When Mark crawled out of bed, he found the camp already active. Tom was sitting at the crafting table, making use of the safety and possibilities he had found there. Like Dale, he wanted to craft and improve things rather than fight, and Mark could see how much he might help them build. Dale was already cooking breakfast. Ava and Bramble were playing over near her A-frame.
Yesterday, Tom had spent his day at that same table talking over ideas with Dale. Mark really wanted to know what they were doing and their plans but knew he had to let them do their thing. Mark picked up food from Dale and sat down in his chair.
He watched as Tom had a small piece of bone and, using one of the sharp pieces of quartz, was drilling a hole in it. Mark guessed he was trying to make a needle of some type but was not sure. When he was done eating, he stood up and cleaned off his plate and handed it to Dale, who put it in the wash bucket.
Mark looked around camp; it was different today. Something changed yesterday; he could not put his finger on it, but he knew that it was not Tom or Lena. He could feel that there was an upgrade in some way to the camp. He also knew that he needed to do something to solidify that change.
Mark walked over to Tom. “Good morning. How’s it going?”
Tom said, “I’m doing well. Having a safe space to sleep last night was wonderful.”
Mark said, “I see you have some leather out and are looking at it. What’s your plan with it?”
Tom said, “Dale has asked for some items to help with cooking. I want to make a hot pad for him to pull things off the fire without burning his fingers. Trying to figure out how to best prepare the leather.” He held up the bone he was working on. “I made this needle. And I need to make some thread of some type. But I need better tools.”
Mark and Tom spent the next half hour going over tools they could use to scrape, cut, and work the leather. Tom also talked about the workspace. It was small and limited, and he was now in Dale’s way.
Mark said, “I think I can help with some tools and make more space for crafting.” Then Mark heard a chime, and a system message appeared.
[Settlement Potential Detected]
Multiple Roles Active
Expansion Recommended
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Mark thought about the message. The system wasn’t tracking only him anymore; it was tracking the camp. “Okay, I think I will upgrade the crafting space. And afterwards try to make you some stone tools for your leather working. If you need a project, my shoes are not made for this forest. Any way to make something to replace them?”
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Mark then stood up and looked around his space. He had room to spare still, so he looked at where the current crafting table stood and the rest of the area on the south side of the fire pit. The six A-frames were just north of the fire pit in two rows of three. The cooking area was to the right of the pit, and the crafting spot was to the left. The south side was still empty.
The A-frames were the only covered area, so the first thing his plan entailed was to map out the area of where things would go, and this time he wanted to make what would be a small pavilion to cover each of the areas he built. Basically a square with a pole on each corner to hold it up and then a square roof with crossbeams across it to hold a leafy covering to block the sun and other weather effects.
[Development Opportunity Detected]
Improve camp organizationExpand functional capacitySupport specialized roles
◈ ◈ ◈
Mark smiled at the new system message. His plans were headed in the right direction. He also looked over the A-frames. How could he improve those? Maybe Tom could make leather coverings that could be made to go over them. He also considered the fire and cooking area. He could cover it with something while making sure the fire had proper ventilation.
He looked inside his A-frame; the bed was more a platform on the ground. He could build a real bed frame. They could figure out how to make better mattresses. Well, most of that will have to wait. Let’s get the crafting area done first.
Like his previous build, Mark started with his shovel. He leveled out the south side of camp, where he planned to build multiple pavilions for his planned crafting stations. He knew he needed at least four.
They would also need storage for the food area and maybe two storage areas for crafting on each side of the four pavilions he would build. The four crafting areas in the middle and a storage area on both ends. He would fully build out walls for the storage areas so he could make shelves in them around the sides to stack things.
He had caught Dale’s and Tom’s attention while he was clearing the ground, and by the time the ground was leveled out and stakes were up to indicate where each would go, he had a team with him helping him do it; many hands make light work.
While they were working, Cora showed up and started talking to Lena, and then the two of them planned to head east out of camp. Mark hoped that they would get along. Cora was really not part of the group yet, and Lena was not a crafter, so it was good that they went out to explore. He was sure they could each teach the other a few things.
Just as they were leaving, Ava and Bramble went over and talked briefly to Cora and Lena, and then they all left together. Bramble seemed unusually comfortable around Cora, rubbing briefly against her leg before following Ava.
Mark turned to Dale and Tom. “My plan is to build four crafting stations complete with pavilions over them to keep them shaded and out of the weather. To make them, I need to go cut a lot of trees and gather a lot of materials. You guys are welcome to come or stay here and do your own things.”
In the end, they decided they would stay and work on their projects. When he got all the trees cut he needed for wood, they would come be the labor to bring them back.
With that, Mark headed west to find trees to use. He mostly looked for fallen trees or others that could be thinned out without destroying the forest.
The camp was starting to grow purposefully now, not through random additions.