Oligodendrocyte

Oligodendrocytes are glial cells that wrap nerve fibres (axons) in myelin in the brain and spinal cord. In Arborwake they do the one job the Ranger can never do: wrap a bare tract.

In the brain#

• One oligodendrocyte can wrap segments of several axons.
• Myelin speeds up and protects signal conduction along axons.
• Microglia help keep myelin healthy and clear damaged myelin, but clearing debris is not the same as making new myelin. The dossier cites McNamara et al. (2023) and a 2021 review on this point.
• Repair after myelin loss depends on precursor cells maturing into new oligodendrocytes. See Myelin, demyelination and repair.

In the game#

• Anchored. The user ruled on 1 November: "Oligos don't walk, they only extend." An oligodendrocyte reaches out with a process; it never walks to a job.
• Only they wrap. In Quiet Tracts rooms, the Ranger clears material and protects the site. The wrap is an oligodendrocyte's task.
• Tract states. The repair kit shows segments as restored, damaged, bare, strained, being wrapped, kept or lost. Losing a segment fails the room.
• Wick. Wick is the named oligodendrocyte-lineage resident of the Quiet District.
• The plan forbids a "portable myelin-casting pet" and any claim that stress caused the district's myelin loss.

Development#

• The user accepted a lighter oligodendrocyte palette (r007) on 1 November and approved the Quiet Tracts repair art on 2 November.
• The oligodendrocyte's process uses the existing microglia rope system, recoloured, rather than a new tendril engine.
• In the alpha Oligodendrocyte sprites are installed in the Placeholder alpha, and the tract repair kit is in its encounter package.

See also#

• Oligodendrocyte precursor cell
• Wick
• The Five Stretches

Sources#

1. .GAME_PLAN/ARBORWAKE_COMPANIONS_NARRATIVE_AND_SYSTEMS_DOSSIER_v0.5.md (working copy, not in Git)
2. .GAME_PLAN/ARBORWAKE_THE_LONG_WAKE_COMPLETE_GAME_PLAN_v0.5.md (working copy, not in Git)
3. docs/ops/agent-messages/2026-11-01-claude-workstreams-todo.md (working copy, not in Git)
4. b89f778c2:src/main-game/overworld/public/assets/cells/oligodendrocyte.pngcopy