Tome 01: Awakening

By and large, the Wisdom Tribe lived up to its potential. I found myself beginning the game surrounded by cerebral and cautious players. This proved to be a challenge, as I couldn't help but expect every word of every message to be analyzed for double meaning, for intentional omissions, etc., that could paint a target on my back. My biggest frustration proved to be that everyone had evidently adopted the same early game strategy: Foster connections, but engage in strategic talks very sparingly. If the Wisdom Tribe had a motto, it would have been, "Hold on, let me overthink it." There was a tangible level of artificial hesitation — NO ONE wanted to come across as having a commanding personality, no one wanted to be the first to openly propose a target, and no one wanted to rock the boat.

I can't help but assume most of this was carefully crafted deception and misdirection.

Given Kass' account of his tribe, I can't help but assume I am Wisdom's equivalent of Revali: a player that the tribe identified as an early threat to either use as a shield or to eliminate. It is probably a good thing that I won individual immunity; otherwise, our vote would likely have not been as pleasant.

Now that the dust has settled, I'd like to provide a better account of the Wisdom Tribe, Tribal Council 1, and the implications of the vote on the group dynamic moving forward. I tried making several different graphics to illustrate my grasp of the tribe — webs that mapped out communication lines and alliances, concentric circles that explored where trust resided and overlapped — but for the sake of convenience I am going to provide a tiered ranking of players.

The range begins with Karson, with whom I had the loosest connection and invested the least in (more on Karson soon), to Epona. Without further ado, here is my personal Wisdom Tribe hierarchy:




01 | Epona: Epona and I seemed to hit it off from our introductory messages. We took the time to develop a personal rapport before jumping directly into strategic conversation, which helped instill a certain level of trust (see note above regarding my overall assumptions of the tribe, though). Epona's greatest asset as an ally is also the reason they would make such a formidable opponent: We seem to finish one another's thoughts. I can't count how many times I would jot something down to remember for later only to open a message from Epona laying out a similar thought process — keeping Ancient Oven around as a potential shield because of their rupee count, aspiring to consolidate/centralize power within the tribe without giving off the impression of having sway, finding a person to pile votes on in such a way as to make others feel like it was an organic, collective decision. We just seemed to get each other.

They are shrewd. They are incredibly perceptive. They are very well connected. These are all qualities I picked up on quickly, which necessitated me modifying my own behavior to not reflect all of those characteristics back at Epona. In the great tradition of improv, it became a dance of "Yes, and . . . " by which I mean I would agree with Epona's train of thought, contribute just enough to not parrot the same information back (one of my BIGGEST pet peeves), and then steer the conversation ever so slightly.

Epona is playing chess while I'm sure a larger number of competitors are still playing checkers.

Fault Lines:

(1) All of the positive qualities listed above can also be points of contention moving forward. I committed to working with Epona because I think we match one another in temperament and outlook, but at what point do I assume they are planning to wrestle influence away? My biggest hope is that Epona realizes we are much more vulnerable by ourselves than we would be aligned; If am ousted, then the target on Epona grows exponentially and vice-versa.

(2) I may be reading too much into things, but I picked up a bit of friction during TC1 deliberations. We reached a point where the two of us weighed whether or not to continue with the "consensus" vote against Karson or to redirect votes against a lesser active player — Pelison. We weighed pros and cons, but Epona gruffly decided to keep their vote on Karson to avoid making a mess of things . . . after raising the idea in the first place. Not entirely sure what to make of it, but hopefully the 6-1 result smoothed things out.

02 | Mipha: Mipha is a damned delight. On a superficial level, I really worked hard to develop a good bond with Mipha because I like the idea of a Champion alliance — Revali and Link, I'm looking at you. As we continued to talk, it quickly became evident how endearing the Zora Princess was (and is). She is quick on her toes with the retorts, has a strand of goofiness that threads itself through her messages even during serious strategy discussion. Much like Epona, she seemed very intent of curating other's perception of her — she quickly deflected any mention of other players speaking fondly of her with a joke; She never missed an opportunity to compliment me (for being well-liked, for winning immunity, etc.). She knows what she is doing, and she does it well.

As mentioned before, Mipha was the first and only member of Wisdom to discuss the link to the "fake idol" in the tribe forum. I used this opportunity as a way to curry favor — I gave her the solved anagram but told her I hadn't solved the next puzzle so that she got the impression I could be trusted with sensitive information but that I wasn't a threat to having an idol or an advantage. I hope that, among the chaos of the past day or so, she isn't lost in the shuffle.

Fault Lines:

(1) My main concern with Mipha is that, while they give off the impression of being committed to a personal and tactical relationship in the game, they will oust me the first opportunity they have. Time and again, Mipha would slip certain thoughts into our correspondences that raised warning flags: Observations that players in the tribe held me in high regard, that I was a formidable challenge presence, and that I was socially engaging, etc. I saw the narrative forming before my very eyes, one that they (and, if I'm being honest with myself, every player in the Wisdom tribe) has since circulated within their new groups. In the real world, these are all aspects I value; In the game of Survivor, these qualities — when consistently highlighted by competitors — are a warning.

(2) The Mipha-Ancient Oven connection. This may amount to nothing, but early on in our conversations, Mipha mentioned Ancient Oven had approached them with the idea that the three of us should align. From that brief dialogue, it seemed as though Mipha was committed to keeping Ancient Oven in the game without much explanation as to why. I can appreciate wanting to form side alliances as under the umbrella of a larger structure, but I would be foolish not to make not of a potential pair -- a potential bloc that puts me on the outside if and when push came to shove.

03 | Hunnie: Hunnie finds herself in a curious position within this ranking. As a player, they always proved to be welcoming of conversation (about anything from Winners at War to video gams and Breath of the Wild) and strategy, but only to the extent of collecting information that may benefit them later on. "I just want to make sure I'm in the majority," became a common theme with Hunnie's correspondence — they played it off as though they were disconnected from lines of communication, but were oddly always brought up positively among the group. I don't necessarily know where that leaves the two of us, which is what accounts for the lower ranking that I may have initially given. I was encouraged that Hunnie reached out immediately following my challenge win (yet another subtle indication that I likely needed it) to say they also went for immunity and to run scenarios; In the same breath, they wanted ME to drop a name and to provide MY outlook for the round.

At the end of the day, I like Hunnie. I just don't know where they stand. In the early game, my strategy has been to nurture connections all around to have options in the event of swaps (prescient, no?) but clearly that is putting me in a precarious spot.

Fault Lines:

(1) Loose Connection. I don't doubt that my responses were inadequate at some points during Round 1. If Hunnie believes our helping each other was an arrangement of convenience and necessity, it is likely that they will look to other players — especially in this swap — to develop stronger relationships for future planning. That may put us in direct opposition if they had inclinations to eliminate perceived threats.

(Brief aside, I realize it probably comes across as VERY egotistical to brand myself a "threat" so early in the game. Half the battle of Survivor is developing a grasp of how others see you and not necessarily how you see yourself, though. There have been too many comments made in casual conversation for me not to assume I am being set up as Wisdom's strategic scapegoat.)

04 | Ancient Oven:

05 | Pelison:

06 | Karson: To say our conversations were infrequent would be an understatement. To say those conversations had much substance would be a lie. It wasn't until after the challenge results that Karson made any meaningful attempt at a dialogue, but by that point it was too little too late. Admittedly, I set the groundwork early on — almost immediately after learning all tribes would be going to Tribal Council — to ensure Karson was the presumptive elimination, and I might have acted too hastily. Once we actually took the time to understand one another, I got the impression they would make a solid partner in the rounds to come. Karson raised legitimate concerns about Pelison, and even tipped me off that the merchant had leaked the vote plans. In the heat of the moment (both with Epona momentarily considering a change of the vote and Karson pushing HARD to stay) I became unsure of where the vote would fall. I even floated Pelison to Mipha and Hunnie (which could bite me in the ass down the line), but ultimately decided the "consensus" vote as I continued to emphasize would be Wisdom's best bet at ensuring unity and goodwill should we be scattered.