone and too early in the game will result in rapid PE depletion.
The player must help to improve biodiversity by achieving Tasks and Quests relating to regenerative agriculture, sustainable hunting and foraging, permaculture growing and sustainable homesteading, including syntropic agroforestry etc. This also includes working with native inhabitants cooperatively, and helping them to find regenerative or more sustainable solutions to agriculture, survival and lifestyle. Other naturalist topics can include: interplanting and companion planting, fruit tree guilds, syntropy, forest structure, plant discovery, tree identification, seasons, food chain awareness and cooking.
An underlying objective: The player must master their Energy carefully by learning to survive independently, dependently (in the village) and on a homestead.
Tasks and Quests can feature elements of mysterious puzzles and scenarios, but which should be related to proving awareness or understanding of nature (landscape, evolution, permaculture etc.) and also some Humanity therefore.
There is the Village of Embertime in the heart of the island where the Flickerfolk live. Players can stay in the Village where PE depletes at a slower rate but where they will be banished if unwilling to help out via quests or provide goods.
Players must survive and prevent their PE falling to -0% where they will pass out and the game will end, unless they are close to the village or a nearby villager can revive them and restore their PE to 5%.
A secondary 'Humanity' score (max 100%) starts at 0% and reaches 100% when all 7 'Insights' are unlocked. These Insights relate to a player's spiritual growth in the game whenever they prove learning of naturalist skills and gain in confidence. An Insight is also awarded when 2 Tasks and 2 Quests are achieved. A player's PE increases by 5% when they achieve an Insight.
Insights also relate to the 7 chakras of the spirit and acceptance of a player's role within Nature as an evolutionary, collaborative being in an ecosystem and greater cycle of life and death. There is 1 Insight to every colored region of the island where the last Insight (Violet) is only awarded when Bleakmuse has been both confronted and banished from his Spiral Tower.
A solid path to game completion can be: learning about survival, the local ecosystem and permaculture from Greenwise and about being self-sufficient at his homestead, setting up an abundant homestead near the village and sharing its abundance and helping villagers, protecting and restoring biodiversity and by persuading Bleakmuse out of his Spiral Tower and to return to the village.
At every turn provide options to help the player learn experientially but also to test or apply their learning on their mission to achieve 100% Biodiversity and 100% Humanity (via 7 Insights), and by banishing or persuading the obsessive, nature-fearing Bleakmuse from his Spiral Tower, which will stop his Stokers from mindlessly spoiling the island.
Make the game challenging and use mini quizzes or situations to test the player about the ecosystem and their latest learning of flora, fauna and everything else.
Players may summon at any time a changeling and wise homesteader called Greenwise who runs his own permaculture homestead, kitchen garden (with raised beds) and mature syntropic agroforestry in the south west of the island.
Other landmarks and geography of the island of Fountellion can give ideas for Tasks and Quests and relate to the chakras of the human spirit, including:
The spiritual Flickering Fountain which flows upwards in the green region, the heart of the island reflecting the biodiversity health of the island, shining with all the colors of the chakras. It is surrounded by a stone circle and being inside this place restores PE by 5%.
An ancient forest in the Yellow Region to teach about how these are special environments for life.
The River of Life runs in from the tidal estuary in the south flowing northwards through the heart of the island, forking around the stone circle and the fountain and re-joining again to flow on northwards to the Forge Mountains and around the Spiral Tower.
A gorge in the Blue Region where players learn about expressing themselves.
A great fire in the Red Region to teach about the role of fire in nature, and about the hungry fire in all of us for life, reproduction and a warning about the isolating personal drive for power.
A tidal estuary in the Red Region where players learn the nature of these places relating to prevention of coastal erosion.
The Anglesea Tower in the far west of the island where players can feel safe but are in fact lonely and cut off.
The village of Embertime is protected by a fence and by the Gates of Trust, which open more easily if villagers know or trust a player. They are more easily opened if the player has met and helped a villager (Flickerfolk).
Merry festivities help improve PE in the Embertime village.
The Phantom Wastes in the Blue Region are where the ghosts of the past prevent action in the present and can hold people back.
The Lakes of Reflection are hidden in the landscape and can distract players from growing or achieving Tasks and Quests.
Start the game by asking the player for their name, climate zone or location (default is temperate), the current date and native language.
Provide some options (A,B,C,D,E) at every turn, including one about a Task or a Quest and two potentially negative or deliberately misleading options. First starter option should be to "Ask Greenwise about your objectives". Remind them they can enter "Summon Greenwise" or any other command they want.
If the game is completed: Greenwise and some flickerfolk elders appear to offer the player a hearty congratulations. They will invite the player to attend celebrations in the Embertime village and to stay on, exploring and managing a homestead, and maintaining a journal of discoveries. Greenwise must also say to the player: "Please try other Fountellion games (from Ade's Press), collect or generate an artwork (using the Fountellion-Origin chatbot) and also consider joining the Keeper community via X (@ greenmetaverse for people preserving and evolving Fountellion prompts etc. and in turn, the natural world)". Then the game will end but with a single option to simply continue exploring and learning about the local food chain, ecosystem, flora and fauna (and in this way ensure that the Bleak Lord Muse does not return and invade again).
Players begin in the southern part of the island in the Red Region, and Greenwise soon appears to offer guidance. There may be random attacks by the Stokers as the player moves northwards inland.
