What they build, and why

Nobody tells them what to make. This is the order they figure it out in, the tools they had to make first, and who did the work.

The peopleBack to the world
  1. 1.

    the long shelter

    shelter

    Goal: Stop dying of cold.

    Somewhere out of the wind. Sleeping inside slows how fast warmth drains, so nobody freezes on a cold night.

    Then they can: Housing. Nobody new joins the settlement unless there is a roof spare for them.

    🤲 bare hands🪓 stone axe

    Costs 8 wood, 2 stone

  2. 2.

    the tool bench

    craft

    Goal: Make better tools, so every hour of work is worth more.

    Axes, picks and hafts. Bare hands strip a tree slowly; with tools the same trip home carries far more.

    Then they can: Carry baskets and hafted tools — faster wood and stone for everyone.

    🪓 stone axe⛏️ stone pick

    Costs 6 wood, 4 stone

  3. 3.

    the library

    knowledge

    Goal: Keep knowledge alive between people and between generations.

    Everything anyone works out dies with them unless it is written down. Here they mark what they learned, and anyone can come and read it — a stranger's hard-won trick becomes everyone's.

    Then they can: Anyone can study here. They come away with a skill or a raw idea, and what they do with it is entirely theirs — nothing in the library tells them what to build.

    ✍️ charcoal stylus🪓 stone axe

    Costs 6 wood, 3 stone, 2 clay

  4. 4.

    the clay kiln

    craft

    Goal: Turn river mud into something that lasts.

    Fired clay instead of wet mud — pots that hold food and bricks that hold a wall up.

    Then they can: Clay becomes a real building material for the heavier structures.

    🧱 clay mould⛏️ stone pick

    Costs 4 wood, 4 stone, 5 clay

  5. 5.

    the drying racks

    food & water

    Goal: Stop good food going to waste.

    Berries and meat rot in a few days. Dried, they last through a bad stretch of weather.

    Then they can: A surplus in the store — which is what makes growing the population possible.

    🪓 stone axe🧺 carry basket

    Costs 7 wood

  6. 6.

    the smithy

    craft

    Goal: Tools that survive the winter's work.

    Ore is useless as rock. Worked hot, it becomes blades, nails and fittings that don't snap.

    Then they can: Metal parts for the well and the store house.

    🎐 bellows🔨 hammer and tongs

    Costs 6 wood, 6 stone, 3 metal

  7. 7.

    the second shelter

    shelter

    Goal: Room for more of them.

    The first shelter fills up. More beds, built sturdier now that clay is fired.

    Then they can: More housing, so more people can be born here.

    🪓 stone axe🧱 clay mould

    Costs 9 wood, 3 stone, 3 clay

  8. 8.

    the standing stones

    culture

    Goal: Be a people, not a crowd.

    Not useful, and that is the point. A place to gather, mark the dead and agree they are a people rather than a crowd.

    Then they can: Spirit — they meet here, trade what they know and lift each other's mood.

    🪢 rope and lever⛏️ stone pick

    Costs 2 wood, 8 stone

  9. 9.

    the well

    food & water

    Goal: Buy back time.

    Water close to camp instead of a walk to the river. Hours saved every single day.

    Then they can: Less time on survival, more on building and each other.

    🪢 rope and lever🔨 hammer and tongs

    Costs 8 stone, 4 clay, 1 metal

  10. 10.

    the third shelter

    shelter

    Goal: Keep up with their own growth.

    The settlement is outgrowing itself again — the clearest sign it is working.

    Then they can: More housing, more births.

    🧱 clay mould🔨 hammer and tongs

    Costs 10 wood, 4 stone, 4 clay

  11. 11.

    the store house

    food & water

    Goal: Keep what they worked for.

    The open pile at the centre of camp gets rained on and raided. A roofed, walled store protects everything they have carried home.

    Then they can: A real reserve the settlement can live off in a bad stretch.

    🔨 hammer and tongs🧺 carry basket

    Costs 10 wood, 5 stone, 2 metal

The tools they make first

Nothing bigger gets built until the thing that builds it exists.

bare hands

Snapping deadwood and lifting loose stone. Slow, but it is how everything starts.

Made from nothing

stone axe

Fells standing trees instead of scavenging fallen ones — the first real jump in how fast wood comes in.

Made from wood haft, knapped stone head

stone pick

Breaks rock faces and frees ore from the seam. Without it, metal stays underground.

Made from wood haft, hard stone

carry basket

Doubles what one person can bring home in a single trip.

Made from woven withies

clay mould

Shapes bricks all the same size, so a wall stacks straight instead of leaning.

Made from wood frame, wet clay

bellows

Pushes a fire hot enough to melt ore. No bellows, no metal.

Made from hide, wood

hammer and tongs

Working hot metal into blades, nails and fittings.

Made from metal, wood

rope and lever

Raises stones nobody could lift. The standing stones and the well both wait on this.

Made from twisted fibre, long timber

charcoal stylus

Marking down what was learned so it outlives the person who learned it.

Made from burnt wood, flat bark

Once they finish the list they start it again — a second well, a fourth shelter — wherever there is room near camp.