Civilization manualBook 1: From Bare Hands to Steam and Electricity765 entries · 23 phases · 100 years
The Island
The cast
Ulani

UlaniC08

Plants, seed and bees

Age at landing
20
From
Hawaiian; Native Hawaiian and Filipino family
Before
Botany student and seed-bank volunteer; raised on her grandmother's taro farm
Main skill
Knowing plants: food, fibre, medicine and poison
Other skills
Beekeeping, grafting, rubber tapping, free diving
Personality
Curious, barefoot and fearless. Teases everyone. Talks to plants.
Strength
Never forgets a leaf.
Flaw
Wanders off alone. Tastes things she should not. Hates routine.
Wants
To walk the whole island and name everything growing on it.
Story arc
Her safe-food list saves the first weeks; a poisoning scare teaches her to be careful.
In year 50
Alive, aged 70
First partner
Diego, from month 4
Leads phases
—
Helps in phases
01 First days: water, fire, shelter
03 Food security and the first camp
08 Farming, cloth, leather and household industry
11 Glass, chemistry, petroleum, rubber and cement
15 Railways, steam and electric cars, the power grid

Ulani and Diego

Two weeks alone in the dugout canoe, surveying the coast: Diego maps the rock, Ulani the plants. They come back a pair.

Both wander and neither is ever home. She will not be told to be careful by a man who is not.

Procedures Ulani leads

01.12 Bamboo cups and water tubes
01.20 Resin torch
01.22 Safe-food list

Procedures Ulani helps with

01.04 Digging stick
01.19 Earth oven

Sketches with Ulani

Omar driving the wedge into the ground with both hands while Ulani lifts out loose soil with a shell.
Fig. 01.04-bOmar driving the wedge into the ground with both hands while Ulani lifts out loose soil with a shell.making · 01.04 Digging stick
Ulani sawing a groove round a stem with a flake while Hiro smooths a rim on a rock.
Fig. 01.12-cUlani sawing a groove round a stem with a flake while Hiro smooths a rim on a rock.making · 01.12 Bamboo cups and water tubes
Sofia and Ulani laying leaf-wrapped parcels on steaming leaves while Tane stands ready with the earth.
Fig. 01.19-bSofia and Ulani laying leaf-wrapped parcels on steaming leaves while Tane stands ready with the earth.making · 01.19 Earth oven
Ulani prising a lump of resin from a scarred pine trunk with a flake.
Fig. 01.20-bUlani prising a lump of resin from a scarred pine trunk with a flake.making · 01.20 Resin torch
Ulani holding up two similar-looking plants, one in each hand, to a half-circle of listeners, with Grace watching her closely.
Fig. 01.22-bUlani holding up two similar-looking plants, one in each hand, to a half-circle of listeners, with Grace watching her closely.making · 01.22 Safe-food list