docs(wiki): establish Sova Transit District game world glossary
45 files covering the v0.1 vertical slice content: 17 NPC profiles across 3 tiers, 5 triangles, 3 social sites, 7 factions, 6 technology entries, 3 contraband types, knowledge vocabulary (FactIds, entity attributes, relationship states), and monologue authoring guide. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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# Lattice Components (Contraband)
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**Type:** Primary Contraband
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**Status:** Canonical
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**Legality:** Category 3 violation (unauthorized lattice modification)
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**Source:** Aftermarket manufacturers, Syndic-adjacent supply chains
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**Moved By:** The ring (Sova Transit District smuggling operation)
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---
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## Overview
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Unlicensed lattice components are the primary contraband in the v0.1 smuggling scenario. These are aftermarket neural lattice modifications — processing nodes, capability packages, interface upgrades — that bypass [Lattice Commission](../technology/neural-lattice.md#commission-regulation) certification.
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They are not defective. They are not dangerous. They are unauthorized. And that distinction is the moral core of the smuggling operation.
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---
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## What They Are
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**Aftermarket processing nodes:** Replacement or supplementary lattice nodes that enhance processing speed, expand perception mode capability, or add professional toolkit functions. Manufactured by independent producers outside the Commission certification pipeline. Technically identical to certified components — same materials, same specifications — but without the paperwork.
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**Capability upgrade packages:** Software-equivalent modifications that unlock lattice functions normally restricted by tier authorization. A Baseline lattice user could, with the right aftermarket package, access Enhanced-tier perception processing — camera feed interpretation, audio analysis, improved sensory augmentation — without institutional sponsorship.
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**Interface modifications:** Adjustments to how the lattice communicates with the Meridian network and external systems. These can improve connectivity, reduce latency, or — critically — modify what data the lattice reports back to institutional monitoring systems.
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---
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## Why People Want Them
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**Professional capability:** A freight scheduler with an aftermarket processing upgrade handles manifests faster, catches errors sooner, becomes more valuable at work. A maintenance technician with enhanced diagnostic capabilities works more efficiently. The upgrade pays for itself in job performance.
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**Perception access:** The Commission's tier system means most people on Station Sova are locked into Baseline perception — natural vision and basic Meridian access. Enhanced perception modes (camera access, audio analysis, tracking) require institutional sponsorship. People who want to see more of their own world must either get institutional approval or go to the aftermarket.
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**Economic calculation:** Commission-certified upgrades cost 3-5x more than aftermarket equivalents and take 6-12 months to process. For a dock worker making 2,400 credits per month with 200 credits margin, the choice between waiting a year for certification or buying aftermarket this month is not a difficult calculation.
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**Agency:** Let me complicate this by noting that the desire for aftermarket lattice components isn't just economic. It's about who gets to decide what you can perceive. The Commission's tier system gates perception capability behind institutional approval. Aftermarket components let people make that choice for themselves. This is the same impulse that drives the Guardians of Autonomy — the belief that perception shouldn't require permission.
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---
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## The Supply Chain
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From `contraband.supply_chain` (fact catalog):
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1. **Manufacturing:** Syndic-adjacent independent manufacturers produce lattice components outside Commission jurisdiction. Quality is professional-grade — these aren't garage operations.
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2. **Interstellar transit:** Components move through [Founder Gate](../technology/founder-gates.md) networks to distribution nodes.
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3. **Off-station coordination:** Sabel (off-station) manages incoming shipments, coordinates timing with ring operations.
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4. **Gate arrival:** Contraband arrives mixed with legitimate freight through [span gates](../technology/span-gates.md) on scheduled cargo cycles.
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5. **Inspection bypass:** Containers with doctored manifests pass through inspection. Weight discrepancies are the primary forensic evidence (logged weight vs. actual weight).
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6. **Ring coordination:** Devra or Nils coordinate local distribution. Kael and Kosse handle physical cargo. Voss provides scheduling cover.
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7. **Local distribution:** Components reach buyers through informal networks, facilitated through The Last Shift as a social clearing house.
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---
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## Investigation Vectors
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**For the detective:**
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- `investigation.manifest_discrepancy` — Weight-to-volume mismatches in cargo manifests. The detective's Analytical lattice flags these automatically at Suspects confidence.
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- `investigation.cargo_anomaly` — Containers sitting in temporary storage longer than standard procedure allows.
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- `investigation.shift_mismatch` — Night shift schedules inconsistent with freight volume (Voss creating coverage gaps).
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- `contraband.lattice_components` — At KnowsOf: "Unlicensed lattice components. Aftermarket mods that bypass Commission certification." At Direct: "I'm looking at a crate of lattice components right now. Serial numbers don't match any certified batch."
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**For the smuggler:**
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- The smuggler knows what's in the containers — they handle them. The question isn't "what is this?" but "is this worth the risk?"
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- `contraband.lattice_components` at KnowsDetails: "Medical-grade neural lattice replacements diverted from Syndic supply chains, plus enhanced capability mods."
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---
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## Moral Complexity
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The ring is smuggling *access*, not weapons. People want aftermarket lattice components because:
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- The Commission certification system is too slow and too expensive
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- Professional capability enhancement improves their economic position
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- Perception access shouldn't be gated by institutional approval
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- The aftermarket components are functionally identical to certified ones
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But also:
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- Uncertified components bypass safety protocols (even if the components themselves are safe, the installation process matters)
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- Aftermarket lattice mods can include interface modifications that obscure institutional monitoring — useful for privacy, also useful for hiding criminal activity
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- The supply chain that delivers lattice components also delivers [medical-grade replacements](medical-grade-replacements.md) and [Severance equipment](severance-equipment.md) — the morally sympathetic cargo shares infrastructure with the politically dangerous cargo
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**The honest truth:** The player — whether smuggler or detective — must decide how they feel about a community that smuggles healthcare and capability upgrades through the same channels that move counter-surveillance equipment for political dissidents. The ring doesn't separate its cargo into "sympathetic" and "dangerous" categories. It's all the same operation.
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---
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## Mechanical Integration
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**Knowledge Graph FactIds:**
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- `contraband.lattice_components` — primary contraband identification (4 confidence levels)
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- `contraband.ring_exists` — meta-knowledge that a smuggling operation exists
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- `contraband.supply_chain` — network knowledge tracing the full chain
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- `world.commission_regulations` — institutional context that explains the black market
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**Perception Connection (D-017):**
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- Lattice components connect directly to the perception system — a smuggled upgrade could theoretically change what the player perceives
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- This connection is referenced in lore and dialogue, not mechanically implemented in v0.1
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- Future scope: aftermarket lattice upgrade as player progression mechanic
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**Investigation Mechanics:**
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- Manifest discrepancies are the primary forensic evidence
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- Weight-to-volume cross-referencing (detective's Analytical lattice)
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- Serial number mismatches against Commission certified batch database
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- Container processing delays in temporary storage
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---
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**Cross-References:**
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- [Neural Lattice](../technology/neural-lattice.md) — The technology being modified
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- [Medical-Grade Replacements](medical-grade-replacements.md) — Secondary contraband (healthcare dimension)
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- [Severance Equipment](severance-equipment.md) — Tertiary contraband (political dimension)
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- [Sova Transit District](../world/sova-transit-district.md) — The ring's operational infrastructure
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- [Fact Catalog](../knowledge/fact-catalog.md) — FactId confidence progressions
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- D-037: Contraband specification
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- D-017: Perception modes (lattice tier determines available modes)
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---
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**Status:** Canonical — primary contraband type
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**Created:** 2026-02-12
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**Updated:** 2026-02-12
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# Medical-Grade Replacements (Contraband)
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**Type:** Secondary Contraband
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**Status:** Canonical
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**Legality:** Category 3 violation (unauthorized lattice modification) + controlled medical device distribution
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**Source:** Diverted from Syndic supply chains
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**Moved By:** The ring (Sova Transit District smuggling operation)
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---
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## Overview
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Medical-grade neural lattice replacements are the ring's morally complicated cargo. These are professional-quality replacement components for people whose [neural lattices](../technology/neural-lattice.md) are degrading — nodes failing, processing slowing, perception overlays flickering. The same components available through Commission-certified medical channels, diverted from Syndic manufacturing supply chains and sold at prices working people can afford, without the 6-12 month institutional approval cycle.
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This is healthcare, not just profit.
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---
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## The Medical Reality
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Neural lattices are biotech. They degrade over time. For most people in the Settled Reach, lattice degradation is the most serious medical issue they'll face — because it affects everything. A degrading lattice means:
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- Perception overlays lag, flicker, or fail
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- Meridian connectivity becomes unreliable (missed messages, dropped connections)
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- Professional toolkit functions produce errors (a freight scheduler whose manifest overlay glitches misses container data)
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- In advanced degradation: headaches, sensory artifacts, disorientation, reduced cognitive processing
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- In severe cases: effective disability — the person can no longer perform lattice-dependent work
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**Treatment through legitimate channels:**
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1. Diagnosis at a Commission-certified medical facility
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2. Replacement component requisition (Commission approval required)
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3. 6-12 month approval cycle for component sourcing and certification
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4. Installation at a certified facility
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5. Post-installation compliance verification
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**Cost:** Prohibitive for most workers on Station Sova. A full lattice replacement through legitimate channels costs 8-12 months of a dock worker's total salary. Component-by-component replacement (replacing only the failing nodes) is cheaper but still requires the full approval cycle for each component.
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**Wait time:** The approval cycle exists because the Commission certifies each replacement component individually. For someone whose lattice is degrading now — whose professional capability is declining this month, whose perception overlays are failing this week — "6-12 months" is not an acceptable medical timeline.
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---
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## What the Ring Provides
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The ring's medical-grade replacements are the same components available through legitimate channels — same Syndic manufacturing, same specifications, same quality. The difference is distribution:
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- No Commission certification process
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- No institutional medical authorization required
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- No 6-12 month wait
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- Available at approximately 30-40% of institutional pricing
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- Installation handled through informal medical networks (retired technicians, sympathetic medics)
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**Quality:** These are not bootleg components. They are legitimate medical-grade products that have been diverted from authorized supply chains. The ring doesn't manufacture anything — it redirects what already exists.
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**Risk:** Installation outside certified facilities carries genuine medical risk. Not because the components are inferior, but because installation is a medical procedure that requires precision. The informal installation network varies in quality. Most procedures go well. Some don't. The ring doesn't advertise the risk, and buyers don't ask.
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---
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## Who Needs Them
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**Aging workers:** Long-term Sova residents whose lattices were installed 15-20+ years ago. Nodes degrade. Processing slows. These workers need replacements to maintain professional capability and daily function.
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**Economically locked-out workers:** People who could get Commission approval but can't afford the certified pricing or can't afford to wait. Their lattices are degrading now. Their jobs depend on lattice function now. The black market serves them because the legitimate market won't — not on their timeline, not at their price point.
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**Unsponsored civilians:** People without institutional employment (freelancers, small business operators, dependents) who don't have employer-subsidized lattice maintenance. The Commission system assumes institutional sponsorship. People outside institutions fall through the cracks.
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**The hidden demand:** Lattice degradation is not discussed openly. People don't announce that their perception overlays are failing or that they can't process data as fast as they used to. There's a stigma — lattice degradation reads as aging, declining capability, becoming less useful. The black market serves this hidden demand quietly, through social networks and trusted referrals.
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---
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## Why This Matters Narratively
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Medical-grade replacements are the smuggling ring's moral shield. When the ring moves [aftermarket capability upgrades](lattice-components.md), the moral case is ambiguous — desire, not need. When the ring moves [Severance equipment](severance-equipment.md), the moral case is complicated — political ideology, not community service. But medical-grade replacements are healthcare. People need these components. The legitimate system isn't providing them at accessible cost or speed.
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**For the smuggler:** Medical-grade cargo is the justification. "We're helping people" is not just rationalization — it's true. The ring serves a real medical need. This knowledge sustains the smuggler through the moral ambiguity of the rest of the operation. When the smuggler learns about Severance equipment in the cargo, the medical-grade components are the counterweight: "Yes, the cargo includes scary things, but it also includes this."
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**For the detective:** Medical-grade replacements are the complication. The detective's institutional mandate is clear: contraband is contraband. But confiscating medical-grade replacements means confiscating healthcare from people who need it. Every container of medical lattice components the detective seizes is a person whose degrading lattice won't get fixed — at least not for another 6-12 months, at a price they can't afford.
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**The convergence:** Both characters must reckon with the same fact: the ring's medical cargo serves a genuine need that legitimate institutions fail to meet. The smuggler uses this to justify the operation. The detective must confront what enforcement actually costs in human terms.
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---
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## Knowledge Graph Integration
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**FactId: `contraband.medical_grade`**
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- **Suspects:** "Some of this cargo doesn't feel like luxury goods."
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- **KnowsOf:** "Medical-grade lattice replacements. For people whose lattices are degrading and who can't afford Syndic pricing."
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- **KnowsDetails:** "The ring moves medical replacements for people locked out of the institutional system. It's not just profit — it's healthcare."
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- **Direct:** N/A (conceptual understanding)
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**Mechanical Purpose:** Moral complexity gate. Smuggler monologue shifts tone when this reaches KnowsDetails — from justification to conviction. Detective dialogue with humanitarian-focused NPCs requires KnowsOf — understanding the medical dimension changes available conversation options.
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**Related FactIds:**
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- `world.commission_regulations` (KnowsDetails: "Commission monopoly prices most citizens out of enhanced capability. Medical-grade replacements require 6-12 month approval cycles.")
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- `contraband.supply_chain` (KnowsDetails includes medical-grade components in the full chain description)
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---
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## Mechanical Integration
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**Dialogue Impact:**
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- Medical-grade knowledge gates humanitarian dialogue options
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- NPCs with degrading lattices (referenced in backstory, not visible as game mechanic) are more sympathetic to the ring
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- Trust-tier dialogue shifts when the detective demonstrates awareness of the medical dimension — some NPCs become more forthcoming, others more defensive
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**Monologue Impact:**
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- Smuggler monologue at KnowsDetails: conviction that the ring serves the community
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- Detective monologue at KnowsOf: recognition that enforcement has human costs
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- Both character monologues shift in tone when medical-grade knowledge is established
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**v0.1 Scope:**
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- Medical-grade replacements are dialogue and monologue content — not a visible gameplay mechanic
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- No player character experiences lattice degradation in the vertical slice
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- The moral dimension is expressed through NPC conversations and internal monologue, not through systems
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---
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**Cross-References:**
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- [Neural Lattice](../technology/neural-lattice.md) — The technology being replaced (degradation section)
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- [Lattice Components](lattice-components.md) — Primary contraband (capability dimension)
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- [Severance Equipment](severance-equipment.md) — Tertiary contraband (political dimension)
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- [Fact Catalog](../knowledge/fact-catalog.md) — `contraband.medical_grade` confidence progression
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- D-037: Contraband specification (moral dimension confirmed)
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---
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**Status:** Canonical — secondary contraband type (healthcare dimension)
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**Created:** 2026-02-12
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**Updated:** 2026-02-12
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# Severance Equipment (Contraband)
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**Type:** Tertiary Contraband
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**Status:** Canonical
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**Legality:** Highest-severity violation — intelligence-level enforcement response
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**Source:** Guardians of Autonomy supply chain
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**Moved By:** The ring (Sova Transit District smuggling operation — not all members aware)
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---
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## Overview
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Severance equipment is the ring's most dangerous cargo — physical [Severance technology](../technology/severance-tech.md) devices that create counter-surveillance capability: Meridian jammers, lattice disruptors, signature masking hardware. Its presence in the ring's inventory transforms a local grey-market operation into something connected to interstellar political movements.
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This is the cargo that makes the ring scary. Not because it's weapons — it's not. Because it means someone with institutional-level ambitions is using a small station's smuggling network as a distribution channel.
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---
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## What's in the Containers
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The specific Severance equipment in the ring's cargo is not fully cataloged in v0.1 — it lives in sealed containers that most ring members don't open and Nils doesn't discuss. What's known:
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**Hardware:**
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- Meridian signal jammers (localized blackout devices, portable)
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- Lattice function disruptors (area-effect devices that degrade lattice processing)
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- Signature masking units (individual-wear devices that suppress lattice tracking signatures)
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**Characteristics:**
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- Heavier than lattice components (the sealed containers Nils won't discuss are "heavier than lattice components" per fact progression)
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- Professionally manufactured — not improvised or garage-built
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- Sourced through Guardians of Autonomy supply networks
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- Transit through the same interstellar routes as the ring's other cargo
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---
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## The Guardians Connection
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The Guardians of Autonomy are a decentralized political movement spread across multiple systems in the Settled Reach. They oppose lattice-mediated institutional surveillance and advocate for individual control over perception technology. Severance technology is their tool of choice — the mechanism for opting out of the information architecture.
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**What this means for the ring:** The ring didn't set out to be part of a political movement. They started as a local commercial operation — moving lattice components to serve community demand. The Severance equipment arrived through the same supply chain, managed by the same off-station coordinator (Sabel), distributed through the same infrastructure. The ring became a Guardians distribution node by logistics, not ideology.
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**What this means for the story:** The Guardians connection is the contamination seed. It transforms the ring from "local grey market, community immune system" into "local node in an interstellar political network." Not because the ring members are political actors — most of them aren't — but because their infrastructure serves political purposes they didn't choose and may not fully understand.
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---
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## Who Knows What
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**Ring members who know:** Nils (manages the sealed containers directly), Devra (coordinates with off-station contact Sabel, likely aware). The sealed containers are Nils's domain — he handles them personally, doesn't discuss contents, stores them separately from lattice cargo.
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**Ring members who suspect:** Kael (has noticed the sealed containers, hasn't asked), Voss (provides scheduling cover for all cargo, doesn't differentiate). Others in the ring handle lattice components and medical-grade replacements; the Severance cargo moves through a tighter channel.
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**Ring members who don't know:** Kosse, Lera, Pell, and other peripheral members. They know the ring moves lattice cargo. The Severance equipment is compartmentalized.
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**The smuggler (player):** Starts without knowledge of the Severance cargo. Discovery follows the fact progression — suspicious sealed containers, Nils's evasion, eventually the truth. This discovery is the contamination moment that complicates the smuggler's moral position.
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**The detective (player):** Discovers Severance equipment through investigation — either by identifying the containers, by following the supply chain, or through NPC testimony. The discovery transforms the case.
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---
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## Why This Cargo Changes Everything
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**For the smuggler:**
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Lattice components? Serving community demand. Medical-grade replacements? Providing healthcare. Severance equipment? Enabling political actors to undermine institutional infrastructure. The moral progression is: justified → sympathetic → unsettling. The smuggler must decide whether the Guardians' cause is worth the risk, whether the ring's other cargo justifies its role as a Severance distribution point, and whether they can continue participating once they know the full picture.
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**For the detective:**
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Manifest fraud and unlicensed lattice components are a local enforcement matter. Severance equipment distribution is an intelligence-level concern. The detective's case changes from "file a report with the Commission" to "flag this for system-level authorities." The stakes of every decision — who to confront, who to protect, what to report — increase dramatically. Turning an informant isn't just building a smuggling case anymore; it's potentially exposing a Guardians network.
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**For the narrative:**
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Severance equipment is the thing that prevents the v0.1 story from being small. A smuggling ring on a freight station is a local story. A smuggling ring unknowingly serving as a node in an interstellar political movement is a story that points beyond its setting. The Severance cargo is the promise that this story has roots and branches the player can't see yet.
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---
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## Knowledge Graph Integration
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**FactId: `contraband.severance_tech`**
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- **Suspects:** "Sealed containers Nils won't discuss. Heavier than lattice components."
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- **KnowsOf:** "Severance equipment. Counter-surveillance tech. Illegal across most of the Reach."
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- **KnowsDetails:** "Guardians of Autonomy supply chain. This isn't local — it's connected to something bigger."
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- **Direct:** N/A (not directly visible in v0.1)
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**Mechanical Purpose:** Contamination seed for storyteller expansion. The thing that makes the smuggler question how deep the ring goes. The thing that transforms the detective's case from local to systemic.
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**Progression design:** Note the deliberate knowledge gap — neither character reaches Direct confidence with Severance tech in v0.1. They know it exists, they know where it comes from, but they never handle it directly or see it deployed. The technology remains slightly abstract, slightly ominous. This is intentional: Severance equipment is a thread to pull in future content, not a puzzle to solve in the vertical slice.
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---
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## Mechanical Integration
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**Narrative Function:**
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- Contamination seed (D-023 tier model: storyteller activates new content based on player proximity and engagement)
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- Escalation mechanism within the contraband portfolio (lattice → medical → Severance)
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- Trust fracture trigger for the smuggler
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- Case transformation trigger for the detective
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**Dialogue Impact:**
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- Discovery of Severance equipment changes available dialogue options with Nils, Devra, and Sabel-related threads
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- Smuggler confrontation with Nils about sealed containers is a relationship-testing moment
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- Detective reporting options bifurcate: local enforcement vs. intelligence escalation
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**v0.1 Scope:**
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- Severance equipment is knowledge content — discovered, discussed, worried about
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- No Severance technology is deployed or used in the vertical slice
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||||
- The equipment's significance is narrative (what it implies about the ring's connections) not mechanical (what it does)
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- Future scope: Severance deployment as gameplay mechanic, Guardians faction as content expansion
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---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Severance Technology](../technology/severance-tech.md) — What the equipment does and why it matters
|
||||
- [Lattice Components](lattice-components.md) — Primary contraband (commercial dimension)
|
||||
- [Medical-Grade Replacements](medical-grade-replacements.md) — Secondary contraband (healthcare dimension)
|
||||
- [Fact Catalog](../knowledge/fact-catalog.md) — `contraband.severance_tech` confidence progression
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](../world/sova-transit-district.md) — Ring operational infrastructure
|
||||
- D-037: Contraband specification
|
||||
- D-023: Three-tier content model (contamination seed for storyteller)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — tertiary contraband type (political dimension)
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
|
||||
# The Concord Assembly
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Faction — Legislative Government
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Reach-wide
|
||||
**Governance Role:** Legislative / Executive
|
||||
**Headquarters:** Core Systems (TBD)
|
||||
**Structure:** Representative legislature, proportional delegation by settled system
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Concord Assembly is the Settled Reach's representative governing body. Every settled system sends delegates proportional to population. The Assembly debates policy, regulates gate access, funds institutions, and maintains the legal framework that holds the Reach together. Sessions are held in the Core Systems and broadcast across the Meridian.
|
||||
|
||||
The Assembly is the closest thing the Reach has to a legitimate government — and legitimacy is its only real power. It doesn't control the gates (the [Veil Institute](veil-institute.md) does). It doesn't control identity technology (the [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) does). It doesn't control the economy (the [Syndics](syndics.md) do). What it controls is the law, the budget, and the fragile consensus that the Reach is better off unified than fragmented.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Control
|
||||
|
||||
- **Legal framework** for the entire Settled Reach
|
||||
- **Gate activation approvals** (though the Institute performs the actual work)
|
||||
- **Institutional funding** (Institute, Commission, military)
|
||||
- **Trade regulation and dispute mediation** between systems
|
||||
- **Citizenship law** (who qualifies for lattice implantation, re-embodiment rights)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Internal Tensions
|
||||
|
||||
**Core vs. Frontier:** The Assembly's defining fault line. Core system delegates prioritize stability, institutional power, and centralized governance. Frontier delegates want local autonomy, resource sovereignty, and reduced taxation. Every major vote splits along this axis. The frontier delegates are outnumbered by population but loud enough to be heard.
|
||||
|
||||
**Institutionalists vs. Reformers:** Some delegates believe the current system — slow, consensus-driven, deliberately cautious — is the only thing preventing the Reach from fragmenting. Others believe the system is corrupt, captured by Syndic lobbying, Perpetual influence, and institutional inertia. Both sides have evidence.
|
||||
|
||||
**Transparency vs. Security:** Assembly votes are public. Institutional budgets are not. The Commission and Institute classify everything. The Assembly funds institutions it cannot fully monitor. How much oversight should elected representatives have over organizations they created but can no longer control?
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Want
|
||||
|
||||
- **Short-term:** Prevent the Reach from fragmenting along Core-Frontier lines
|
||||
- **Long-term:** Maintain legitimacy as the governing body while real power — gate control, lattice access, economic infrastructure — is held by institutions and Syndics they can influence but not command
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Power & Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
| Power | Vulnerability |
|
||||
|-------|---------------|
|
||||
| Legal authority (universally recognized) | Depends on institutions it can't directly control |
|
||||
| Control over institutional funding | Lobbyists (Syndics, Perpetuals, Institute) shape outcomes |
|
||||
| Cultural legitimacy (represents the social contract) | Slow decision-making means reactive, not proactive |
|
||||
| Dispute mediation (the alternative is conflict) | Frontier systems questioning the contract itself |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Faction Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
| Faction | Relationship | Dynamic |
|
||||
|---------|-------------|---------|
|
||||
| [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) | Conditional ally | Legal backing; Commission enforces Assembly law but resists oversight |
|
||||
| [Veil Institute](veil-institute.md) | Conditional ally | Assembly funds Institute; Institute resists disclosure |
|
||||
| [Syndics](syndics.md) | Rival / Dependent | Assembly regulates commerce; Syndics lobby to weaken regulation |
|
||||
| [Guardians of Autonomy](guardians-of-autonomy.md) | Antagonist | Guardians undermine Assembly authority; Assembly dismisses Guardian concerns |
|
||||
| [The Unbound](the-unbound.md) | Ambivalent | Unbound citizenship rights are an unresolved legal question |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Hooks for Gameplay
|
||||
|
||||
- **Legislative events:** Player actions can trigger Assembly debates. Expose a conspiracy and an emergency session follows. Destabilize a frontier system and Separatist delegates push for autonomy.
|
||||
- **Access to institutional data:** Assembly investigators can request (but not compel) data from the Commission or Institute. Legal authority with institutional resistance.
|
||||
- **Public vs. private information:** Assembly debates are broadcast. What's said publicly differs from what's said in backrooms. The player might attend a session and overhear the real conversation afterward.
|
||||
- **Vote manipulation:** Lobbyists, Perpetuals, and factions all try to swing votes. The player can participate — gather leverage, offer information, make deals.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPC Archetypes
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Idealist Delegate:** Believes the system can work, fights for reform from within
|
||||
- **The Pragmatist Delegate:** Keeps the lights on through compromise, distasteful but functional
|
||||
- **The Captured Delegate:** In someone's pocket (Syndics, Perpetuals, Institute) — useful if you know who holds the leash
|
||||
- **The Assembly Investigator:** Legal authority meets institutional obstruction
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## v0.1 Relevance
|
||||
|
||||
The Concord Assembly is **referenced but not directly present** in the v0.1 vertical slice. Its influence is felt through:
|
||||
- The legal framework that gives the detective jurisdictional authority
|
||||
- News ticker headlines about Assembly proceedings (background texture)
|
||||
- The institutional hierarchy that assigns Commission investigators to districts like Sova
|
||||
- NPC dialogue referencing "the Assembly" as distant governance — recognized, not loved
|
||||
|
||||
The Assembly is the water the v0.1 fish swim in. Nobody in Sova Transit District thinks about the Assembly day-to-day, the same way nobody thinks about the legislature that passed the labor laws governing their shift schedule. But the Assembly's decisions created the Commission, funded the Institute, and wrote the regulations that make lattice smuggling illegal. Every tension in the district traces back to Assembly policy, however distantly.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) — Regulatory body the Assembly funds
|
||||
- [Veil Institute](veil-institute.md) — Research institution the Assembly funds
|
||||
- [Syndics](syndics.md) — Commercial interests that lobby the Assembly
|
||||
- D-036: Sova Transit District setting (Concord Assembly as governance)
|
||||
- Round 16: Full faction development
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
|
||||
# Guardians of Autonomy
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Faction — Counter-Institutional Resistance Movement
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Reach-wide (decentralized)
|
||||
**Governance Role:** Subversive / Counter-institutional
|
||||
**Headquarters:** None (decentralized cells and safe houses)
|
||||
**Structure:** Loose network of individuals and autonomous cells
|
||||
**Colloquial Name:** "Severance" (after their counter-surveillance technology)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Guardians of Autonomy are a decentralized network of individuals and groups who believe the Settled Reach's institutional infrastructure — the neural lattice, the Meridian, the imprint system — constitutes a surveillance and control apparatus so pervasive that meaningful freedom is impossible. They are not anti-technology. They are anti-*centralized* technology.
|
||||
|
||||
The Guardians occupy a precarious position in Reach society. They are dismissed as paranoid conspiracy theorists by institutional authorities, admired as civil libertarians by sympathizers, and feared as subversives by those who depend on institutional stability. The complicating factor is that the Guardians are occasionally, verifiably *right* — their intelligence networks have exposed real institutional crimes, real surveillance overreach, real cover-ups. The problem is separating the signal from the noise, because the Guardians' paranoia generates enormous quantities of both.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Do
|
||||
|
||||
- **Develop countermeasures:** Lattice spoofing, Meridian dead zone generators, signal masking, encrypted off-Meridian communication. This is "Severance" technology — the colloquial name for both the tech and, by extension, the movement.
|
||||
- **Maintain off-grid communities** that operate outside institutional oversight
|
||||
- **Run intelligence networks** that monitor institutional activities — the most extensive informal intelligence apparatus in the Reach (because paranoid people who watch institutions notice things)
|
||||
- **Investigate conspiracies, institutional overreach, and Founder-related anomalies** — with varying degrees of credibility
|
||||
- **Support whistleblowers and political dissidents** who flee institutional retaliation
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Control
|
||||
|
||||
- Counter-surveillance technology (Severance tech)
|
||||
- Intelligence networks that operate outside the Meridian
|
||||
- Safe houses, dead drops, off-grid infrastructure
|
||||
- Knowledge of institutional vulnerabilities
|
||||
- Popular support among civil libertarians, [Unbound](the-unbound.md) communities, and frontier populations
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Internal Tensions
|
||||
|
||||
**Paranoia Spectrum:** Some Guardians are rational skeptics — trained analysts with institutional backgrounds who turned whistleblower. Others see conspiracies everywhere, in every lattice update, every Commission policy, every Institute classification. The faction's credibility suffers because it's genuinely hard to distinguish signal from noise, even internally.
|
||||
|
||||
**Collaboration vs. Isolation:** Some Guardians work with Separatists, Unbound groups, or even sympathetic [Assembly](concord-assembly.md) members. They believe in building coalitions. Others trust no one outside the cell — and some don't even trust their own cell members. The organizational culture varies wildly between groups.
|
||||
|
||||
**Violence vs. Exposure:** Some Guardians believe the best weapon is information — expose institutional crimes publicly, let public opinion do the work. Others believe direct action (sabotage of surveillance infrastructure, targeted disruption of Commission operations) is the only language institutions understand. Both wings claim to represent the movement's true purpose.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Want
|
||||
|
||||
- Decentralized technology that cannot be used for mass surveillance
|
||||
- Transparency in institutional operations (especially the [Veil Institute](veil-institute.md) and [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md))
|
||||
- Protection for whistleblowers and political dissidents
|
||||
- Proof of what they suspect: that the institutions are hiding something fundamental about the Builders, the gates, or the lattice
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Power & Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
| Power | Vulnerability |
|
||||
|-------|---------------|
|
||||
| Counter-surveillance expertise (Severance tech) | Targeted by Commission as subversives |
|
||||
| Intelligence networks outside Meridian | Internal paranoia makes coordination difficult |
|
||||
| Popular support among civil libertarians | Public perception as conspiracy theorists |
|
||||
| The fact that they're occasionally *right* | Small, resource-poor, organizationally fragmented |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Faction Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
| Faction | Relationship | Dynamic |
|
||||
|---------|-------------|---------|
|
||||
| [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) | Primary antagonist | Commission IS the centralized surveillance the Guardians exist to oppose |
|
||||
| [Veil Institute](veil-institute.md) | Antagonist | Institute classification = institutional secrecy = Guardian target |
|
||||
| [Concord Assembly](concord-assembly.md) | Hostile / Conditional | Guardians undermine Assembly authority; occasional sympathetic delegates |
|
||||
| [Syndics](syndics.md) | Hostile | Guardians disrupt Syndic commerce and expose exploitative practices |
|
||||
| [The Unbound](the-unbound.md) | Ideological allies | Shared skepticism of centralized technology; different methods |
|
||||
| [The Ring](the-ring.md) | Supply chain | Severance tech flows through criminal distribution networks like the ring |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Hooks for Gameplay
|
||||
|
||||
- **Information asymmetry:** Guardians know things nobody else does — and they're dismissed as paranoid. Access to Guardian intelligence gives the player information that may be true, may be paranoid extrapolation, or may be both.
|
||||
- **Counter-surveillance gameplay:** Guardians teach the player how to spoof lattice tracking, avoid Meridian surveillance, create dead zones, operate invisibly. Essential for stealth and investigation builds.
|
||||
- **Trust dynamics:** Guardians don't trust institutions. They might not trust the player. Building relationships requires proving you're not compromised — and proving a negative is the hardest thing in the Reach.
|
||||
- **Conspiracy validation:** The storyteller (D-005) can make Guardian paranoia *justified*. Sometimes the conspiracy is real. Sometimes the Guardians were right all along. The player doesn't know which until they investigate.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPC Archetypes
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Rational Skeptic:** Legitimate investigator with credible sources and measured conclusions
|
||||
- **The True Believer:** Sees conspiracies everywhere — occasionally correct, which reinforces the pattern
|
||||
- **The Whistleblower:** Former institutional insider who fled with evidence and is now hunted by their former employer
|
||||
- **The Off-Grid Hermit:** Untraceable, unchipped, free — and perhaps more lonely than liberated
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## v0.1 Relevance
|
||||
|
||||
The Guardians are **indirectly present** in the v0.1 vertical slice through their technology:
|
||||
|
||||
- **[Severance counter-surveillance equipment](../contraband/severance-equipment.md)** is the ring's tertiary contraband. Devra uses a handheld Meridian dead zone generator during sensitive meetings in [Corridor B-7](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md). This technology originates from Guardian supply chains.
|
||||
- **The `contraband.severance_tech` FactId** represents the moment when the investigation touches something larger than a local smuggling ring. Discovering Severance tech in the ring's inventory raises the question: who is the end user? Is the ring just a distribution node in a Guardian supply chain?
|
||||
- **NPC references:** Workers in the district are aware of the Guardians as a cultural phenomenon. The [Unbound](the-unbound.md) residents are sympathetic. Mainstream workers dismiss Guardian claims the way people dismiss conspiracy theories — unless they've personally experienced Commission overreach.
|
||||
- **The Guardians are rumored** to operate in the Krenn System but are not a visible presence in Sova Transit District. This rumor is itself information: it means Guardian infrastructure exists somewhere nearby, and the ring has access to it.
|
||||
|
||||
The Guardians function in v0.1 as a narrative thread that extends beyond the vertical slice's boundaries. The Severance tech in the ring's inventory is a loose end — a reminder that the district's smuggling operation connects to something larger, something political, something the detective wasn't sent to investigate but might stumble into.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) — Primary institutional antagonist
|
||||
- [The Ring](the-ring.md) — Severance tech distribution channel
|
||||
- [The Unbound](the-unbound.md) — Ideological alignment
|
||||
- [Severance Equipment](../contraband/severance-equipment.md) — Guardian-sourced technology
|
||||
- D-037: Contraband specification (Severance as tertiary contraband)
|
||||
- Round 16: Full faction development
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
|
||||
# The Lattice Commission
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Faction — Regulatory Institution
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Reach-wide (universal jurisdiction)
|
||||
**Governance Role:** Regulatory / Enforcement
|
||||
**Headquarters:** Core Systems (TBD)
|
||||
**Structure:** Bureaucratic-hierarchical, semi-autonomous from Assembly
|
||||
**Public Perception:** "Necessary but intrusive. The tax authority of neural technology."
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Lattice Commission is the regulatory body governing neural lattice technology, imprint protocols, re-embodiment standards, and the Meridian information network. They set rules, investigate violations, certify lattice tiers, and mediate the boundary between individual privacy and institutional access.
|
||||
|
||||
The Commission is the institution most citizens interact with directly — and the one they have the most complicated feelings about. Everyone agrees lattice regulation is necessary (the alternative is uncontrolled neural modification and identity fraud). Everyone resents the Commission's intrusiveness. The tension between "we need them" and "we hate what they do" defines the Commission's position in Reach society.
|
||||
|
||||
In the v0.1 vertical slice, the Commission is the detective's employer and the smuggler's adversary. Commission regulation is what makes lattice smuggling profitable — and what makes lattice smuggling morally ambiguous, because Commission certification costs price most citizens out of enhanced lattice capability.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Regulate
|
||||
|
||||
- **Lattice implantation standards** and tier certification
|
||||
- **Imprint facility licensing** and backup protocols
|
||||
- **Re-embodiment ethics** (body matching, continuity verification, clone transfer standards)
|
||||
- **Forking prohibition** — the biggest legal and cultural taboo in the Reach. Unauthorized duplication of an imprint is the Commission's primary enforcement focus.
|
||||
- **Meridian access and data privacy** standards
|
||||
- **[Unbound](the-unbound.md) rights** — citizens who refuse lattice technology fall outside the Commission's direct regulatory framework, creating jurisdictional ambiguity
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Enforce
|
||||
|
||||
- **Anti-forking laws:** Unauthorized imprint duplication is the Reach's most severe crime
|
||||
- **Imprint theft and lattice tampering** investigations
|
||||
- **Re-embodiment protocol violations** (body trafficking, continuity fraud)
|
||||
- **Unauthorized lattice modification** — Category 3 violation. Fines and potential lattice restriction. This is the law the v0.1 smuggling ring violates.
|
||||
- **Meridian surveillance** when legally authorized (requires jurisdictional approval)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Internal Tensions
|
||||
|
||||
**Privacy vs. Security:** The Commission's defining contradiction. The neural lattice is simultaneously a personal cognitive tool and the most powerful surveillance infrastructure ever created. Commissioners who prioritize citizen privacy clash with those who prioritize societal security. Every major case tests this boundary. Neither side is wrong.
|
||||
|
||||
**Institutional Independence vs. Political Pressure:** The Commission is nominally independent. In practice, the [Assembly](concord-assembly.md) controls their budget, the [Syndics](syndics.md) lobby for deregulation that would increase profits, and the [Veil Institute](veil-institute.md) shares jurisdiction on matters touching gate technology and Builder research. The Commission's decisions have massive economic and political consequences, and everyone wants to influence them.
|
||||
|
||||
**Unbound Rights:** The Commission enforces laws that apply to lattice-bearing citizens. The [Unbound](the-unbound.md) — those who refuse lattice technology — fall outside that framework. How much authority should the Commission have over people who've opted out of the system it regulates? This question has no settled answer and generates recurring political conflict.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Want
|
||||
|
||||
- Functional regulation of the most powerful technology in the Reach
|
||||
- Institutional legitimacy and public trust
|
||||
- Prevention of forking (existential risk to identity continuity)
|
||||
- Balance between individual privacy and societal security
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Power & Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
| Power | Vulnerability |
|
||||
|-------|---------------|
|
||||
| Universal jurisdiction (every lattice-bearing citizen) | Hated by [Guardians](guardians-of-autonomy.md) (Big Brother) |
|
||||
| Legal authority to request lattice data | Resented by [Syndics](syndics.md) (want less regulation) |
|
||||
| Investigative resources + institutional backing | Pressured by [Assembly](concord-assembly.md) (clearance rates) |
|
||||
| Cultural authority (most citizens accept regulation) | Vulnerable to corruption (access to everyone's lattice data is immense leverage) |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Faction Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
| Faction | Relationship | Dynamic |
|
||||
|---------|-------------|---------|
|
||||
| [Concord Assembly](concord-assembly.md) | Conditional ally | Assembly provides legal authority; Commission resists oversight |
|
||||
| [Veil Institute](veil-institute.md) | Shared jurisdiction | Both study lattice technology; Institute classifies findings Commission needs |
|
||||
| [Syndics](syndics.md) | Rival | Commission regulates Syndic operations; Syndics lobby for deregulation |
|
||||
| [Guardians of Autonomy](guardians-of-autonomy.md) | Primary antagonist | Guardians' core mission is counter-surveillance; Commission IS the surveillance |
|
||||
| [The Unbound](the-unbound.md) | Jurisdictional tension | Unbound refuse Commission's technological basis; Commission's authority doesn't cleanly extend to them |
|
||||
| [The Ring](the-ring.md) | Enforcement target | Commission regulation creates the conditions for smuggling; Commission investigators pursue the consequences |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Hooks for Gameplay
|
||||
|
||||
- **Investigations:** Commission investigators are the Reach's closest equivalent to police. Playing as one provides legal authority, institutional resources, and political obstruction in equal measure.
|
||||
- **Lattice data as evidence:** With legal authorization, the Commission can access imprint records, lattice tracking data, Meridian activity logs. Incredibly powerful — and incredibly intrusive.
|
||||
- **Forking as high-stakes crime:** If the storyteller seeds a forking conspiracy, the Commission is the primary investigative body. The player might be hunting the same conspiracy from a different angle.
|
||||
- **Privacy as a resource:** Characters who value privacy fear the Commission. Characters who value security trust them. The player's relationship depends on build, faction, and playstyle.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPC Archetypes
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Idealist Commissioner:** Believes in privacy rights, resists institutional overreach
|
||||
- **The Authoritarian Commissioner:** Security above all other considerations
|
||||
- **The Corrupt Commissioner:** Sells lattice data, takes bribes, leverages access
|
||||
- **The Field Investigator:** Boots on the ground, navigating impossible politics
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## v0.1 Presence
|
||||
|
||||
The Commission is **directly present** in the v0.1 vertical slice:
|
||||
|
||||
- **The detective** is a Commission field investigator (or Commission-licensed operative), assigned to Sova Transit District to investigate suspected smuggling
|
||||
- **[Sera Venn](../npcs/sera-venn.md)** (THE FRIEND, detective path) is a Commission field tech stationed at Sova
|
||||
- **Commission kiosk** on Level 3 of the district — unmanned, for compliance reporting. The most recent liaison rotated out 3 months ago; replacement delayed. This institutional gap is what allowed the ring's operations to escalate.
|
||||
- **Inspection schedule:** Quarterly lattice compliance sweeps, announced 2 weeks in advance. The ring times operations around these.
|
||||
|
||||
Commission presence in Sova is intermittent by design: the system is established enough not to warrant permanent enforcement, not important enough for a dedicated office. This gap — the lag between oversight visits — is what makes small-scale smuggling viable. The detective's arrival represents an unscheduled enforcement action that disrupts the district's carefully balanced equilibrium.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Concord Assembly](concord-assembly.md) — Legal authority, funding
|
||||
- [Guardians of Autonomy](guardians-of-autonomy.md) — Primary opposition
|
||||
- [The Ring](the-ring.md) — v0.1 enforcement target
|
||||
- [Sera Venn](../npcs/sera-venn.md) — THE FRIEND, Commission field tech
|
||||
- D-037: Contraband specification (Commission regulation as root cause)
|
||||
- D-017: Perception modes (lattice tiers as Commission-regulated capability)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
|
||||
# The Syndics
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Faction — Commercial Network
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Reach-wide
|
||||
**Governance Role:** Commercial / Economic
|
||||
**Headquarters:** Distributed (no central authority)
|
||||
**Structure:** Network of competing commercial interests — shipping combines, re-embodiment consortia, span gate construction firms, Meridian service providers, information brokers
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Syndics are not a faction in the ideological sense. They are a network of commercial interests that operate across the Settled Reach. They don't have a manifesto. They have portfolios.
|
||||
|
||||
Shipping combines, re-embodiment consortia, span gate construction firms, Meridian service providers, information brokers — the Syndics are the economic infrastructure of the Reach. They build the span gates, manufacture the bodies, run the freight networks, and operate the commercial layer of the Meridian. If you move between systems, buy a new body, access entertainment, or receive a shipment, you're touching Syndic infrastructure.
|
||||
|
||||
The Syndics' power comes not from ideology or legal authority but from the fact that the Reach cannot function without them. They are the reason re-embodiment is widely accessible — and the reason it's commodified. The player navigates that tension.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Control
|
||||
|
||||
- **Re-embodiment infrastructure:** Most body manufacturing and imprint facilities are Syndic-operated. The [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) regulates them, but the Syndics own the means of resurrection.
|
||||
- **Span gate construction:** Local infrastructure (interplanetary gates) is built by Syndic firms under [Assembly](concord-assembly.md) contract. This gives them leverage over system development.
|
||||
- **Meridian commercial layer:** Advertising, entertainment, commerce, data brokerage. If you access the Meridian, you're using Syndic infrastructure.
|
||||
- **Shipping and logistics:** Moving goods between systems requires gate access, which requires Syndic shipping networks. Sova Transit District exists because Syndic logistics demands exist.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Internal Tensions
|
||||
|
||||
**Stability vs. Disruption:** Some Syndics profit from stability — logistics, bodies, established markets. Others profit from disruption — frontier speculation, new gate activations, crisis arbitrage. These competing interests lobby the Assembly for opposite policies.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monopoly vs. Competition:** Syndic combines compete with each other for contracts, gate access, and system dominance. Alliance structures are transactional and temporary. Today's partner is tomorrow's competitor if the margins shift.
|
||||
|
||||
**Regulation vs. Deregulation:** The Commission's regulatory authority limits Syndic profit in re-embodiment and Meridian data access. Some Syndics want deregulation to increase margins. Others want regulation to lock out smaller competitors who can't afford compliance costs. Both sides frame their position as being about public welfare.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Want
|
||||
|
||||
- Predictable returns on infrastructure investments
|
||||
- Access to new markets (frontier systems, new gate activations)
|
||||
- Favorable regulatory environments (or regulators they can influence)
|
||||
- Perpetual clients (literally — long-lived citizens are their best customers)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Power & Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
| Power | Vulnerability |
|
||||
|-------|---------------|
|
||||
| Economic: control over resurrection, infrastructure, logistics | Dependent on gate access they don't control |
|
||||
| Information: commercial data flows across the Reach | Vulnerable to Assembly regulation |
|
||||
| Influence: lobbyists in Assembly, relationships with Perpetuals | Public backlash if re-embodiment becomes inaccessible or exploitative |
|
||||
| Indispensability: the Reach can't function without them | Competition — Syndics undercut each other constantly |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Faction Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
| Faction | Relationship | Dynamic |
|
||||
|---------|-------------|---------|
|
||||
| [Concord Assembly](concord-assembly.md) | Rival / Client | Assembly awards contracts, regulates commerce; Syndics lobby to shape regulation |
|
||||
| [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) | Rival | Commission regulates Syndic operations; Syndics push for deregulation |
|
||||
| [Veil Institute](veil-institute.md) | Collaborative / Competitive | Syndics want access to gate technology for commercial exploitation |
|
||||
| [Guardians of Autonomy](guardians-of-autonomy.md) | Antagonist | Guardians disrupt Syndic commerce and expose exploitative practices |
|
||||
| [The Unbound](the-unbound.md) | Market gap | Unbound don't participate in Syndic re-embodiment economy; represent untapped or unreachable market |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Hooks for Gameplay
|
||||
|
||||
- **Commercial intelligence:** Syndics track money, bodies, shipments. Working with Syndics gives access to financial records, supply chain data, body transfer logs.
|
||||
- **Bribery and leverage:** Syndics operate transactionally. They'll sell information, provide bodies, grant access — for a price or a favor.
|
||||
- **Infrastructure control:** Syndics can deny services. No imprint backup? No body on arrival? That's a Syndic decision. They can also be coerced, bribed, or hacked.
|
||||
- **Moral complexity:** Syndics aren't evil. They built the resurrection economy. But they also commodified it. The player navigates that.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPC Archetypes
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Fixer:** Broker who can get anything for a price — the living embodiment of transactional relationships
|
||||
- **The Consortium Executive:** Long-term thinker who invests in stability because stability is profitable
|
||||
- **The Frontier Speculator:** Opportunist who profits from chaos — new gates, new markets, new crises
|
||||
- **The Syndic Insider:** Has dirt on everyone and trades in leverage as naturally as breathing
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## v0.1 Relevance
|
||||
|
||||
The Syndics are **referenced but not directly present** in the v0.1 vertical slice. Their influence is felt through:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Sova Logistics Consortium:** The district's primary employer is a Syndic operation. Workers at [The Terminal](../locations/krenn-system/the-terminal.md) work for a Syndic-affiliated freight handling company. Their wages, schedules, and working conditions are Syndic-determined.
|
||||
- **Supply chain:** The contraband moving through the ring originates in Syndic-adjacent manufacturing — aftermarket lattice components and medical-grade neural replacements diverted from Syndic supply chains (D-037).
|
||||
- **Economic pressure:** The wage-to-cost-of-living squeeze that makes smuggling rational is a consequence of Syndic pricing. Medical-grade lattice replacements are expensive because Syndics control the legitimate supply chain.
|
||||
- **NPC dialogue:** Workers reference "the consortium" or "corporate" as the distant entity that sets their pay and conditions. It's not personal — the Syndics don't have a face in Sova. They have a payroll system.
|
||||
|
||||
The Syndics are the economic water the district swims in. They created the conditions for the smuggling operation without ever intending to, simply by pricing the legitimate market at a level that makes black-market alternatives rational.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) — Regulates Syndic operations
|
||||
- [Concord Assembly](concord-assembly.md) — Awards contracts, sets regulation
|
||||
- [The Terminal](../locations/krenn-system/the-terminal.md) — Syndic-affiliated employer
|
||||
- D-037: Contraband specification (Syndic supply chain as diversion source)
|
||||
- D-036: Sova Transit District (Syndic logistics consortium as employer)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
|
||||
# The Ring (Sova Smuggling Operation)
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Faction — Informal Criminal Network
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Local (Sova Transit District)
|
||||
**Governance Role:** None (informal economy)
|
||||
**Headquarters:** None (distributed across district, coordination in [maintenance corridors](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md))
|
||||
**Structure:** Flat hierarchy, informal, no official name
|
||||
**Informal Names:** "The arrangement," "the side work," "helping out" — NPCs refer to it obliquely, never directly
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Ring is not an organization. It is an arrangement — a network of logistics workers in Sova Transit District who use their freight access to move contraband through the span gate system. The ring has no charter, no insignia, no recruitment process. It exists because the economic conditions in the district make smuggling a rational supplement to legitimate income, and because the community has collectively decided that what happens between the wall layers is not their concern.
|
||||
|
||||
The ring has been operating for approximately two years. In that time, it has become part of the district's unofficial economy. People know, or suspect, or deliberately don't ask. The ring isn't violent. It isn't chaotic. It's a business that runs alongside the legitimate one, and most of the district's 800 residents have decided that's fine.
|
||||
|
||||
This is the social fabric the detective walks into. This is the life the smuggler protects.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Move
|
||||
|
||||
Three categories of contraband, in order of volume (D-037):
|
||||
|
||||
1. **[Unlicensed lattice components](../contraband/lattice-components.md)** (primary): Aftermarket neural lattice modifications that bypass [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) certification. Enhanced capability mods, custom occupational modifications, components that let people exceed their certified lattice tier. The ring is smuggling *access*, not weapons.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **[Medical-grade neural replacements](../contraband/medical-grade-replacements.md)** (secondary): Replacement lattice components diverted from [Syndic](syndics.md) supply chains. For people whose lattices are degrading and who can't afford institutional replacement through certified channels. This is healthcare — and the moral dimension that makes the ring sympathetic.
|
||||
|
||||
3. **[Severance counter-surveillance technology](../contraband/severance-equipment.md)** (tertiary): Equipment sourced from [Guardians of Autonomy](guardians-of-autonomy.md) supply chains. Small-scale — handheld Meridian dead zone generators, lattice spoofing tools. The ring doesn't care about ideology; they move product. But the product has political implications.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Structure
|
||||
|
||||
**Flat hierarchy. No titles. No formal roles.** People do what they're good at.
|
||||
|
||||
| Function | NPC | How It Works |
|
||||
|----------|-----|-------------|
|
||||
| Off-station coordination | Nils Davan (off-stage, Kael's older sibling) | Gives orders, arranges incoming shipments, communicates through dead drops |
|
||||
| Local coordination | [Devra](../npcs/devra.md) | Manages operations, maintains off-station contacts, legitimate business front at bar |
|
||||
| Scheduling cover | [Voss](../npcs/voss.md) | Adjusts shift schedules to create coverage gaps. Takes a cut. |
|
||||
| Cargo handling | [Kael Davan](../npcs/kael-davan.md) | Physically routes flagged containers to holding area during legitimate shift work |
|
||||
| Inspection bypass | [Torek Lintar](../npcs/torek-lintar.md) | Compromised inspector — looks away during inspection of flagged containers |
|
||||
| Courier | [Renn](../npcs/renn.md) | Transfers contraband from Terminal to [Corridor B-7](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md) during night shifts |
|
||||
| Distribution | [Pell](../npcs/pell.md) | Dead drop pickups, local distribution. Wavering — considering cooperation with authorities. |
|
||||
| Lookout | [Tav](../npcs/tav.md) | Watches entry points during corridor operations |
|
||||
| Handoff point | [Lera Sessik](../npcs/lera-sessik.md) | [The Last Shift](../locations/krenn-system/the-last-shift.md) back room serves as a handoff point. Lera knows. Lera doesn't ask. |
|
||||
| Off-station fence | [Sabel](../npcs/sabel.md) | Receives and distributes contraband to end users off-station |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## How It Works
|
||||
|
||||
1. Contraband arrives in legitimate freight shipments (mixed with legal cargo, doctored manifests)
|
||||
2. [Torek](../npcs/torek-lintar.md) looks away during inspection at The Terminal
|
||||
3. [Kael](../npcs/kael-davan.md) and others route flagged containers to temporary holding area
|
||||
4. During night shift (01:00-04:00), [Renn](../npcs/renn.md) transfers cargo through the break room service hatch to [Corridor B-7](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md)
|
||||
5. [Devra](../npcs/devra.md) coordinates with [Sabel](../npcs/sabel.md) for off-station distribution
|
||||
6. Small items go to the dead drop alcove for [Pell](../npcs/pell.md) to collect
|
||||
7. Larger items move through Lera's back room at [The Last Shift](../locations/krenn-system/the-last-shift.md)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing:** Operations occur every third night shift rotation, during shift transitions when oversight is thinnest. Post-inspection windows (2-3 days after scheduled Commission sweeps) are preferred for larger shipments.
|
||||
|
||||
**Security model:** Normalcy. Nobody does anything dramatic. Everything happens within the flow of legitimate work. If a container is flagged, it's rescheduled. If someone is watched, they go quiet. Patience is the ring's greatest asset.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Community Role
|
||||
|
||||
The ring is the district's economic immune system. The honest truth is that people who don't participate directly still benefit:
|
||||
|
||||
- **The bar profits** from ring members buying drinks and conducting business
|
||||
- **Maintenance workers** get tips for "noticing things late"
|
||||
- **Families** get lattice upgrades they couldn't afford through legitimate channels
|
||||
- **Medical needs** get met through diverted medical-grade components
|
||||
- **The general economy** benefits from supplemental income circulating through local businesses
|
||||
|
||||
A ring member earns an extra 400-800 credits/month beyond their standard logistics salary of 2,400 credits/month. In a district where living costs run ~2,200 credits/month and margin is 200 credits, that supplemental income transforms "barely comfortable" into "secure."
|
||||
|
||||
This is why the community tolerates the ring. Not because people are criminal or corrupt, but because the arrangement serves real needs that the legitimate economy doesn't. Everyone has made an implicit calculation: the risk of exposure is lower than the cost of losing the supplemental income.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
The ring has been operating long enough that cracks are forming:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Spending tells:** [Torek](../npcs/torek-lintar.md) has been spending visibly beyond a standard dock worker's income — new jacket, buying rounds, lattice accessories. This is the most observable vulnerability.
|
||||
- **Wavering members:** [Pell](../npcs/pell.md) is considering cooperation with authorities. Their increasingly erratic behavior (shorter dead drop visits, social withdrawal) is observable.
|
||||
- **Internal suspicion:** [Renn](../npcs/renn.md) suspects Pell is unreliable and has communicated this to Devra/Nils. Internal tension creates observable social friction.
|
||||
- **Escalation pressure:** Nils (off-station) is pushing for higher volume. Local operators want to keep things small. This creates friction between ambition and safety.
|
||||
- **The detective:** An unscheduled enforcement presence in a district accustomed to intermittent oversight. The detective's arrival is the external pressure that tests every crack.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
### Knowledge Graph Flags
|
||||
|
||||
| FactId | Smuggler Starting Level | Detective Starting Level |
|
||||
|--------|------------------------|-------------------------|
|
||||
| `contraband.ring_exists` | KnowsDetails (member) | Suspects (case briefing mentions irregularities) |
|
||||
| `contraband.lattice_components` | KnowsDetails (handles cargo) | None → Suspects (manifest analysis) |
|
||||
| `contraband.supply_chain` | KnowsOf (knows general flow) | None |
|
||||
| `relationship.ring_membership` | KnowsDetails (knows who's in) | None → builds through investigation |
|
||||
|
||||
### Perception Differences
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler sees:** Family. Colleagues. The people who make the arrangement work. Each member has a name, a history, a reason for being involved. Voss has a daughter who needed lattice surgery. Kael's doing it for Hael. Renn needs the money. The ring isn't a criminal organization — it's mutual aid that happens to be illegal.
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective sees:** A network. Nodes and connections. Behavioral patterns that suggest coordination. Manifest discrepancies that suggest doctoring. Financial anomalies that suggest supplemental income. The ring is a case — a puzzle to be solved, a structure to be mapped, evidence to be assembled.
|
||||
|
||||
Both perspectives are accurate. Neither is complete.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Thematic Function
|
||||
|
||||
The ring exists to pose the game's central moral question: *Is this wrong?*
|
||||
|
||||
The smuggler knows the people. The detective sees the crime. The player, regardless of character, must decide what the arrangement means. Is the ring a service or a violation? Is the detective doing justice or doing harm? Is there a resolution that doesn't break something the community needs?
|
||||
|
||||
The ring has no clean answer. That's the point.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](../world/sova-transit-district.md) — The ring's territory
|
||||
- [The Terminal](../locations/krenn-system/the-terminal.md) — Where cargo enters the ring's pipeline
|
||||
- [The Last Shift](../locations/krenn-system/the-last-shift.md) — Handoff point, social coordination
|
||||
- [Maintenance Corridors](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md) — Physical smuggling route
|
||||
- [NPC Index](../npcs/index.md) — Ring member profiles
|
||||
- D-037: Contraband specification
|
||||
- D-027: Vertical slice definition
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — v0.1 core narrative element
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
|
||||
# The Unbound
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Faction — Cultural Movement
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Reach-wide (concentrated on frontier)
|
||||
**Governance Role:** None (cultural/philosophical position, not a political organization)
|
||||
**Headquarters:** None (no organizational structure)
|
||||
**Structure:** Decentralized, voluntary, individual choice
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Unbound are citizens of the Settled Reach who have chosen to live without a neural lattice. In a civilization where the lattice is as universal as breathing — used for communication, work, identity verification, information access, re-embodiment backup — choosing to go without is a radical act. Radical, and profoundly inconvenient.
|
||||
|
||||
The Unbound are not a faction in the organizational sense. They have no leaders, no charter, no political agenda. "Unbound" is a description, not a membership card. What unites them is a shared rejection of the neural lattice and the institutional infrastructure built around it — the [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md)'s regulatory framework, the Meridian network, the imprint backup system, and the assumptions about identity and continuity that lattice technology enables.
|
||||
|
||||
The motivations for going Unbound are diverse: philosophical conviction (the lattice mediates experience in ways that diminish authentic consciousness), religious belief (various traditions across the Reach consider the lattice a violation of natural cognition), political protest (refusing the Commission's jurisdiction by refusing the technology it regulates), frontier practicality (some settlements predate reliable lattice infrastructure), or simply personal choice.
|
||||
|
||||
The result is the same: Unbound citizens exist outside the surveillance, communication, and identity systems that structure everyone else's life. They cannot be tracked by lattice signature. They cannot access the Meridian. They cannot back up their neural imprint. When an Unbound person dies, they die permanently. This makes them invisible to institutional systems — and profoundly vulnerable in ways that lattice-bearing citizens cannot fully comprehend.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What It Means to Be Unbound
|
||||
|
||||
### What You Lose
|
||||
- **Meridian access:** No information network. No real-time news, no messaging, no entertainment feeds, no digital commerce. Communication is voice, written text, or physical presence.
|
||||
- **Identity verification:** Lattice signatures are the Reach's primary ID system. Without one, you cannot be automatically identified. This is both a freedom and a burden — boarding a ship, entering a restricted area, or proving your identity requires alternative documentation.
|
||||
- **Re-embodiment backup:** No imprint means no resurrection. Death is death. This is the most consequential choice: in a civilization where most people functionally cannot die, the Unbound accept mortality.
|
||||
- **Enhanced perception:** No lattice overlay, no augmented senses, no institutional data feeds. What you see is what your biology provides. For most Unbound, this feels like clarity. For institutional citizens, it would feel like blindness.
|
||||
- **Economic participation:** Many economic systems assume lattice connectivity. Unbound citizens operate in parallel economies — physical currency, barter, analog record-keeping.
|
||||
|
||||
### What You Gain
|
||||
- **Privacy:** Total, absolute, structural privacy. No one can track you, read your lattice data, access your imprint, or monitor your cognitive activity. The Commission has no jurisdiction over a mind it cannot reach.
|
||||
- **Cognitive autonomy:** No external influence on your thought processes. No subliminal Meridian advertising. No lattice-mediated emotional regulation. No institutional access to your neural patterns.
|
||||
- **Mortality as meaning:** The Unbound philosophical position holds that death gives life weight. When you cannot be resurrected, every moment is singular. This is not a consolation — it's a conviction.
|
||||
- **Community:** Unbound communities develop intense social bonds precisely because they cannot rely on institutional safety nets. Trust is personal, not technologically mediated.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Internal Tensions
|
||||
|
||||
**Diversity of Motivation:** The Unbound are not a unified movement. A frontier farmer who never had lattice access has little in common with a Core Systems philosopher who removed theirs as an act of intellectual commitment. A religious Unbound community in the mid-Reach shares few values with anarchist Unbound cells in frontier stations. The label unites people whose choices have the same external form but very different internal reasons.
|
||||
|
||||
**Engagement vs. Withdrawal:** Some Unbound advocate for political engagement — representation in the [Assembly](concord-assembly.md), legal protections, institutional accommodation. Others believe engagement with institutional systems is itself a compromise. The withdrawal position holds that the only authentic Unbound life is one that exists entirely outside the lattice-bearing world.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability vs. Freedom:** The Unbound's greatest asset (invisibility to institutional systems) is also their greatest vulnerability. Without lattice tracking, Unbound citizens can disappear — into frontier margins, into criminal networks, into exploitation. The Commission's limited jurisdiction over Unbound populations means fewer protections as well as fewer constraints.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Want
|
||||
|
||||
The Unbound don't have unified demands. Individual Unbound might want:
|
||||
- Legal recognition of non-lattice identity systems
|
||||
- Protection from discrimination in employment, housing, and services
|
||||
- Accommodation in institutional systems that assume lattice connectivity
|
||||
- Simply to be left alone
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Faction Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
| Faction | Relationship | Dynamic |
|
||||
|---------|-------------|---------|
|
||||
| [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) | Jurisdictional tension | Unbound refuse the technology the Commission regulates; Commission's authority doesn't cleanly extend to them |
|
||||
| [Concord Assembly](concord-assembly.md) | Ambivalent | Unbound citizenship rights are an unresolved legal question; some Assembly delegates advocate for them, others ignore them |
|
||||
| [Guardians of Autonomy](guardians-of-autonomy.md) | Ideological allies | Shared skepticism of centralized technology; Guardians use tech to resist tech, Unbound simply refuse it. Different methods, overlapping values. |
|
||||
| [Syndics](syndics.md) | Market gap | Unbound don't participate in Syndic re-embodiment economy; too small a population to matter commercially |
|
||||
| [Veil Institute](veil-institute.md) | Minimal | Institute studies technology the Unbound reject; some Institute researchers view Unbound cognition as a research interest (ethically fraught) |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Cultural Significance
|
||||
|
||||
The Unbound matter disproportionately to their numbers because they represent the road not taken. In a civilization built on neural technology, the Unbound are a living question: *What if we didn't?*
|
||||
|
||||
Every lattice-bearing citizen has, at some level, accepted that their mind is connected to institutional infrastructure. The Unbound haven't. Their existence is a constant, quiet challenge to the assumption that lattice integration is natural, inevitable, or good. For some citizens, this is threatening. For others, it's fascinating. For most, it's irrelevant — until they need to interact with an Unbound person and realize how thoroughly their own life depends on technology they've never questioned.
|
||||
|
||||
The Unbound also represent the only people in the Reach who face permanent death. This gives their choices a weight that lattice-bearing citizens — who treat death as an interruption, not an ending — cannot fully appreciate. When an Unbound person risks their life, they're risking everything.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## v0.1 Relevance
|
||||
|
||||
The Unbound are **peripherally present** in the v0.1 vertical slice:
|
||||
|
||||
- **A few district residents are Unbound by choice** — mostly older workers who came from frontier backgrounds. They're known, accepted, and unremarkable. Nobody makes a fuss about it. This is consistent with Krenn System culture: mind your business.
|
||||
- **Olin** (drifter/new arrival at [The Last Shift](../locations/krenn-system/the-last-shift.md)) may or may not be Unbound. Olin's lattice status is ambiguous — they don't have a detectable lattice signature, which could mean they're Unbound, or that they're using Severance spoofing technology, or that their lattice is non-standard. This ambiguity is load-bearing for the detective's investigation: an absent lattice signature is data, and the interpretation of that data depends on the detective's assumptions.
|
||||
- **Moral context:** The Unbound's existence enriches the contraband question. Some of the ring's medical-grade lattice components serve people transitioning *into* lattice use from Unbound status — or people whose lattices are failing and who face a choice between expensive institutional replacement and becoming effectively Unbound. The Unbound aren't just a philosophical position; they're the alternative that lattice smuggling helps people avoid.
|
||||
- **The detective's analytical lattice** cannot automatically identify Unbound citizens. In a district where the detective's primary investigative tool is lattice-mediated perception, Unbound individuals are blind spots — people who exist outside the detective's institutional gaze. This is mechanically significant.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) — Jurisdictional tension
|
||||
- [Guardians of Autonomy](guardians-of-autonomy.md) — Ideological allies
|
||||
- [Olin](../npcs/olin.md) — Ambiguous lattice status (v0.1)
|
||||
- D-017: Perception modes (Unbound exist outside lattice-mediated perception)
|
||||
- D-037: Contraband specification (medical context for lattice access)
|
||||
- Round 16: Full faction development
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
|
||||
# The Veil Institute
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Faction — Research Institution
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Reach-wide
|
||||
**Governance Role:** Research / Containment
|
||||
**Headquarters:** Core Systems (TBD, likely near high-bleed Founder Gates)
|
||||
**Structure:** Academic-institutional, semi-autonomous from Assembly
|
||||
**Mandate:** Study Founder gate technology, the Interstitium, Builder phenomena, and gate activation
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Veil Institute is the Settled Reach's primary institution for studying the setting's deepest mysteries: the Founder Gates that enable interstellar travel, the Interstitium through which those gates transit, the Builder civilization that may or may not have created them, and the anomalous phenomena (Gyre events, perception effects, signals) that emerge from the boundaries of understood physics.
|
||||
|
||||
The Institute is funded by the [Concord Assembly](concord-assembly.md) and operates with semi-autonomous authority. In practice, this means they take Assembly money and resist Assembly oversight. The Institute knows more about the infrastructure of the Reach than any other faction — and shares the least.
|
||||
|
||||
This tension — between knowledge and disclosure, between research autonomy and democratic accountability, between studying existential mysteries and controlling who gets to know what they find — defines the Institute's character. They are simultaneously the Reach's greatest hope for understanding the universe and its most opaque institution.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Control
|
||||
|
||||
- **High-bleed Founder Gates:** Direct access to and study of gates exhibiting anomalous Interstitial interactions
|
||||
- **Gyre event response and classification:** When something strange happens near a gate, the Institute responds, investigates, and classifies. The classification is often more restrictive than the event warrants.
|
||||
- **Gate activation research and execution:** When the Assembly approves activation of a dormant Founder Gate, the Institute does the work
|
||||
- **Interstitial data collection:** Sensor arrays, transit logs, anomaly detection systems
|
||||
- **Classified research archives:** The largest collection of information about the Reach's infrastructure that no one is allowed to read
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Internal Tensions
|
||||
|
||||
**Publish vs. Classify:** The Institute's defining conflict. Field researchers want to share findings with the scientific community — that's what science is. Administrators classify everything for "security reasons." The real motivations vary: institutional control, fear of public panic, evidence of something they don't want known, or genuine concern that some knowledge is dangerous. The result is the same: the people who discover things are not allowed to tell anyone.
|
||||
|
||||
**Contact vs. Containment:** Some researchers believe Builder contact — or at least a deeper understanding of Builder phenomena — is the Institute's ultimate goal. Others believe Builder phenomena are existential threats to be managed and contained, not engaged with. Institute policy oscillates between these poles depending on recent events and who's directing research.
|
||||
|
||||
**Assembly Oversight vs. Autonomy:** The Institute is funded by elected officials but resists democratic accountability. How much authority should the Assembly have over research that might determine the fate of the species? The Institute argues that political interference in existential research is dangerous. The Assembly argues that unaccountable institutions with existential knowledge are more dangerous.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What They Want
|
||||
|
||||
- Resources to study the gates and the Builders
|
||||
- Autonomy to pursue research without political interference
|
||||
- Control over gate activation decisions
|
||||
- Containment of Builder-related phenomena that could destabilize the Reach
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Power & Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
| Power | Vulnerability |
|
||||
|-------|---------------|
|
||||
| Monopoly on gate activation expertise | Dependent on Assembly funding |
|
||||
| Control over high-bleed gates and Interstitial data | Public distrust due to classification policies |
|
||||
| Institutional authority backed by Assembly | Internal leaks (whistleblowers defecting to [Guardians](guardians-of-autonomy.md)) |
|
||||
| Knowledge of what's actually happening at the infrastructure level | Existential risk if they mishandle a Gyre event or gate activation |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Faction Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
| Faction | Relationship | Dynamic |
|
||||
|---------|-------------|---------|
|
||||
| [Concord Assembly](concord-assembly.md) | Conditional ally | Assembly funds Institute; Institute resists oversight. Mutual dependence, mutual resentment. |
|
||||
| [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) | Shared jurisdiction | Both study neural technology at different levels; Commission wants Institute data that Institute classifies |
|
||||
| [Syndics](syndics.md) | Competitive / Collaborative | Syndics want commercial exploitation of gate technology; Institute wants research control |
|
||||
| [Guardians of Autonomy](guardians-of-autonomy.md) | Antagonist | Guardians see Institute classification as institutional secrecy; Institute sees Guardians as a leak risk |
|
||||
| [The Unbound](the-unbound.md) | Minimal contact | Unbound reject the technology the Institute studies; Institute views Unbound as research subjects (ethically fraught) |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Hooks for Gameplay
|
||||
|
||||
- **Classification as gameplay barrier:** The Institute has the answers. Getting access is the challenge. Institutional authority, hacking, social engineering, whistleblowers, theft — the player has options, all of them costly.
|
||||
- **Perception scaling:** Institute researchers at higher ascension tiers perceive more during gate transits. Playing as or working with the Institute ties directly to the perception mode system (D-017) and the Builder mystery.
|
||||
- **Gyre events as investigation triggers:** The storyteller spawns a Gyre event. The Institute responds. The player investigates. What the Institute says publicly versus what they actually know creates investigative tension.
|
||||
- **Moral ambiguity:** The Institute classifies things for legitimate security reasons — and to cover up their own mistakes, ethical violations, or existential ignorance. The player navigates that distinction.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPC Archetypes
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Field Researcher:** Wants to publish, frustrated by classification, believes knowledge should be free
|
||||
- **The Administrator:** Institutional control over scientific truth — not evil, just convinced secrecy is necessary
|
||||
- **The Whistleblower:** Defected with evidence, now targeted by the institution they served
|
||||
- **The True Believer:** Convinced Builder contact is imminent and transformative — and may be right
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## v0.1 Relevance
|
||||
|
||||
The Veil Institute is **not present** in the v0.1 vertical slice. Its relevance is entirely contextual:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Gate infrastructure:** The Founder Gates and span gates that the district depends on exist because the Institute activated them. The span gate hum that defines Sova's atmosphere is, ultimately, an Institute-managed phenomenon.
|
||||
- **Future narrative threads:** The Severance technology in the ring's contraband (D-037) hints at Guardian operations, which hints at institutional secrets the Guardians are trying to expose, which hints at the Institute. The thread is there for future development but not pulled in v0.1.
|
||||
- **Worldbuilding depth:** NPC dialogue might reference "the Institute" in the same way people reference NASA — a distant, prestigious, vaguely mysterious institution that does important things nobody fully understands.
|
||||
|
||||
The Institute is important for the full game's narrative architecture. For v0.1, it provides background depth — the sense that the universe extends beyond what the player can see.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Concord Assembly](concord-assembly.md) — Funding body
|
||||
- [Lattice Commission](lattice-commission.md) — Shared jurisdiction
|
||||
- [Guardians of Autonomy](guardians-of-autonomy.md) — Primary opposition (leaks, exposure)
|
||||
- D-017: Perception modes (Institute research connects to lattice tier system)
|
||||
- Round 16: Full faction development
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
|
||||
# The Settled Reach — Game Wiki
|
||||
|
||||
**Project:** The Settled Reach (top-down immersive sim)
|
||||
**Setting:** Original IP, Commonwealth-inspired
|
||||
**v0.1 Vertical Slice:** Sova Transit District, Krenn System
|
||||
**Purpose:** Canonical reference for all content, mechanics, and worldbuilding
|
||||
|
||||
## How to Use This Wiki
|
||||
|
||||
This wiki serves three audiences:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Content creators** (writers, designers): Use this as source material for dialogue, monologue, NPC profiles, and environmental text. All entries marked `canonical` are setting truth.
|
||||
2. **System implementers** (engineers): Reference this for mechanical integration points — knowledge graph flags, perception modes, faction mechanics.
|
||||
3. **The team** (everyone): Cross-reference between decisions (`decisions/*.md`) and implementation. The wiki is WHERE, decisions are WHY.
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-reference format:** Wiki entries link to decision documents where relevant. Example: Neural lattice tiers implement D-017 (perception modes as character build).
|
||||
|
||||
**Status levels:** `canonical` (confirmed), `draft` (in review), `proposed` (under consideration). Only use canonical entries as truth.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Wiki Structure
|
||||
|
||||
### World (Spatial Hierarchy)
|
||||
- [Krenn System](world/krenn-system.md) — Mid-Reach G3V system, ~180 years settled
|
||||
- [Station Sova](world/station-sova.md) — Logistics hub, ~12k population
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](world/sova-transit-district.md) — v0.1 setting, freight logistics district
|
||||
|
||||
### Locations (Physical Spaces — nested by system)
|
||||
- **Krenn System:**
|
||||
- [The Terminal](locations/krenn-system/the-terminal.md) — Logistics hub (workplace social site)
|
||||
- [The Last Shift](locations/krenn-system/the-last-shift.md) — Bar / "Lera's" (social venue)
|
||||
- [Maintenance Corridors](locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md) — Smuggling spaces, Corridor B-7
|
||||
|
||||
### Factions (Political & Institutional)
|
||||
- [Concord Assembly](factions/concord-assembly.md) — Reach-wide representative government
|
||||
- [Lattice Commission](factions/lattice-commission.md) — Neural lattice regulatory body
|
||||
- [Syndics](factions/syndics.md) — Supply chain operators
|
||||
- [The Ring](factions/the-ring.md) — Sova smuggling operation (informal)
|
||||
- [Guardians of Autonomy](factions/guardians-of-autonomy.md) — Counter-surveillance movement
|
||||
- [Veil Institute](factions/veil-institute.md) — Founder Gate research institution
|
||||
- [The Unbound](factions/the-unbound.md) — Anti-lattice cultural movement
|
||||
|
||||
### NPCs (Named Characters)
|
||||
- [NPC Index](npcs/index.md) — Full roster with tier assignments + triangle diagram
|
||||
- **Tier 1 (FRIEND NPCs):**
|
||||
- [Kael Davan](npcs/kael-davan.md) — Smuggler's FRIEND (dock worker, ring member)
|
||||
- [Sera Venn](npcs/sera-venn.md) — Detective's FRIEND (Commission field tech)
|
||||
- **Tier 2 (Triangle NPCs):**
|
||||
- [Voss](npcs/voss.md) — Shift supervisor
|
||||
- [Lera Sessik](npcs/lera-sessik.md) — Bar owner
|
||||
- [Torek Lintar](npcs/torek-lintar.md) — Dock worker / bar regular
|
||||
- [Devra](npcs/devra.md) — Ring coordinator
|
||||
- [Maret Korr](npcs/maret-korr.md) — Freight scheduler
|
||||
- [Resha](npcs/resha.md) — New hire
|
||||
- [Harek](npcs/harek.md) — Off-duty security
|
||||
- [Hael](npcs/hael.md) — Kael's partner (referenced)
|
||||
- [Renn](npcs/renn.md) — Courier (ring + hub bridge)
|
||||
- [Pell](npcs/pell.md) — Wavering ring member
|
||||
- **Tier 3 (Flat NPCs):**
|
||||
- [Drin](npcs/drin.md) — Maintenance tech
|
||||
- [Sess](npcs/sess.md) — Bartender
|
||||
- [Olin](npcs/olin.md) — Drifter/new arrival
|
||||
- [Sabel](npcs/sabel.md) — Off-station supplier
|
||||
- [Tav](npcs/tav.md) — Lookout/runner
|
||||
|
||||
### Technology (Systems & Devices)
|
||||
- [Neural Lattice](technology/neural-lattice.md) — Universal brain-computer interface, tiered
|
||||
- [Meridian](technology/meridian.md) — Information network
|
||||
- [Span Gates](technology/span-gates.md) — Intra-system wormholes
|
||||
- [Founder Gates](technology/founder-gates.md) — Interstellar gates, the Interstitium
|
||||
- [Clone Transfer](technology/clone-transfer.md) — Death, backup, body economics
|
||||
- [Severance Tech](technology/severance-tech.md) — Counter-surveillance technology
|
||||
|
||||
### Contraband (Illegal/Restricted Goods)
|
||||
- [Lattice Components](contraband/lattice-components.md) — Primary contraband in v0.1
|
||||
- [Medical-Grade Replacements](contraband/medical-grade-replacements.md) — Diverted healthcare
|
||||
- [Severance Equipment](contraband/severance-equipment.md) — Counter-surveillance gear
|
||||
|
||||
### Knowledge Systems (Mechanical Reference)
|
||||
- [Fact Catalog](knowledge/fact-catalog.md) — FactId entries with confidence levels
|
||||
- [Entity Attributes](knowledge/entity-attributes.md) — EntityKnowledge key definitions
|
||||
- [Relationship States](knowledge/relationship-states.md) — State transitions + contradictions
|
||||
|
||||
### Authoring Guides (For Content Team)
|
||||
- [Monologue Guide](authoring/monologue-guide.md) — Prerequisites, triggers, examples (Mellanie's domain)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Quick Reference
|
||||
|
||||
**v0.1 Scope:** 1 star system, 1 station, 1 district, 3 social sites, 17 NPCs, 5 triangles, 2 playable characters (smuggler + detective)
|
||||
|
||||
**Setting mood:** Quotidian-with-undertow — comfortable enough to be complacent, tight enough that extra income is tempting
|
||||
|
||||
**Core contraband:** Unlicensed lattice components (aftermarket neural mods bypassing Commission regulation)
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary tension:** Economic pressure creates rational incentive for smuggling; community benefits from grey economy; detective enters a place where non-cooperation is self-interest, not malice
|
||||
|
||||
**Key design principle:** Same world, two lenses — the smuggler's home is the detective's crime scene
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Cross-References to Decision Documents
|
||||
|
||||
- **D-027:** Vertical slice definition (smuggler + detective two-character proof)
|
||||
- **D-028:** Dialogue architecture (four relational layers)
|
||||
- **D-032:** Separate monologue pools per character
|
||||
- **D-034:** THE FRIEND pattern (production-level complex NPC)
|
||||
- **D-035:** Tag taxonomy for line pools
|
||||
- **D-036:** Sova Transit District / Krenn System as v0.1 setting
|
||||
- **D-037:** Contraband specification
|
||||
- **D-041:** Knowledge graph data model
|
||||
|
||||
See `decisions/README.md` for full decision domain index.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical reference as of 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Maintained by:** Paula (narrative), Miri (worldbuilding), team contributions
|
||||
**Source:** Workshops, decision rounds, canonical type definitions in `server/src/knowledge/types.rs`
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,301 @@
|
||||
# Entity Knowledge Attributes
|
||||
|
||||
Canonical keys for the `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes` BTreeMap (defined in `server/src/knowledge/types.rs`). These keys structure what one entity knows about another.
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
`EntityKnowledge.known_attributes` is a `BTreeMap<String, String>` — key-value pairs where:
|
||||
- **Key**: Structured attribute name (defined below)
|
||||
- **Value**: String representation of the attribute
|
||||
|
||||
The knowledge graph uses these attributes to determine:
|
||||
- What the observer's monologue says about the target
|
||||
- Which dialogue lines are available
|
||||
- How the target renders in the observer snapshot (name vs. description)
|
||||
- Whether secrets or contradictions are discovered
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Identity Attributes
|
||||
|
||||
### `name`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Full name as known to the observer.
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"Kael Davan"` — observer knows full name
|
||||
- `"Kael"` — observer knows first name only
|
||||
- `"the dock worker"` — observer doesn't know name, only role
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Monologue and dialogue rendering. If `name` is absent or generic, monologue says "the dock worker" instead of "Kael."
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `role`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Occupational or social role.
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"dock worker"`
|
||||
- `"shift supervisor"`
|
||||
- `"bartender"`
|
||||
- `"off-duty security"`
|
||||
- `"ring coordinator"` (if known)
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Default descriptor when name is unknown. Access tier calculation (authority figures get different treatment).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `faction`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Institutional or organizational allegiance.
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"Commission"` — Sera, Torek, Detective
|
||||
- `"civilian"` — most NPCs
|
||||
- `"ring member"` — if discovered
|
||||
- `"unknown"` — not yet determined
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Access tier logic. Commission-tagged individuals trigger different NPC behavior. Dialogue selection uses this for authority/peer filtering.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `species`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Species identifier (future-proofing — v0.1 is all human).
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"human"` (default)
|
||||
- (Future: other species as defined)
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Not load-bearing in v0.1. Placeholder for future non-human NPCs.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Social Attributes
|
||||
|
||||
### `relationship_type`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Relationship category from observer's perspective.
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"colleague"` — Kael to smuggler
|
||||
- `"friend"` — Sera to detective
|
||||
- `"authority figure"` — Voss to subordinates
|
||||
- `"suspect"` — Kael to detective (post-discovery)
|
||||
- `"partner"` — Hael to Kael
|
||||
- `"stranger"` — new NPCs
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Drives `RelationshipState` calculation (Unknown/Known/Friendly/PersonOfInterest/Hostile). Determines emotional tone of monologue.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `trust_level`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Trust assessment (subjective, observer's judgment).
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"trusted"` — high trust, shares sensitive information
|
||||
- `"reliable"` — professional trust
|
||||
- `"uncertain"` — cautiously neutral
|
||||
- `"suspicious"` — flagged for observation
|
||||
- `"compromised"` — known to be under pressure or bought
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Gates trust-tier dialogue (surface/real/secret). Detective tracking trust levels determines which NPCs can be turned.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Behavioral Attributes
|
||||
|
||||
### `routine_pattern`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Observed routine description.
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"morning shift at logistics hub, bar after shift"`
|
||||
- `"arrives 06:00, break 10:30, departs 14:00"`
|
||||
- `"irregular schedule, seen at odd hours"`
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Deviation detection. When current behavior doesn't match known `routine_pattern`, monologue flags it.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `behavior_flags`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Comma-separated behavioral observations.
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"nervous,lattice_checking"` — Kael during contradiction arc
|
||||
- `"avoidance_pattern,evasive"` — Sera avoiding Torek
|
||||
- `"spending_beyond_means"` — Torek buying rounds
|
||||
- `"reliable,punctual"` — baseline normal behavior
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Tell system. Multiple flags accumulate as evidence. Detective's analytical lattice auto-flags some behaviors.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Secret Attributes
|
||||
|
||||
### `secret_held`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: What the observer believes this entity is hiding.
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"ring membership"` — detective's suspicion about Kael
|
||||
- `"unreported evidence"` — smuggler's read on Sera (if observant)
|
||||
- `"gambling debt"` — if Drin's vulnerability is discovered
|
||||
- `"exit attempt"` — if Kael's unauthorized contact is discovered
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Drives PersonOfInterest state. Gates confrontation dialogue. Smuggler and detective track different secrets about the same NPCs.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `secret_confidence`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: How certain the observer is about the secret.
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"suspected"` — behavioral flags suggest something, no proof
|
||||
- `"likely"` — multiple indicators align
|
||||
- `"confirmed"` — direct evidence or confession
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Dialogue tone. "Suspected" secrets allow fishing questions. "Confirmed" secrets enable direct confrontation.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Investigation Attributes (Detective-Specific)
|
||||
|
||||
### `tell_observed`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Specific tell noted by the detective.
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"looks left when lying"` — Kael's tell
|
||||
- `"leaves when Torek arrives"` — Sera's avoidance
|
||||
- `"checks lattice before answering"` — nervous behavior
|
||||
- `"forced casualness after shift supervisor passes"` — hypervigilance
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: Behavioral profiling. Accumulated tells build case strength. Monologue references specific tells when they recur.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `contradiction_flagged`
|
||||
|
||||
**Value format**: Boolean-ish flag (presence of key = true).
|
||||
|
||||
**Examples**:
|
||||
- `"meeting_unknown_contact"` — Kael contradiction
|
||||
- `"avoidance_inconsistency"` — Sera contradiction
|
||||
- `"manifest_access_mismatch"` — Maret handling cargo she shouldn't process
|
||||
|
||||
**Usage**: THE FRIEND arc trigger. When this attribute is set, monologue tone shifts. Dialogue options change. RelationshipState moves toward PersonOfInterest.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Examples: Full EntityKnowledge Entries
|
||||
|
||||
### Smuggler's knowledge of Kael (early game, pre-contradiction)
|
||||
|
||||
```rust
|
||||
EntityKnowledge {
|
||||
last_known_position: Some(TilePosition { x: 45, y: 12 }), // logistics hub dock
|
||||
last_observed_tick: 1200,
|
||||
last_updated_tick: 1200,
|
||||
confidence: KnowledgeConfidence::Direct, // currently in LOS
|
||||
source: KnowledgeSource::DirectObservation { tick: 1200 },
|
||||
state: KnowledgeState::Active,
|
||||
relationship: RelationshipState::Friendly,
|
||||
known_attributes: BTreeMap::from([
|
||||
("name".to_string(), "Kael Davan".to_string()),
|
||||
("role".to_string(), "dock worker".to_string()),
|
||||
("faction".to_string(), "ring member".to_string()), // smuggler knows
|
||||
("species".to_string(), "human".to_string()),
|
||||
("relationship_type".to_string(), "close colleague".to_string()),
|
||||
("trust_level".to_string(), "trusted".to_string()),
|
||||
("routine_pattern".to_string(), "morning shift 06:00-14:00, bar after shift".to_string()),
|
||||
("behavior_flags".to_string(), "reliable,punctual".to_string()),
|
||||
]),
|
||||
}
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Detective's knowledge of Kael (mid-game, post-contradiction discovery)
|
||||
|
||||
```rust
|
||||
EntityKnowledge {
|
||||
last_known_position: Some(TilePosition { x: 45, y: 12 }),
|
||||
last_observed_tick: 2400,
|
||||
last_updated_tick: 2600, // updated via inference after observation
|
||||
confidence: KnowledgeConfidence::KnowsDetails, // not currently in LOS, but detailed knowledge
|
||||
source: KnowledgeSource::Inferred {
|
||||
basis: vec![
|
||||
FactId("investigation.manifest_discrepancy".to_string()),
|
||||
FactId("investigation.shift_mismatch".to_string()),
|
||||
],
|
||||
},
|
||||
state: KnowledgeState::Active,
|
||||
relationship: RelationshipState::PersonOfInterest, // flagged
|
||||
known_attributes: BTreeMap::from([
|
||||
("name".to_string(), "Kael Davan".to_string()),
|
||||
("role".to_string(), "dock worker".to_string()),
|
||||
("faction".to_string(), "civilian".to_string()), // detective doesn't know ring membership yet
|
||||
("species".to_string(), "human".to_string()),
|
||||
("relationship_type".to_string(), "suspect".to_string()),
|
||||
("trust_level".to_string(), "suspicious".to_string()),
|
||||
("routine_pattern".to_string(), "morning shift, frequent late departures".to_string()),
|
||||
("behavior_flags".to_string(), "nervous,lattice_checking,evasive".to_string()),
|
||||
("tell_observed".to_string(), "looks left when lying".to_string()),
|
||||
("secret_held".to_string(), "unauthorized meetings".to_string()),
|
||||
("secret_confidence".to_string(), "confirmed".to_string()),
|
||||
("contradiction_flagged".to_string(), "meeting_unknown_contact".to_string()),
|
||||
]),
|
||||
}
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Smuggler's knowledge of Sera (if observant, mid-game)
|
||||
|
||||
```rust
|
||||
EntityKnowledge {
|
||||
last_known_position: Some(TilePosition { x: 78, y: 34 }), // bar
|
||||
last_observed_tick: 1800,
|
||||
last_updated_tick: 2100,
|
||||
confidence: KnowledgeConfidence::KnowsOf,
|
||||
source: KnowledgeSource::DirectObservation { tick: 1800 },
|
||||
state: KnowledgeState::Active,
|
||||
relationship: RelationshipState::Known, // not Friendly -- smuggler doesn't know Sera well
|
||||
known_attributes: BTreeMap::from([
|
||||
("name".to_string(), "Sera Venn".to_string()),
|
||||
("role".to_string(), "Commission field tech".to_string()),
|
||||
("faction".to_string(), "Commission".to_string()),
|
||||
("species".to_string(), "human".to_string()),
|
||||
("relationship_type".to_string(), "institutional presence".to_string()),
|
||||
("trust_level".to_string(), "uncertain".to_string()),
|
||||
("routine_pattern".to_string(), "bar regular, off-duty evenings".to_string()),
|
||||
("behavior_flags".to_string(), "observant,avoidance_pattern".to_string()),
|
||||
("secret_held".to_string(), "knows something about Torek or Hael".to_string()),
|
||||
("secret_confidence".to_string(), "suspected".to_string()),
|
||||
]),
|
||||
}
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Attribute Lifecycle
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Initial state** (Unknown NPC): No attributes. EntityKnowledge doesn't exist yet.
|
||||
2. **First observation** (Direct confidence): `name` (if visible via lattice query or introduction), `role` (inferred from context), `species`, `routine_pattern` starts accumulating.
|
||||
3. **Repeated interaction** (KnowsOf): `relationship_type` evolves, `trust_level` set, `behavior_flags` accumulate.
|
||||
4. **Investigation depth** (KnowsDetails): `secret_held`, `tell_observed`, `contradiction_flagged` added by detective. Smuggler gains `faction` clarity.
|
||||
5. **Knowledge decay**: Attributes persist even as confidence decays. A KnowsOf entry retains all attributes; only positional certainty degrades.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Content Authoring Guidance
|
||||
|
||||
- **Monologue prerequisites** can reference specific attributes: `known_attributes["secret_held"] == "ring membership"`.
|
||||
- **Dialogue access tiers** can check `faction` or `relationship_type`.
|
||||
- **Tell system observations** append to `behavior_flags` as comma-separated values.
|
||||
- **THE FRIEND contradiction** is triggered by setting `contradiction_flagged`.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Total canonical keys**: 14 (4 identity, 2 social, 2 behavioral, 2 secret, 2 investigation, 2 detective-specific). Additional keys can be added as needed, but these 14 cover v0.1 requirements.
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,311 @@
|
||||
# Knowledge Fact Catalog
|
||||
|
||||
Canonical FactIds for the v0.1 vertical slice. All facts follow the `category.topic` format defined in `server/src/knowledge/types.rs`.
|
||||
|
||||
## Format
|
||||
|
||||
- **FactId**: String identifier (e.g., `"contraband.ring_exists"`)
|
||||
- **Progression**: Text descriptions at each KnowledgeConfidence level
|
||||
- **Mechanical Purpose**: What this fact gates in dialogue, monologue, or investigation
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Contraband Facts
|
||||
|
||||
### `contraband.ring_exists`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Something's going on with the cargo schedules. Too many off-manifest deliveries."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "There's a smuggling operation running through the logistics hub."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "The ring moves unlicensed lattice components during shift transitions. Voss manages the timing."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (abstract knowledge — never directly observed)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Gates investigation dialogue trees. Required for ring-specific monologue. The detective starts at Suspects and escalates. The smuggler (if playing the ring member path) starts at KnowsDetails.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `contraband.lattice_components`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "That container's marked as standard components, but the mass is wrong."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Unlicensed lattice components. Aftermarket mods that bypass Commission certification."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Medical-grade neural lattice replacements diverted from Syndic supply chains, plus enhanced capability mods."
|
||||
**Direct**: "I'm looking at a crate of lattice components right now. Serial numbers don't match any certified batch."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Contraband identification. Detective needs KnowsOf to correctly interpret manifest discrepancies. Smuggler needs KnowsDetails to handle cargo safely.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `contraband.medical_grade`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Some of this cargo doesn't feel like luxury goods."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Medical-grade lattice replacements. For people whose lattices are degrading and who can't afford Syndic pricing."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "The ring moves medical replacements for people locked out of the institutional system. It's not just profit — it's healthcare."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (conceptual understanding)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Moral complexity gate. Smuggler monologue shifts tone when this reaches KnowsDetails. Detective dialogue with humanitarian-focused NPCs requires KnowsOf.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `contraband.severance_tech`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Sealed containers Nils won't discuss. Heavier than lattice components."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Severance equipment. Counter-surveillance tech. Illegal across most of the Reach."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Guardians of Severance supply chain. This isn't local — it's connected to something bigger."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (not directly visible in v0.1)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Contamination seed for storyteller expansion. The thing that makes the smuggler question how deep the ring goes.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `contraband.supply_chain`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "The cargo doesn't originate on this station."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Off-station coordinator manages incoming shipments. Someone named Sabel."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Supply chain: aftermarket manufacturers (Syndic-adjacent) -> freight networks -> Sabel (off-station) -> ring coordinator (Devra or Nils) -> local distribution."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (network knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Investigation depth. Detective at KnowsDetails can map the full chain. Smuggler at KnowsDetails understands their position in the network.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Location Facts
|
||||
|
||||
### `location.corridor_b7_restricted`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Corridor B-7 should see foot traffic during shift change. It's empty."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Maintenance corridor used for smuggling operations. Access requires hub clearance."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Corridor B-7 is between old and new prefab sections. Service hatch from break room. The ring routes shipments through here during shift transitions."
|
||||
**Direct**: "I'm in Corridor B-7 right now. Old construction smell, minimal Meridian coverage, no surveillance."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Spatial knowledge. Required for investigation progression (detective) and operational planning (smuggler). Direct confidence gates monologue about current surroundings.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `location.smuggling_route`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Cargo movements don't match the official routing."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "The ring uses a specific path: freight bay -> service corridor -> temporary storage -> bar district back room."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Timing is critical. The route only works during shift transition when patrol coverage thins. Lera provides the final handoff point."
|
||||
**Direct**: "Watching the route right now. Kosse moving a container through the service hatch."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Investigation mechanics. Detective needs KnowsOf to predict NPC movements. Smuggler needs KnowsDetails for operational participation.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `location.surveillance_gaps`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Some areas feel less monitored than others."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Meridian coverage degrades in older sections. Maintenance corridors have minimal surveillance."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Corridor B-7, break room service hatch, bar back room — all Meridian dead spots. The ring exploits these systematically."
|
||||
**Direct**: "Checking my lattice overlay now. Zero Meridian signal in this section."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Stealth and observation mechanics. Detective's augmented lattice can detect coverage gaps (requires KnowsOf). Smuggler uses gaps operationally (requires KnowsDetails).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `location.dead_drop_location`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Kael leaves things in the break room locker area. Not his own locker."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Locker 47 in the hub break room. Unofficial dead drop for small items."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Locker 47 is registered to a worker who transferred off-station 18 months ago. Never reassigned. The ring has used it ever since."
|
||||
**Direct**: "Locker 47 is open. There's a sealed packet inside."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Discovery mechanic. Detective can discover through observation (Suspects -> KnowsOf). Smuggler knows from background (starts at KnowsDetails).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Investigation Facts
|
||||
|
||||
### `investigation.manifest_discrepancy`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Cargo manifests have inconsistencies. Weight doesn't match volume."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Systematic manifest doctoring. Someone with freight scheduler access is altering records."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Maret Korr processes manifests. She's noticed the discrepancies but hasn't reported them. She's either complicit or terrified."
|
||||
**Direct**: "Comparing the manifest right now. Container 4471 — logged weight 240kg, actual weight closer to 310kg."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Core investigation mechanic. Detective's analytical lattice flags discrepancies at Suspects. Full understanding requires KnowsDetails. Smuggler knows Maret's position from background.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `investigation.shift_mismatch`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Night shift schedules don't align with freight volume."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Voss adjusts shift schedules to create coverage gaps. Deliberate understaffing during high-risk windows."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Shift mismatches occur every third rotation. Coincides exactly with off-station shipment arrivals. Voss takes a cut."
|
||||
**Direct**: "Checking the current schedule. Night shift is short two workers — again."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Pattern recognition. Detective needs KnowsOf to connect schedule to smuggling. Smuggler knows the pattern operationally.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `investigation.cargo_anomaly`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "That container sat in temporary storage for 18 hours. Standard procedure is 4-6 hours max."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Delayed processing indicates off-manifest handling. Someone's buying time to repackage cargo."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Nils coordinates timing. Container arrives, sits in temp storage during shift A, gets repackaged during shift B transition, moves out during shift C startup."
|
||||
**Direct**: "Container 4471 has been sitting here for 14 hours. No movement orders logged."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Observation-based discovery. Detective builds case from Suspects upward. Smuggler knows the workflow (starts KnowsDetails).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `investigation.evidence_collected`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: N/A (binary fact — you either have evidence or you don't)
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "I have documented manifest discrepancies, shift schedule anomalies, and witness testimony from Drin."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Full case file: manifest logs, Drin's testimony under pressure, Maret's reluctant cooperation, surveillance footage from observation gallery showing Corridor B-7 access."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (abstract accumulation)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Investigation state tracker. Gates confrontation dialogue. Detective-specific — smuggler doesn't collect evidence against themselves.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## World Facts
|
||||
|
||||
### `world.commission_regulations`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "The Commission regulates lattice technology. That's why people want aftermarket mods."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Commission certification is expensive and slow. Category 3 violation for unauthorized lattice modification carries fines and potential lattice restriction."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Commission monopoly prices most citizens out of enhanced capability. Medical-grade replacements require 6-12 month approval cycles. The black market exists because the legitimate system fails."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (regulatory knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Moral framing. Smuggler at KnowsDetails has ideological justification. Detective at KnowsDetails understands why the ring has community support.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `world.syndic_supply_chain`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "The cargo originates from Syndic-controlled systems."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Syndics manufacture medical-grade lattice components. Diverted shipments end up on the black market."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Specific Syndic: unclear, but the serial number patterns suggest two sources. The ring doesn't control the supply chain — they're downstream distributors."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (network knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Political context. Detective at KnowsDetails realizes the ring is small-scale. Smuggler at KnowsDetails understands their position in the larger economy.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `world.sova_district_layout`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "The district is a mix of old and new construction."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "40-year-old prefab base with retrofitted partitions. Logistics hub, bar district, residential sections. Meridian coverage is uneven."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Older sections have hidden spaces between wall layers. Service corridors from original construction still exist but aren't on current maps. The ring exploits architectural legacy."
|
||||
**Direct**: "I'm looking at the district map overlay right now. Official layout vs. actual structure don't match in Section 3."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Navigation and investigation. Detective needs KnowsDetails to find hidden spaces. Smuggler starts with KnowsOf (knows layout from living here).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `world.shift_schedule`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Logistics hub runs three shifts: morning, day, night."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Shift transitions are 30-minute windows with reduced oversight. Ring operations happen during transitions."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Shift A: 06:00-14:00. Shift B: 14:00-22:00. Shift C: 22:00-06:00. Transition windows: 13:30-14:30, 21:30-22:30, 05:30-06:30. Voss manages the schedule."
|
||||
**Direct**: "Current time: 21:45. Shift transition active. Observing movement patterns."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Temporal mechanics. Required for NPC routine prediction and investigation timing. Smuggler starts KnowsDetails. Detective learns through observation.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Relationship Facts
|
||||
|
||||
### `relationship.ring_membership`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Kael's behavior suggests involvement in something off-book."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Kael is a ring member. Mid-level, handles physical cargo."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Ring structure: Devra or Nils coordinate, Voss provides scheduling cover, Kael and Kosse handle cargo, Lera provides handoff point, Pell is wavering."
|
||||
**Direct**: "Watching Kael move a container right now. Ring operation in progress."
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Social knowledge. Detective builds this through investigation. Smuggler knows from shared membership (if on that path) or observation.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `relationship.kael_hael_connection`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Kael mentions a partner. Someone named Hael."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Kael's partner is Hael, a teacher. They're worried about Kael's late nights."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Hael confides in Sera Venn. Sera knows something is wrong but hasn't reported it. The worry is contaminating Kael's operational security."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (relationship knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Emotional leverage. Detective can use Hael as pressure point. Smuggler (if Kael's friend) must protect Hael from knowledge.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `relationship.trust_network`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "People here know each other. Tight social bonds."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "The ring depends on trust networks: Kael trusts Nils (sibling), Lera trusts the regulars, Drin is compromised by debt to Harek."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Trust map: Kael <-> Nils (blood), Kael <-> Hael (partnership), Hael <-> Sera (friendship), Sera <-> Detective (professional/personal), Drin -> Harek (debt), Voss -> Devra/Nils (financial)."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (social network knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Social manipulation mechanics. Detective at KnowsDetails can exploit trust fractures. Smuggler at KnowsDetails knows whom to protect.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `relationship.faction_allegiance`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Some people here are Commission-aligned. Others resent the Commission."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "Sera is Commission. Torek Lintar is nominally Commission but lives here. The detective represents institutional authority. Everyone else is civilian."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Faction tensions: Commission (Sera, Torek, Detective) vs. ring (Kael, Nils, Kosse, Voss, Lera) vs. civilians (Hael, Maret, Drin, Resha). Drin is compromised between civilian and Commission."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (political knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Access tier logic. Explains why NPCs treat characters differently. Detective at KnowsDetails understands institutional barriers.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Progress Facts (Arc State Tracking)
|
||||
|
||||
### `progress.initial_suspicion`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: "Something feels off about this place."
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "There's a pattern here. Cargo discrepancies, nervous NPCs, evasive answers."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Smuggling operation confirmed. Now I need to identify the participants and build a case."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (meta-knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Detective arc state. Gates monologue tone shifts. Smuggler doesn't track this (they start knowing the operation exists).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `progress.active_investigation`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: N/A (binary — investigation is active or it isn't)
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "I'm building a case. Evidence collected, witnesses identified, patterns mapped."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Case file: manifest logs, Drin testimony, Maret's reluctant cooperation, surveillance data, NPC behavioral analysis. Ready to escalate."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (meta-knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Detective arc state. Gates confrontation options. Changes NPC dialogue (they know they're being investigated).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `progress.confrontation_ready`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: N/A
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: "I have enough to confront specific NPCs. Kael, Voss, or Lera."
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "Full case built. Can confront the ring, turn an informant, or escalate to Commission enforcement."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (meta-knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Detective endgame gate. Smuggler equivalent: `progress.operation_compromised` (not listed here — detective-specific arc).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### `progress.arc_resolved`
|
||||
|
||||
**Suspects**: N/A
|
||||
**KnowsOf**: N/A
|
||||
**KnowsDetails**: "The arc has concluded. Ring dismantled, informant turned, or operation escaped. Outcome determined."
|
||||
**Direct**: N/A (meta-knowledge)
|
||||
|
||||
**Mechanical Purpose**: Arc completion tracker. Used by storyteller to determine whether new modules can activate.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Usage Notes
|
||||
|
||||
- **FactId strings** must match exactly. `"contraband.ring_exists"` not `"contraband.ring_exist"` or `"Ring Exists"`.
|
||||
- **Confidence levels** are ordered: Suspects < KnowsOf < KnowsDetails < Direct. Use `KnowledgeConfidence::decayed()` for time-based degradation.
|
||||
- **Direct confidence** is perception-system-managed. Content authors rarely set this manually — it's automatically assigned when an entity/location is in the observer's LOS.
|
||||
- **Abstract facts** (e.g., `contraband.ring_exists`, `world.commission_regulations`) never reach Direct — they're conceptual, not observable.
|
||||
- **Spatial facts** (e.g., `location.corridor_b7_restricted`) can reach Direct when the observer is physically present.
|
||||
- **Progression text** is for content authoring reference, not runtime display. Monologue lines reference these facts as prerequisites; they don't display the progression text directly.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Total FactIds**: 24 (5 contraband, 4 location, 4 investigation, 4 world, 4 relationship, 4 progress). Sufficient for v0.1 vertical slice. Expandable by adding new categories or topics within existing categories.
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,332 @@
|
||||
# Relationship States and Transitions
|
||||
|
||||
How `RelationshipState` (defined in `server/src/knowledge/types.rs`) evolves during gameplay, with specific patterns for THE FRIEND contradictions and KnowledgeState integration.
|
||||
|
||||
## Canonical States
|
||||
|
||||
From `server/src/knowledge/types.rs`:
|
||||
|
||||
```rust
|
||||
pub enum RelationshipState {
|
||||
Unknown, // Teal #4a9ebb
|
||||
Known, // Soft green #6bc9a6
|
||||
Friendly, // Soft green #6bc9a6 (same color, different semantics)
|
||||
PersonOfInterest, // Amber #e8c547
|
||||
Hostile, // Red #d45d5d
|
||||
}
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Visual rendering**: D-033 entity color system. The client maps these states to colors. The knowledge graph determines the state.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## State Semantics
|
||||
|
||||
### Unknown
|
||||
|
||||
**What it means**: No prior knowledge of this entity. First encounter.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone**: Observational, neutral. "Who's that?"
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue availability**: Public-tier only. No trust-gated content.
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Teal — visually distinct from all other states.
|
||||
|
||||
**Typical duration**: First 30 seconds to 2 minutes of gameplay (until first direct interaction or lattice query).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Known
|
||||
|
||||
**What it means**: Recognized, neutral-to-positive. Not a threat, not a close ally.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone**: Casual acknowledgment. "There's Drin. Maintenance tech."
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue availability**: Public + peer-tier (if appropriate). No insider/secret content yet.
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Soft green — "safe enough."
|
||||
|
||||
**Typical entities**: Coworkers (smuggler), routine contacts (detective), flat NPCs, bar regulars.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Friendly
|
||||
|
||||
**What it means**: Positive relationship, trusted. Emotional connection or reliable professional rapport.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone**: Warm, personal. "Good to see Kael. Always reliable."
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue availability**: Public + peer + insider-tier. Trust-gated content unlocks. Some secret-tier content if relationship deepens.
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Soft green (same as Known — the distinction is semantic, not visual).
|
||||
|
||||
**Typical entities**: THE FRIEND NPCs (Kael to smuggler, Sera to detective), close colleagues, trusted contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
**Why same color as Known**: Visual simplicity for v0.1. Future refinement could add subtle shader variation (warmth, pulse, saturation).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### PersonOfInterest
|
||||
|
||||
**What it means**: Flagged. Something's wrong. Under observation or suspicion.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone**: Analytical, cautious. "Kael's meeting someone I don't recognize. That's not normal."
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue availability**: Shifts. Trust-gated content may become unavailable. Confrontation options unlock.
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Amber — "pay attention."
|
||||
|
||||
**Typical entities**: NPCs caught in contradictions, suspects under investigation, people who've triggered tells.
|
||||
|
||||
**THE FRIEND trigger**: When THE FRIEND's contradiction is discovered, they transition from Friendly → PersonOfInterest. This is the emotional gut-punch moment.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Hostile
|
||||
|
||||
**What it means**: Character KNOWS there is danger. Threat confirmed.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone**: Alarm, threat assessment. "That's security. They're moving toward me."
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue availability**: Hostile-tier only (threats, demands, final warnings). All trust content locked.
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Red — "danger."
|
||||
|
||||
**Typical entities**: NPCs who've turned on the player, authority figures during a confrontation gone bad, exposed ring members cornered by the detective.
|
||||
|
||||
**Rare in v0.1**: Most NPCs don't reach Hostile. It's the endgame state for failed social maneuvering.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Transition Paths
|
||||
|
||||
### Standard Progression (No Contradiction)
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Unknown → Known → Friendly
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Triggers**:
|
||||
- Unknown → Known: First direct interaction OR lattice query identifies them.
|
||||
- Known → Friendly: Repeated positive interactions, shared drinks at bar, successful cooperation, trust-building dialogue.
|
||||
|
||||
**Example**: Detective meets a bar regular. Unknown (first visit) → Known (second visit, exchanged names) → Friendly (third visit, regular offers unprompted gossip).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Investigation Progression (Detective)
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Unknown → Known → PersonOfInterest → Hostile (if confrontation fails)
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Triggers**:
|
||||
- Unknown → Known: Lattice query, case file match, first observation.
|
||||
- Known → PersonOfInterest: Behavioral flags accumulate, tells observed, manifest discrepancy linked to this NPC.
|
||||
- PersonOfInterest → Hostile: Confrontation attempt rejected, NPC realizes they're under investigation, escalation.
|
||||
|
||||
**Example**: Detective observes Kael. Unknown (first sight) → Known (lattice query: "Davan, K., dock worker") → PersonOfInterest (observed in restricted corridor, evasive answers) → Hostile (confrontation: "I know you're involved. You need to cooperate." / Kael: "Stay away from me.").
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### THE FRIEND Contradiction Arc (Kael — Smuggler's Perspective)
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Friendly → PersonOfInterest → [resolution: Friendly-but-contaminated OR Hostile]
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Phase 1: Friendly (baseline)**
|
||||
- Kael is the smuggler's trusted colleague.
|
||||
- Monologue: fond, casual.
|
||||
- Color: soft green.
|
||||
- Dialogue: insider-tier, warm.
|
||||
|
||||
**Phase 2: First Crack (still Friendly, but flags accumulating)**
|
||||
- Behavioral flags: `lattice_checking,distracted`.
|
||||
- Monologue shifts slightly: "Kael's been quiet lately."
|
||||
- State unchanged (still Friendly), but `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["behavior_flags"]` updates.
|
||||
|
||||
**Phase 3: The Contradiction (Friendly → PersonOfInterest)**
|
||||
- Trigger: Direct observation of Kael meeting unknown contact in Corridor B-7.
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["contradiction_flagged"] = "meeting_unknown_contact"`.
|
||||
- `RelationshipState` transitions to `PersonOfInterest`.
|
||||
- Color shifts: soft green → amber.
|
||||
- Monologue: "That wasn't anyone from our rotation. Kael, what are you doing?"
|
||||
- Dialogue options change: confrontation unlocks, trust-tier content locks (Kael is evasive).
|
||||
|
||||
**Phase 4: Post-Confrontation**
|
||||
- **Path A (understanding)**: Smuggler confronts Kael gently. Kael confesses: trying to exit the ring to protect Hael. `RelationshipState` remains `PersonOfInterest` but monologue tone shifts to conflicted sympathy. Color stays amber (still a problem), but dialogue reflects empathy.
|
||||
- **Path B (betrayal)**: Smuggler reports Kael to Nils or pressures Kael harshly. Kael turns defensive. `RelationshipState` → `Hostile`. Color → red. Kael avoids the smuggler, might actively obstruct.
|
||||
|
||||
**THE FRIEND pattern**: Friendly → PersonOfInterest is the emotional core. The player trusted Kael. Now Kael is amber. That color shift IS the narrative moment.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### THE FRIEND Contradiction Arc (Sera — Detective's Perspective)
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Friendly → PersonOfInterest → [resolution: Friendly-but-contaminated OR Known-distanced OR Hostile]
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Phase 1: Friendly (baseline)**
|
||||
- Sera is the detective's institutional contact and social anchor.
|
||||
- Monologue: professional warmth, relief.
|
||||
- Color: soft green.
|
||||
- Dialogue: peer-tier, cooperative, helpful.
|
||||
|
||||
**Phase 2: Pattern Observation (still Friendly, but flags accumulating)**
|
||||
- Behavioral flags: `avoidance_pattern` (Sera leaves when Torek arrives).
|
||||
- Monologue: "That's the third time. Sera leaves when Torek shows up."
|
||||
- State unchanged (still Friendly), but `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["behavior_flags"]` updates.
|
||||
|
||||
**Phase 3: The Contradiction (Friendly → PersonOfInterest)**
|
||||
- Trigger: Detective asks Sera directly about Torek. Sera deflects unconvincingly.
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["contradiction_flagged"] = "avoidance_inconsistency"`.
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["secret_held"] = "unreported evidence"` (detective's inference).
|
||||
- `RelationshipState` transitions to `PersonOfInterest`.
|
||||
- Color shifts: soft green → amber.
|
||||
- Monologue: "She's not lying. But she's not telling me everything. Sera, what do you know?"
|
||||
- Dialogue options change: pressing questions unlock, casual warmth diminishes.
|
||||
|
||||
**Phase 4: Post-Confrontation**
|
||||
- **Path A (loyalty test)**: Detective confronts Sera about concealment. Sera confesses: sitting on evidence to protect Hael (friend of Sera, partner of Kael). Detective can choose: report Sera (Hostile), use the information without reporting her (PersonOfInterest → Known, relationship damaged), or protect Sera and accept the information gap (PersonOfInterest → Friendly-but-contaminated).
|
||||
- **Path B (institutional)**: Detective reports Sera immediately. `RelationshipState` → `Hostile`. Sera is reprimanded or reassigned. Color → red. The detective loses their only local ally.
|
||||
|
||||
**THE FRIEND pattern**: The detective's trust in Sera is tested. Amber means "my friend is hiding something." The resolution determines whether the friendship survives.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Contradiction Patterns: Kael + Sera
|
||||
|
||||
Both THE FRIEND NPCs follow the same structural arc, but the **nature of the contradiction differs**:
|
||||
|
||||
| Dimension | Kael (Smuggler's FRIEND) | Sera (Detective's FRIEND) |
|
||||
|-----------|--------------------------|---------------------------|
|
||||
| **Contradiction type** | Spatial deviation (meeting unknown contact) | Behavioral avoidance (leaving when Torek arrives) |
|
||||
| **Discovery method** | Direct observation in restricted area | Pattern recognition over multiple visits |
|
||||
| **What they're hiding** | Attempt to exit the ring (protect Hael) | Unreported evidence (protect Hael) |
|
||||
| **Sympathetic motivation** | Family protection (Hael is Kael's partner) | Friendship loyalty (Hael is Sera's friend) |
|
||||
| **Hael as connection** | Kael's personal life | Sera's social network |
|
||||
| **Color shift timing** | Single observation event (immediate) | Third occurrence (cumulative) |
|
||||
| **Confrontation stakes** | Ring security vs. personal loyalty | Institutional duty vs. personal loyalty |
|
||||
| **Resolution spectrum** | Understanding ↔ Betrayal | Protect friend ↔ Report corruption |
|
||||
|
||||
**Common structure**: Both contradictions involve **Hael** as the emotional anchor. Hael is worried about Kael. Sera knows why (unreported evidence). Kael is trying to protect Hael (exit attempt). The smuggler and detective approach the same NPC web from opposite sides. THE FRIEND, in both cases, is the person caught in the middle trying to protect someone they care about.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## KnowledgeState Integration
|
||||
|
||||
`RelationshipState` (social assessment) is **orthogonal to** `KnowledgeState` (logical validity).
|
||||
|
||||
### Active (default)
|
||||
|
||||
**What it means**: The knowledge is currently believed true.
|
||||
|
||||
**Effect on relationship**: None directly. A Friendly NPC with Active knowledge remains Friendly.
|
||||
|
||||
**Example**: Smuggler's knowledge of Kael as "trusted colleague" is Active until the contradiction.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Contradicted
|
||||
|
||||
**What it means**: Conflicting information exists. Both the original belief and the contradiction receive this state.
|
||||
|
||||
**Effect on relationship**: **This is the trigger for Friendly → PersonOfInterest.**
|
||||
|
||||
When `KnowledgeState` becomes `Contradicted`, the system:
|
||||
1. Sets `EntityKnowledge.state = KnowledgeState::Contradicted` on the conflicting knowledge entries.
|
||||
2. Triggers a monologue event: "Wait, that doesn't match what I thought I knew."
|
||||
3. Evaluates `RelationshipState` transition. If the contradicted knowledge is about a Friendly NPC, transition to PersonOfInterest.
|
||||
|
||||
**Example**: Smuggler's knowledge "Kael operates within ring protocol" contradicts with new observation "Kael meeting unauthorized contact." Both entries become `Contradicted`. Monologue fires. Kael's `RelationshipState` → `PersonOfInterest`.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Stale
|
||||
|
||||
**What it means**: Knowledge has aged beyond the stale threshold (default 3600 ticks = 6 game-hours).
|
||||
|
||||
**Effect on relationship**: Degrades confidence but doesn't change relationship state. A Friendly NPC remains Friendly, but positional knowledge becomes unreliable.
|
||||
|
||||
**Example**: Smuggler last saw Kael at the hub 7 hours ago. `last_known_position` becomes Stale. Monologue: "Kael should be off-shift by now. Probably at the bar, but I haven't seen him."
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Relationship State and Dialogue Selection
|
||||
|
||||
The dialogue system (D-028, D-035) uses `RelationshipState` as a filter:
|
||||
|
||||
| Dialogue `access` tag | Unknown | Known | Friendly | PersonOfInterest | Hostile |
|
||||
|-----------------------|---------|-------|----------|------------------|---------|
|
||||
| `public` | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
|
||||
| `peer` | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
|
||||
| `insider` | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
|
||||
| `authority` | ✓ (if detective) | ✓ (if detective) | ✗ | ✓ (if detective) | ✗ |
|
||||
| `hostile` | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
|
||||
|
||||
**Key insight**: `PersonOfInterest` **locks out peer and insider content**. When THE FRIEND transitions to PersonOfInterest, trust-gated dialogue disappears. The NPC becomes guarded. This is mechanically expressed through access-tier filtering.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Monologue Tone Shifts per State
|
||||
|
||||
### Unknown → Known
|
||||
|
||||
- **Before**: "Who's that?"
|
||||
- **After**: "That's Drin, the maintenance tech."
|
||||
|
||||
**Shift**: Identification. Observer now has context.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Known → Friendly
|
||||
|
||||
- **Before**: "Drin's over there."
|
||||
- **After**: "Good to see Drin. Always fixes things without making a fuss."
|
||||
|
||||
**Shift**: Warmth. Personal regard.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Friendly → PersonOfInterest (THE FRIEND)
|
||||
|
||||
- **Before**: "There's Kael. Good — I was starting to worry."
|
||||
- **After**: "Kael's here. But he's been acting strange. What's going on?"
|
||||
|
||||
**Shift**: Doubt contaminates warmth. The fond observation is now analytical.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### PersonOfInterest → Hostile
|
||||
|
||||
- **Before**: "Kael's avoiding me. Something's wrong."
|
||||
- **After**: "Kael just signaled security. He's turned on me."
|
||||
|
||||
**Shift**: Assessment → alarm.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Implementation Notes for Content Authors
|
||||
|
||||
- **Contradiction discovery** sets `EntityKnowledge.state = KnowledgeState::Contradicted` AND triggers `RelationshipState` transition if applicable.
|
||||
- **Monologue lines** should reference `RelationshipState` in prerequisites:
|
||||
```yaml
|
||||
prerequisite:
|
||||
relationship_state: PersonOfInterest
|
||||
subject: kael_davan
|
||||
```
|
||||
- **Dialogue lines** filter on `access` tier, which is derived from `RelationshipState` + character type (smuggler/detective/NPC role).
|
||||
- **Color shifts** are client-side rendering, but the knowledge graph determines the state. Content authors write to the state; the client handles the color.
|
||||
- **THE FRIEND arc** requires:
|
||||
- Friendly baseline (relationship history)
|
||||
- Observable contradiction (spatial deviation or behavioral pattern)
|
||||
- `contradiction_flagged` attribute set
|
||||
- Monologue shift (analytical doubt)
|
||||
- Dialogue shift (confrontation options unlock, trust options lock)
|
||||
- Resolution paths (multiple endings based on player choice)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Total states**: 5. **Load-bearing transitions for v0.1**: Unknown → Known (universal), Known/Friendly → PersonOfInterest (THE FRIEND), PersonOfInterest → Hostile (confrontation failure). Other transitions exist but are less structurally critical.
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,192 @@
|
||||
# Maintenance Corridors (Smuggling Spaces)
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Location — Criminal Infrastructure / Repurposed Space
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**District:** [Sova Transit District](../../world/sova-transit-district.md)
|
||||
**Station:** [Station Sova](../../world/station-sova.md)
|
||||
**System:** [Krenn System](../../world/krenn-system.md)
|
||||
**Level:** Between levels (interstitial construction)
|
||||
**Key Location:** Corridor B-7
|
||||
**Access:** Restricted (service hatch from Terminal break room, maintenance access from Level 2)
|
||||
**Meridian Coverage:** Degraded to absent
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The maintenance corridors are the spaces between Sova Transit District's official architecture — the gaps where old construction meets new, where service infrastructure runs between wall layers, where 140 years of station retrofitting has left passages that exist on original schematics but not on current maps. They are not built spaces in the conventional sense. They are the negative space of the station's architectural history.
|
||||
|
||||
Corridor B-7 is the primary off-books route. It runs between the original prefab shell of the freight bay (now The Terminal's Level 1) and the interior partition wall of the Level 2 amenities strip. The corridor was a maintenance access for ventilation systems during the station's first retrofit ~80 years ago. When the second retrofit added Level 2 amenities, the corridor was partially sealed and forgotten. "Forgotten" in the institutional sense — it dropped off maintenance schedules, lost its corridor designation in official records, and stopped appearing on maps issued to new station personnel.
|
||||
|
||||
The ring didn't build this space. They found it.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Physical Description
|
||||
|
||||
### Corridor B-7 (Primary Smuggling Route)
|
||||
|
||||
**Dimensions:** ~120 meters long, 1.8 meters wide (tight for two people passing), 2.2 meters high. The corridor follows the curve of the station's structural geometry — it's not straight. Visibility is limited to 15-20 meters at best before the corridor bends.
|
||||
|
||||
**Construction:** Original station prefab walls on the left (the freight bay's outer shell — you can feel machinery vibration through these walls during active shifts). Retrofit partition wall on the right (thinner, newer material, occasionally patched). The floor is original metal grating — functional, loud underfoot, cold. The ceiling carries exposed conduit runs: ventilation ducts, power cables, data lines (some active, some dead, the dead ones never removed).
|
||||
|
||||
**Entry Points:**
|
||||
1. **Service hatch from Terminal break room** (south end) — A 0.9m x 1.2m hatch in the back wall of the locker area, originally for ventilation maintenance. Looks like a utility panel. Requires a physical latch (no electronic lock — off-Meridian by default). The ring has oiled the hinges. Workers who know about it move through without hesitation. Workers who don't know about it have never noticed it.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Maintenance access from Level 2 corridor** (north end) — A labeled door ("MAINTENANCE — AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL") that requires station maintenance clearance. In practice, the clearance hasn't been checked in years. The door leads to a junction point where B-7 intersects with two other maintenance corridors. Renn uses this entry when coming from the residential pods.
|
||||
|
||||
3. **Emergency access panel near temporary storage** (midpoint) — A ventilation access that was never sealed during the second retrofit. Small enough to pass cargo through, not large enough for comfortable transit. Used for emergency operations when primary entry points feel watched.
|
||||
|
||||
**Interior Features:**
|
||||
- **Dead drop alcove** (30 meters from south entry): A recessed section where a ventilation junction box was removed but the wall niche remains. The ring stores small items here — data chips, sealed packets, components that don't need container handling. The alcove is invisible unless you know where to look.
|
||||
- **Junction room** (60 meters, midpoint): Where B-7 crosses a perpendicular maintenance corridor. A slightly wider space (~3m x 3m) with access to overhead cable trays. This is where larger items are temporarily staged before being moved to their final destination. The room has a single emergency light (red, dim, motion-activated — installed by station maintenance and never checked).
|
||||
- **Ventilation hub** (90 meters from south entry): A section where the corridor widens around a ventilation distribution unit. The unit runs continuously, producing a low hum that masks conversation. Devra uses this spot for in-person meetings when Meridian communication isn't secure enough.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Atmosphere & Sensory Details
|
||||
|
||||
**Sound:**
|
||||
- Ventilation hum (omnipresent, louder than in habitable spaces — these corridors ARE the ventilation infrastructure)
|
||||
- Footsteps on metal grating (loud, echoing, impossible to approach silently unless you slow to a deliberate pace)
|
||||
- Machinery vibration through the left wall (the Terminal's grav-lifts and cargo systems, muffled but constant during active shifts, silent during night shift lull)
|
||||
- Occasionally: distant voices from Level 2 bleeding through the partition wall (unintelligible but audible — a reminder that inhabited space is inches away)
|
||||
- Silence during 01:00-04:00 operations is not silence — it's the ventilation hum with everything else subtracted
|
||||
|
||||
**Smell:**
|
||||
- Recycled air with a stronger metallic undertone than in habitable areas (older ductwork, less filtration)
|
||||
- Industrial chemicals (legacy residue in the walls, faint but persistent)
|
||||
- Damp metal (condensation on cooler surfaces where ventilation creates temperature gradients)
|
||||
- Absence: no cooking smell, no crowd scent, no organic presence. The corridor smells like what it is — infrastructure, not habitat.
|
||||
|
||||
**Lighting:**
|
||||
- Emergency red from spaced fixtures (every 20 meters, low intensity — enough to navigate, not enough to read)
|
||||
- Long shadows between fixtures. The curvature of the corridor means you can see the red glow of the next fixture but not what's between you and it.
|
||||
- At the junction room: motion-activated emergency light (white, harsh, brief — it clicks on when you enter and times out after 3 minutes)
|
||||
- Portable lights: the ring carries small handheld units for operations. The detective's analytical lattice includes a low-light enhancement mode that makes the corridor navigable but color-shifted.
|
||||
- Ambient darkness is the baseline. Light is brought in, not found.
|
||||
|
||||
**Temperature:**
|
||||
- Cooler than habitable spaces (environmental systems serve the corridor as infrastructure, not as living space)
|
||||
- Temperature gradients near ventilation junctions — cold pockets where conditioned air moves
|
||||
- Cold enough that breath condenses near the ventilation hub during night shifts (the district's environmental systems enter low-power mode)
|
||||
|
||||
**Visual Texture:**
|
||||
- Exposed conduit: cables and ducts running along the ceiling, some labeled, some not, some disconnected and left in place
|
||||
- Patch marks on walls: where panels were replaced, where holes were sealed, where someone wrote a maintenance note in marker decades ago and it's still there
|
||||
- Graffiti: sparse but present — maintenance workers from previous eras left marks. A date (34 years old). An arrow pointing to a junction. A name. Recent additions: a small symbol near the dead drop alcove that means nothing to anyone who doesn't know what it means.
|
||||
- Dust: fine, even, covering surfaces that haven't been touched in months. Footprints in the dust are evidence. The ring knows this and has developed the habit of brushing the floor with a cloth after operations.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPC Presence
|
||||
|
||||
### Ring NPCs (Operational Presence in Corridors)
|
||||
|
||||
| NPC | Role | Corridor Use | Frequency |
|
||||
|-----|------|-------------|-----------|
|
||||
| [Devra](../../npcs/devra.md) | Ring Coordinator | Meetings at ventilation hub, coordination | 2-3x per week |
|
||||
| [Renn](../../npcs/renn.md) | Courier | Primary cargo transfer through B-7 | Every ring operation (night shift cycle) |
|
||||
| [Pell](../../npcs/pell.md) | Wavering Ring Member | Nervous presence, dead drop pickups | Irregular, increasingly reluctant |
|
||||
| [Sabel](../../npcs/sabel.md) | Fence/Buyer (external) | Rare in-person meetings at junction room | Monthly, high-stakes |
|
||||
| [Tav](../../npcs/tav.md) | Lookout/Runner | Watches entry points during operations | Every ring operation |
|
||||
|
||||
### Non-Ring NPC Access
|
||||
|
||||
- **Drin** (Maintenance Tech): Has legitimate reason to be in maintenance corridors. Passes through B-7 occasionally for ventilation work. Has noticed the oiled hinges, the clean floor near the alcove, the fact that the emergency light at the junction was replaced with a newer unit. Drin says nothing. Drin is compromised by debt to Harek, and even without that, Drin minds their business.
|
||||
|
||||
- **Resha** (New Hire): Does NOT know about the corridors. Resha's curiosity is a risk factor — if they follow Renn during a shift transition, they could stumble into B-7. This is a storyteller-activatable event.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Operational Rhythm
|
||||
|
||||
**Standard Operation (Every Third Night Shift Rotation):**
|
||||
|
||||
1. **22:30-23:00:** Tav positions at Level 2 maintenance access. Watches for unexpected foot traffic.
|
||||
2. **01:00-01:15:** Renn enters through Terminal break room service hatch. Moves pre-staged container contents from temporary storage into the corridor.
|
||||
3. **01:15-01:45:** Cargo moved through B-7 to junction room. Items sorted: small components to dead drop alcove for later pickup, larger items staged for transfer.
|
||||
4. **01:45-02:00:** Renn exits through Level 2 maintenance access. Tav confirms clear. Corridor secured.
|
||||
5. **02:00+:** Floor brushed near entry points. Dust disturbed along the route settles naturally over 6-8 hours.
|
||||
|
||||
**Total operational window: ~90 minutes.** The ring has run this sequence dozens of times. It's smooth, rehearsed, and unremarkable from outside — the only external evidence is the container sitting 14+ hours in temporary storage.
|
||||
|
||||
**Dead Drop Cycle (Continuous):**
|
||||
- Pell picks up data chips and small items from the alcove 1-2 times per week. Timing varies. Pell's increasing nervousness makes their visits shorter and more erratic — they used to linger, check the corridor, make sure everything was in order. Now they grab and go. This behavioral change is observable by anyone who knows Pell's pattern.
|
||||
|
||||
**Devra's Meetings (Irregular):**
|
||||
- Devra meets contacts at the ventilation hub for conversations that can't happen on the Meridian. These meetings are rare (monthly or less) but high-significance. The ventilation hum masks speech from casual eavesdropping. Devra brings a Severance device for these meetings — a small counter-surveillance unit that creates a localized Meridian dead zone.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
### Knowledge Graph Flags (FactIds)
|
||||
|
||||
| FactId | Smuggler Starting Level | Detective Starting Level | How Detective Escalates |
|
||||
|--------|------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
|
||||
| `location.corridor_b7_restricted` | KnowsDetails (uses it) | None | Discover through investigation: observe Renn's movements, check old schematics, follow dust patterns |
|
||||
| `location.smuggling_route` | KnowsDetails (operational) | None | Build from corridor discovery + manifest evidence + shift timing |
|
||||
| `location.surveillance_gaps` | KnowsDetails (relies on them) | KnowsOf (knows coverage degrades in older sections) | Analytical lattice maps dead zones, correlates with operational timing |
|
||||
| `contraband.severance_tech` | Suspects (knows about sealed containers) | None | Find Severance device residue at ventilation hub (late-game discovery) |
|
||||
|
||||
### Perception Differences
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler sees:**
|
||||
- Infrastructure. A route they've walked dozens of times. The hatch is a door. The corridor is a commute. The alcove is a shelf. The junction room is where Renn stages cargo. The ventilation hub is where Devra talks business.
|
||||
- Familiarity breeds efficiency. The smuggler navigates B-7 in near-darkness, counting footsteps to landmarks. They know which sections of grating creak, which stretches are silent, where the temperature drops near the ventilation junction.
|
||||
- But also: tension. The corridor is where the operation is most physically exposed. If someone follows them here, there's no innocent explanation.
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective sees:**
|
||||
- A revelation. The first time the detective enters Corridor B-7, it should feel like the investigation cracking open. This is the physical proof that the district has a hidden layer — a space that doesn't appear on their station map overlay, where Meridian coverage drops to zero, where the architecture itself has been repurposed for concealment.
|
||||
- Evidence: oiled hinges on a "forgotten" hatch. Clean patches on otherwise dusty floors. A dead drop alcove with recent scuff marks. An emergency light that's newer than everything else in the corridor. Every detail is a data point.
|
||||
- The detective's analytical lattice flags the Meridian dead zone. Their overlay goes dark. For a character whose perception is mediated by institutional technology, the loss of overlay data is both disorienting and clarifying: they're seeing the space as it is, not as the institution tells them it is.
|
||||
|
||||
### Monologue Triggers (Location-Specific)
|
||||
|
||||
**On first entering Corridor B-7:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Routine acknowledgment, operational awareness, brief attention to whether anything's changed
|
||||
- Detective: Discovery moment — urgent monologue chime, assessment of what this space means for the investigation
|
||||
|
||||
**On finding the dead drop alcove:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Checks contents or notes its status (operational information)
|
||||
- Detective: Evidence discovery — `location.corridor_b7_restricted` escalates to KnowsDetails
|
||||
|
||||
**On reaching the ventilation hub:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Meeting space, checks for Devra's presence, notes the hum
|
||||
- Detective: Notes the acoustic properties (ventilation masks conversation), flags as potential meeting point
|
||||
|
||||
**On noticing dust patterns / clean floor sections:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: (Would not trigger — this IS their routine, they created the patterns)
|
||||
- Detective: Pattern recognition — someone has been here recently, repeatedly, and has attempted to conceal it
|
||||
|
||||
**On losing Meridian coverage (overlay goes dark):**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Normal (they expect it, use it)
|
||||
- Detective: Disorienting, then revealing — the dead zone IS the evidence
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Worldbuilding Notes
|
||||
|
||||
The maintenance corridors embody a principle that runs through the entire setting: the most dangerous spaces aren't the ones designed for danger. They're the forgotten ones. Corridor B-7 wasn't built for smuggling. It was built for ventilation maintenance and then abandoned by institutional memory. The ring's genius — if that word applies to what is essentially pragmatic opportunism — is recognizing that the station's own architectural history provides better cover than anything they could construct.
|
||||
|
||||
Let me complicate this by noting what the corridors mean for the game's moral architecture. The smuggler walks through B-7 with the comfort of routine. The detective enters B-7 as an investigator entering a crime scene. But the corridor is neither of those things inherently. It's a maintenance corridor. Its criminality is imposed by the people who use it and the institutions that made it necessary. If the Commission didn't price people out of lattice upgrades, Corridor B-7 would just be a corridor.
|
||||
|
||||
The space between the walls is where the game's moral questions live.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](../../world/sova-transit-district.md) — Parent district
|
||||
- [The Terminal](the-terminal.md) — Connected via break room service hatch (south entry)
|
||||
- [The Last Shift](the-last-shift.md) — Back room connects to ring infrastructure
|
||||
- [NPC Index](../../npcs/index.md) — Full character roster
|
||||
- [Severance Equipment](../../contraband/severance-equipment.md) — Used during Devra's meetings
|
||||
- D-036: Sova Transit District as v0.1 setting
|
||||
- D-037: Contraband specification (what moves through B-7)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — v0.1 smuggling infrastructure
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
|
||||
# The Last Shift (Bar)
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Location — Social Venue
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**District:** [Sova Transit District](../../world/sova-transit-district.md)
|
||||
**Station:** [Station Sova](../../world/station-sova.md)
|
||||
**System:** [Krenn System](../../world/krenn-system.md)
|
||||
**Level:** 2 (middle — worker amenities)
|
||||
**Operating Hours:** 14:00-02:00 station time
|
||||
**Informal Name:** "Lera's" (used by regulars)
|
||||
**Owner:** [Lera Sessik](../../npcs/lera-sessik.md)
|
||||
**Capacity:** ~30
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Last Shift is a mid-grade bar in Sova Transit District's Level 2 amenity strip. Not upscale, not a dive. The kind of place where working people go after shift because it's the only place worth going. Regulars call it "Lera's" after the owner, and the name on the hand-lettered sign outside — "Lera's — Cold Drinks, Hot Food, No Questions" — tells you everything about the establishment's operating philosophy.
|
||||
|
||||
The bar is the district's social heart. Information flows through here faster than through the Meridian: who's working extra shifts, who's buying rounds they can't afford, who left early with someone they shouldn't have, who said something to the new Commission tech that they probably shouldn't have said. For the smuggler, it's the place to relax, maintain social cover, and read the room for threats. For the detective, it's an intelligence goldmine disguised as a working-class bar.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Physical Description
|
||||
|
||||
**Structure:** The Last Shift occupies a converted maintenance staging area from an earlier construction era. The irregular layout is structural, not decorative — the booths were built into spaces that already existed, the bar counter follows the curve of a load-bearing wall, and the ceiling height varies from 2.5 meters in the main room to under 2 meters in the corner booth alcove. The conversion happened ~25 years ago when Lera's predecessor (a dock worker who retired into hospitality) saw an opportunity in the empty space.
|
||||
|
||||
**Layout:**
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Bar:** A long counter along the curved back wall, 8 stools. Lera's domain. She works the bar with Sess and has a sightline to most of the room from behind it. Bottles displayed on shelves — station-brewed spirits, imported beer (expensive, status purchase), and the synthetic staples that constitute 80% of sales. A Meridian music feed plays from a speaker nobody's ever changed — generic ambient that's become so familiar it functions as silence.
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Floor:** Scattered tables, mismatched chairs (some bolted down, some not — the bolted ones near the door, since the first few months after opening taught Lera about drunk dock workers and loose furniture). Low tables for card games. The floor is original metal plating with a rubberized coating that absorbs sound — and spills. Lighting is warm amber from older fixtures that Lera has never replaced because the atmosphere they create is worth more than the energy savings of an upgrade.
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Corner Booth:** A semi-private alcove created by the building's structural geometry — two walls converge, creating a natural pocket that seats 4-5. This is the most socially significant table in the district. Who uses the corner booth and when is information. Off-shift dock workers use it for card games. Devra uses it for business conversations that look like friendly drinks. The detective, once they identify the pattern, can observe the booth from the bar without appearing to watch.
|
||||
|
||||
- **News Ticker:** A Meridian feed display mounted above the bar. Concord Assembly proceedings (boring — nobody watches), freight market prices (relevant — workers check these), weather alerts for Krenn Prime surface operations (practical), and occasionally a Commission public notice about regulatory compliance (everyone pretends not to notice). The news ticker is background texture that occasionally becomes plot-relevant: the same headline reads differently to the smuggler and the detective.
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Back Room:** Through a door behind the bar marked "STAFF ONLY" (the sign is in Lera's handwriting). Officially a storage and supply room. The door leads to a small space with kegs, crates of supplies, and a secondary exit that connects to a maintenance corridor. Lera has "adopted" this corridor access — it's not on any lease, but nobody's contested it in 25 years. The ring uses the back room for handoffs: contraband arrives through the maintenance corridor, gets stored briefly among the supply crates, and is distributed through informal networks. Lera knows. Lera doesn't ask.
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Threshold:** The door to the bar opens onto the Level 2 corridor that connects The Terminal (via a transition ramp from Level 1) to the residential pods. Everyone heading from work to home passes this point. The threshold is where off-shift workers decide: home, or one more? The decision is visible. NPCs who enter the bar are making a social choice. NPCs who walk past are making a different one. Both are information.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Atmosphere & Sensory Details
|
||||
|
||||
**Sound:**
|
||||
- Conversation murmur (the dominant sound — 15-20 voices at peak, falling to 3-4 late at night)
|
||||
- Glass on surfaces (the clink and scrape of station-standard tumblers on metal table tops)
|
||||
- Meridian music feed (ambient, unremarkable, occasionally someone asks Sess to change it, Sess never does)
|
||||
- Span gate hum (quieter here on Level 2 than in The Terminal, but still present — a low vibration in the floor that you feel more than hear)
|
||||
- Card game sounds (chips, tapping, the particular conversational rhythm of people who've been playing the same game for years)
|
||||
- Late at night: the murmur dies down, the music becomes audible, individual conversations become distinguishable
|
||||
|
||||
**Smell:**
|
||||
- Cooking (protein paste dishes, reconstituted vegetables, synthetic spices — not gourmet, but warm and identifiable)
|
||||
- Alcohol (station-brewed spirits have a sharp, slightly chemical edge; imported beer smells different, richer)
|
||||
- Crowd scent (20 people in a converted maintenance area after an 8-hour shift — bodied, human, real)
|
||||
- Underneath: the ever-present recycled air base note, faintly metallic
|
||||
|
||||
**Lighting:**
|
||||
- Warm amber from older fixtures. The lighting is The Last Shift's most distinctive atmospheric feature — after the harsh industrial white of The Terminal, stepping into Lera's feels like exhaling. The amber isn't designed; it's a consequence of aged fixtures that Lera has correctly identified as an asset.
|
||||
- Corner booth: slightly dimmer (structural shadow from the converging walls). This is why the booth feels private — it's not screened off, just less illuminated.
|
||||
- Behind the bar: brighter (Lera needs to see what she's pouring). The light behind the bar creates a slight backlight effect — Lera is always slightly in silhouette from the customers' perspective. She sees them better than they see her.
|
||||
- Back room: Standard utility lighting (bright, unflattering — this is a storage space, not a social one).
|
||||
|
||||
**Temperature:**
|
||||
- Climate-controlled, comfortable — one of Lera's few deliberate investments. The bar is slightly warmer than the corridor outside, which makes the transition from work to drinks feel like arriving somewhere.
|
||||
- Late at night with fewer bodies, it cools slightly. The regulars who stay past midnight notice.
|
||||
|
||||
**Visual Texture:**
|
||||
- The hand-lettered sign: "Lera's — Cold Drinks, Hot Food, No Questions" (exterior, the first thing anyone sees)
|
||||
- Shift schedule board on the wall near the door (community service — workers check upcoming rotations here)
|
||||
- Lost-and-found notices (hand-written, some months old, a small archaeology of forgotten jackets and misplaced data chips)
|
||||
- A few personal touches from regulars: a carved wooden ship model on a shelf (Harek made it), a signed photograph of a freight crew from "the big delivery" (whatever that was, nobody new asks), stickers on the bolted-down chairs
|
||||
- Wear patterns: the bar counter is smoothed and darkened where elbows rest. The corner booth table has rings from a thousand glasses.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPC Presence
|
||||
|
||||
### Primary NPCs (Regular Presence at The Last Shift)
|
||||
|
||||
| NPC | Role | Typical Hours | Function |
|
||||
|-----|------|---------------|----------|
|
||||
| [Lera Sessik](../../npcs/lera-sessik.md) | Bar Owner | 13:30-02:00 (daily) | Social hub, observes everything, willful ignorance |
|
||||
| [Sera Venn](../../npcs/sera-venn.md) | Commission Field Tech (THE FRIEND) | Evenings, irregular | Detective's social anchor, bar regular |
|
||||
| [Hael](../../npcs/hael.md) | Teacher (Kael's partner) | Evenings, 2-3x/week | Worried, confides in Sera |
|
||||
| [Sess](../../npcs/sess.md) | Bartender | 14:00-02:00 (shifts with Lera) | Flat, observant, discreet |
|
||||
| [Olin](../../npcs/olin.md) | Drifter / New Arrival | Irregular, evenings | Ambiguous intent, asks questions |
|
||||
|
||||
### Bridge NPCs (Present at The Last Shift + Other Sites)
|
||||
|
||||
| NPC | Home Site | Bar Role | Bridge Function |
|
||||
|-----|-----------|----------|-----------------|
|
||||
| [Torek Lintar](../../npcs/torek-lintar.md) | The Last Shift / [The Terminal](the-terminal.md) | Regular, big spender | Spending beyond means — financial tell |
|
||||
| [Harek](../../npcs/harek.md) | The Last Shift / [The Terminal](the-terminal.md) | Off-duty security, card games | Sees things in both contexts, holds debt leverage on Drin |
|
||||
| [Maret Korr](../../npcs/maret-korr.md) | [The Terminal](the-terminal.md) | Occasional visitor | Worried, processes what she's seen at work |
|
||||
| [Devra](../../npcs/devra.md) | Smuggling Ring | Corner booth meetings | Legitimate front conceals ring coordination |
|
||||
| [Kael Davan](../../npcs/kael-davan.md) | [The Terminal](the-terminal.md) | After-shift regular | Ring member unwinding, partner Hael sometimes present |
|
||||
|
||||
**Total NPC presence:** Up to 10 at peak (5 regulars + 5 bridge), minimum 2-3 (Lera, Sess, and a straggler)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Daily Rhythm
|
||||
|
||||
**Pre-Opening (13:30-14:00)**
|
||||
- Lera arrives, stocks up, checks supplies. Sess follows. The bar is empty. Quiet conversations between staff — the only time Lera drops her public persona.
|
||||
|
||||
**Opening / Post-Morning-Shift (14:00-16:00)**
|
||||
- The morning shift crowd arrives. The corridor between The Terminal and The Last Shift becomes a chokepoint. Workers come in pairs and small groups. First orders are routine — "the usual" for regulars, careful choices for the new detective trying to establish a presence.
|
||||
- Mood: relieved, tired, social. This is when gossip flows most freely. "Did you see Voss's face when that manifest flagged?" The smuggler listens. The detective should.
|
||||
|
||||
**Afternoon Lull (16:00-18:00)**
|
||||
- The first wave leaves (home, errands, families). A quieter crowd remains: the ones who don't have somewhere to be, or who do but aren't going. Torek buys another round. Harek deals cards.
|
||||
- Mood: settled, intimate. Conversations deepen. The corner booth fills with whoever has business.
|
||||
|
||||
**Evening Peak (18:00-22:00)**
|
||||
- Swing shift workers arrive. The bar fills. Both shifts overlap. This is the social peak — maximum information exchange, maximum observation opportunity.
|
||||
- Card games run in the corner. Devra might appear for a "friendly drink" that involves a quiet conversation in the booth. Sera Venn drops in for an evening drink and might end up talking to Hael, who's worried about Kael's late nights.
|
||||
- Mood: lively, loud enough for private conversations to go unheard. The smuggler's comfort zone. The detective's observation window.
|
||||
|
||||
**Late Night (22:00-02:00)**
|
||||
- The crowd thins. Night shift workers are gone. The late-night regulars are a different crowd: the ones who don't want to go home, the ones with something on their mind, the ones waiting for something.
|
||||
- Lera starts cleaning. Conversations become audible again. The atmosphere shifts from social to confessional.
|
||||
- Mood: quiet, vulnerable. If an NPC is going to say something they'll regret, it happens here.
|
||||
|
||||
**Rest Days (Day 6-7 of cycle)**
|
||||
- Day 6 morning: bar closed. Lera resupplies, does maintenance.
|
||||
- Day 6 evening: opens late (16:00), lighter crowd.
|
||||
- Day 5 (end-of-work-cycle): Highest attendance. Card tournament night. Social peak of the weekly cycle. The bar is packed, loud, and perfect cover for anything the ring needs to coordinate.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
### Knowledge Graph Flags (FactIds)
|
||||
|
||||
| FactId | Smuggler Starting Level | Detective Starting Level | How Detective Escalates |
|
||||
|--------|------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
|
||||
| `relationship.trust_network` | KnowsDetails (knows everyone) | Suspects (observes social bonds) | Spend time here, build rapport, observe who talks to whom |
|
||||
| `relationship.ring_membership` | KnowsDetails (knows who's in) | None initially | Observe Torek's spending, Devra's booth meetings |
|
||||
| `contraband.supply_chain` | KnowsOf (knows general flow) | None initially | Connect bar observations to Terminal evidence |
|
||||
| `relationship.faction_allegiance` | KnowsDetails (reads the room) | Suspects (knows some are Commission-aligned) | Observe NPC reactions to authority presence |
|
||||
|
||||
### Perception Differences
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler sees:**
|
||||
- Sanctuary. The one place where work recedes and social life fills the space. Familiar faces, familiar orders, the warm amber light after a long shift. Lera's nod that means "everything's fine." Kael's laugh from the corner table.
|
||||
- But also: Torek spending too much. Olin asking too many questions. The detective's presence as an intrusion into safe space. The bar as a social map that must be maintained.
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective sees:**
|
||||
- An intelligence environment. Every regular is a potential source. Every conversation is potential evidence. The corner booth is a surveillance target. Torek's spending is a financial tell. Lera's practiced indifference is a tell of its own.
|
||||
- But also: the first place that feels human since arriving on Sova. The amber light is warm. Sera Venn is friendly. The detective's professional discipline fights their personal need for connection. The bar is where the detective is most vulnerable to becoming attached to the people they're investigating.
|
||||
|
||||
### Monologue Triggers (Location-Specific)
|
||||
|
||||
**On entering The Last Shift:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Social comfort, reads the room for who's present, brief relaxation
|
||||
- Detective: Assessment mode, notes occupancy, identifies familiar faces from case file
|
||||
|
||||
**On observing Torek buying rounds:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Concern (exposure risk — Torek's spending is visible)
|
||||
- Detective: Financial anomaly flag (income doesn't match lifestyle)
|
||||
|
||||
**On overhearing Hael confide in Sera:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Guilt (knows why Kael is absent, can't say)
|
||||
- Detective: Potential lead (partner's worry suggests concealment behavior)
|
||||
|
||||
**On the corner booth being occupied by Devra + unknown:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Operational awareness (ring business, stay clear)
|
||||
- Detective: Surveillance target (who's meeting whom, lattice overlay tags the unknown)
|
||||
|
||||
**On the news ticker showing Commission activity:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Relief if it's elsewhere, tension if it's local
|
||||
- Detective: Jurisdictional context, watches NPC reactions to the headline
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Worldbuilding Notes
|
||||
|
||||
The Last Shift works because it's the only social venue in a 800-person district where everyone works physical jobs. That simplicity creates concentrated social dynamics: there's nowhere else to go, so everyone comes here, and everyone sees everyone else. The bar is a panopticon of social information — but unlike institutional surveillance, it runs on gossip, routine observation, and the accumulated pattern recognition of people who've been seeing each other every day for years.
|
||||
|
||||
But what SUSTAINS The Last Shift as a gameplay space across hours of play is the dual function: it's simultaneously the smuggler's refuge and the detective's fishing ground. The same NPC interaction reads differently from each perspective. Lera's "no questions" policy protects the smuggler and frustrates the detective. Torek's generosity is loyalty from one angle and evidence from another. The bar doesn't change between playthroughs. The player does.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](../../world/sova-transit-district.md) — Parent district
|
||||
- [The Terminal](the-terminal.md) — Workers come from here
|
||||
- [Maintenance Corridors](maintenance-corridors.md) — Back room connects to ring infrastructure
|
||||
- [NPC Index](../../npcs/index.md) — Full character roster
|
||||
- D-036: Sova Transit District as v0.1 setting
|
||||
- D-028: Dialogue architecture (bar as primary social dialogue site)
|
||||
- D-034: THE FRIEND (Sera Venn present at bar, detective's anchor)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — v0.1 social venue
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,191 @@
|
||||
# The Terminal (Logistics Hub)
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Location — Workplace Social Site
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**District:** [Sova Transit District](../../world/sova-transit-district.md)
|
||||
**Station:** [Station Sova](../../world/station-sova.md)
|
||||
**System:** [Krenn System](../../world/krenn-system.md)
|
||||
**Level:** 1 (lowest)
|
||||
**Operating Hours:** 24-hour, three 8-hour shifts
|
||||
**Capacity:** ~60 workers per shift
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Terminal is the economic heart of Sova Transit District — a freight logistics hub where cargo arrives through the span gate, gets sorted, inspected, manifested, and forwarded. It's the district's largest employer and the place where most of the 800 residents spend their working hours. It's also where the smuggling operation lives, hidden in the routine of legitimate work.
|
||||
|
||||
The name is informal. Officially it's "Sova Transit Logistics Hub, Bay 7-C." Nobody calls it that. Workers call it The Terminal because that's what it is: the terminus of every shipment that passes through Krenn System's primary freight corridor. The name carries a blue-collar weariness — this is where things end up, including the people who work here.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Physical Description
|
||||
|
||||
**Structure:** The Terminal occupies a large section of Level 1, built into the original freight bay from Station Sova's construction ~140 years ago. The core structure is industrial prefab — high ceilings (8 meters in the main bay), exposed structural ribs, reinforced flooring rated for heavy cargo. Successive retrofits have partitioned the space into functional zones without changing its fundamental character: a working bay where things get moved.
|
||||
|
||||
**Layout Zones:**
|
||||
|
||||
- **Main Bay Floor:** The largest open space in the district. Cargo containers stacked in rows, grav-lift lanes between them, manifest verification terminals along the walls. Bright industrial white lighting from overhead panels — functional, slightly harsh, the kind of light that makes everything look the same at 03:00 as at 15:00. The floor is scuffed metal plating with wear patterns that trace decades of foot traffic and grav-lift routes.
|
||||
|
||||
- **Manifest Processing Area:** A row of terminals along the bay's east wall where workers verify cargo contents against Meridian-logged manifests. This is the bureaucratic chokepoint — every shipment passes through here. Screens display cargo IDs, weight/volume data, origin stamps, destination codes. The smuggling happens at these terminals: mismatched containers, doctored manifests, containers routed to scanner bays with known blind spots.
|
||||
|
||||
- **Container Staging:** The physical workspace. Heavy containers moved by small grav-lifts — hum of anti-grav motors, clang of magnetic locks engaging, occasional shout over the machinery noise. Active during shift hours, quieter between shifts. Workers communicate in a mix of voice calls and short Meridian pings.
|
||||
|
||||
- **Scanner Bays (3):** Automated cargo inspection stations. Bay 1 and 2 run full spectral scans. Bay 3 has a known calibration drift that produces less reliable results — this has been on the maintenance ticket for four months. The ring routes flagged containers through Bay 3 during shift transitions.
|
||||
|
||||
- **Administrative Offices:** Glass-fronted offices overlooking the bay floor from a raised platform at the north end. Voss's domain. Shift schedules posted on the exterior glass, performance metrics on an internal display nobody reads. The offices have a direct sightline to the main bay floor — Voss can see who's working and who's not. But the offices can't see around the container stacks into the staging area. This sightline gap is load-bearing.
|
||||
|
||||
- **Break Room / Lockers:** Through a reinforced door at the bay's south end. Lockers, a food prep area, a worn couch, a Meridian display showing news feeds. The social space within the workplace, where off-the-record conversations happen. A service hatch at the back of the locker area — originally for maintenance access to the ventilation system — connects to Corridor B-7. This is the physical link between the legitimate workspace and the smuggling infrastructure.
|
||||
|
||||
- **Temporary Storage (Holding Area):** Behind the main bay, accessed through a cargo-width corridor. Containers awaiting processing or pickup sit here. Standard procedure: 4-6 hours maximum. Containers that sit longer trigger a flag. The ring's operational rhythm involves containers that sit 14-18 hours — long enough to be repackaged during a shift transition, short enough not to trigger automated alerts (which require 24 hours).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Atmosphere & Sensory Details
|
||||
|
||||
**Sound:**
|
||||
- Span gate hum (omnipresent bass vibration from the gate terminal at the bay's edge, pitch rises with transit volume)
|
||||
- Grav-lift motors (a smooth electric whine, punctuated by the heavy clank of magnetic container locks)
|
||||
- Manifest scanner pings (repetitive, rhythmic, the heartbeat of cargo processing)
|
||||
- Conveyor systems (low continuous rumble during active shifts)
|
||||
- Shouted instructions over machinery noise (workers calling bay numbers, container IDs, warnings)
|
||||
- Between shifts: the hum drops, the machinery goes quiet, the ventilation system becomes audible
|
||||
|
||||
**Smell:**
|
||||
- Industrial lubricant (machine maintenance, strongest near grav-lift lanes)
|
||||
- Recycled air (the base smell of everything on Sova — faintly metallic, unremarkable)
|
||||
- Cargo scents from organic shipments (agricultural products, biological supplies — occasionally pungent)
|
||||
- Ozone (faint, lingers near the span gate terminal after high-volume transit cycles)
|
||||
- Break room: protein paste heating, synthetic coffee, the accumulated smell of a hundred lunches
|
||||
|
||||
**Lighting:**
|
||||
- Main bay: Bright industrial white panels, even coverage, no shadows in work areas. Slightly harsh — designed for visibility, not comfort. Workers squint when they first step in from the corridor.
|
||||
- Administrative offices: Same white panels, tinted glass reducing glare slightly
|
||||
- Break room: Warmer fixtures (older installation, never upgraded), slightly amber
|
||||
- Temporary storage: Dimmer — reduced fixture density, pools of shadow between container rows
|
||||
- Between containers in staging area: Shadows. The container stacks create corridors of their own with inconsistent lighting. This is where quick exchanges happen.
|
||||
|
||||
**Temperature:**
|
||||
- Slightly warm (machinery heat from grav-lifts and scanning equipment)
|
||||
- Cooler near the span gate terminal (gate transit introduces brief cold drafts)
|
||||
- Workers dress in standard-issue logistics coveralls, light layers underneath
|
||||
|
||||
**Visual Texture:**
|
||||
- Bilingual signage: safety warnings in Concordat Standard (institutional, clean) and Krenn vernacular (hand-lettered additions, corrections, complaints)
|
||||
- Shift schedule boards: printed but annotated in marker
|
||||
- Safety notices: mandatory, ignored, peeling at the corners
|
||||
- Locker personalization: stickers, shift-end doodles, photographs, a hand-lettered "Days Since Last Accident: 47" counter
|
||||
- Wear patterns: the floor tells the story of decades of traffic — polished paths between common routes, scuffed zones near the break room door, pristine metal in the rarely-used back corner of temporary storage
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPC Presence
|
||||
|
||||
### Primary NPCs (Home Template: The Terminal)
|
||||
|
||||
| NPC | Role | Shift | Function |
|
||||
|-----|------|-------|----------|
|
||||
| [Voss](../../npcs/voss.md) | Shift Supervisor | Morning (06:00-14:00) | Authority figure, manages schedules, sightline from office |
|
||||
| [Kael Davan](../../npcs/kael-davan.md) | Dock Worker (THE FRIEND) | Morning (06:00-14:00) | Ring member, cargo handler, smuggler's closest colleague |
|
||||
| [Maret Korr](../../npcs/maret-korr.md) | Freight Scheduler | Morning (06:00-14:00) | Processes manifests, notices discrepancies, hasn't reported |
|
||||
| [Resha](../../npcs/resha.md) | New Hire Dock Worker | Morning (06:00-14:00) | Asks questions, hasn't learned to mind their business |
|
||||
| [Drin](../../npcs/drin.md) | Maintenance Tech | Rotating | Fixes things, notices things, says nothing |
|
||||
|
||||
### Bridge NPCs (Present at The Terminal + Other Sites)
|
||||
|
||||
| NPC | Home Site | Terminal Role | Bridge Function |
|
||||
|-----|-----------|---------------|-----------------|
|
||||
| [Torek Lintar](../../npcs/torek-lintar.md) | [The Last Shift](the-last-shift.md) | Off-shift dock worker | Compromised inspector, looks away during inspection |
|
||||
| [Renn](../../npcs/renn.md) | Smuggling Ring | Courier | Transfers cargo from bay to Corridor B-7 |
|
||||
| [Harek](../../npcs/harek.md) | [The Last Shift](the-last-shift.md) | Off-duty security | Occasionally patrols, holds debt leverage on Drin |
|
||||
|
||||
**Total NPC presence:** 8 (5 primary, 3 bridge)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Daily Rhythm
|
||||
|
||||
**Morning Shift (06:00-14:00) — Highest Activity**
|
||||
- 05:30-06:15: Shift transition. Handoff briefings at the admin office. Workers arriving, lockers opening, coffee queue in the break room. Night crew wrapping up.
|
||||
- 06:00-08:00: Peak freight volume. Gate cycles every 4-6 minutes. The bay floor is active — grav-lifts moving, scanners pinging, manifest terminals occupied. Voss watches from the office.
|
||||
- 08:00-12:00: Sustained operations. Routine sets in. Workers fall into their patterns.
|
||||
- 12:00-13:00: Staggered breaks. Break room at half capacity, conversations about ventilation, yesterday's card game, complaints about scheduling.
|
||||
- 13:30-14:15: Shift transition. The corridor between The Terminal and the bar district becomes a chokepoint as morning shift heads to The Last Shift.
|
||||
|
||||
**Swing Shift (14:00-22:00) — Moderate Activity**
|
||||
- Moderate freight volume. Gate cycles every 6-8 minutes.
|
||||
- Fewer NPCs. Bridge NPCs are off at The Last Shift. Atmosphere quieter.
|
||||
- 21:30-22:15: Shift transition. The window tightens.
|
||||
|
||||
**Night Shift (22:00-06:00) — Lowest Activity / Smuggling Window**
|
||||
- Skeleton crew. Gate cycles every 12-15 minutes.
|
||||
- Reduced oversight. Voss is off-shift. Supervision is nominal.
|
||||
- **Ring operational window:** Between 01:00-04:00, the bay is at minimum staffing. Renn moves containers from temporary storage through the break room service hatch to Corridor B-7. The entire operation takes 20 minutes if everything goes smoothly. Drin, if on night rotation, maintains equipment in the area and doesn't look up.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
### Knowledge Graph Flags (FactIds)
|
||||
|
||||
| FactId | Smuggler Starting Level | Detective Starting Level | How Detective Escalates |
|
||||
|--------|------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
|
||||
| `location.sova_transit_layout` | KnowsDetails (lives here) | KnowsOf (has station map) | Explore, observe worker routes |
|
||||
| `contraband.ring_exists` | KnowsDetails (member) | Suspects (case briefing) | Observe manifest discrepancies, NPC behavior |
|
||||
| `investigation.manifest_discrepancy` | KnowsDetails (knows the system) | Suspects (analytical lattice flags) | Compare manifests, interrogate Maret |
|
||||
| `investigation.shift_mismatch` | KnowsDetails (knows Voss's schedule) | Suspects (pattern analysis) | Observe night shift staffing, correlate with arrivals |
|
||||
| `location.dead_drop_location` | KnowsDetails (uses Locker 47) | None (must discover) | Observe Kael's break room behavior |
|
||||
|
||||
### Perception Differences
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler sees:**
|
||||
- Home. The familiar rhythm of a workspace they've occupied for years. Container stacks they know by heart. The manifest terminal where they doctored their first shipment. The break room where Kael told them about the arrangement.
|
||||
- Risk assessment through social intelligence: who's on shift, who's in the office, whether Voss seems distracted, whether Resha is asking too many questions again.
|
||||
- The service hatch as a door they walk through. Routine.
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective sees:**
|
||||
- A crime scene that doesn't know it's a crime scene yet. Orderly operations that mask systematic fraud. A supervisor's office with a sightline gap they note on their lattice overlay. A scanner bay with a calibration drift that shows up in the maintenance logs they've pulled.
|
||||
- Pattern analysis through institutional tools: manifest discrepancies flagged by analytical lattice, shift schedules that don't match freight volume, a container that's been in temporary storage for 14 hours.
|
||||
- The service hatch as something that doesn't appear on the official schematics. A gap.
|
||||
|
||||
### Monologue Triggers (Location-Specific)
|
||||
|
||||
**On entering The Terminal:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Familiarity, routine assessment, awareness of operational state
|
||||
- Detective: Institutional assessment, observation of workflow, first pattern recognition
|
||||
|
||||
**On observing Scanner Bay 3:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Practical awareness (knows the calibration drift, uses it)
|
||||
- Detective: Analytical flag (maintenance records show repeated deferrals)
|
||||
|
||||
**On entering the Break Room:**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Social space, reads the room for mood
|
||||
- Detective: Notes the service hatch, files it for later
|
||||
|
||||
**On discovering Temporary Storage anomaly (container sitting 14+ hours):**
|
||||
- Smuggler: Knows what it means, assesses risk
|
||||
- Detective: First concrete evidence — `investigation.cargo_anomaly` escalates from Suspects to KnowsOf
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Worldbuilding Notes
|
||||
|
||||
The Terminal is designed to feel like a real workplace — the kind of place where monotony breeds familiarity and familiarity breeds vulnerability. The smuggling operation doesn't require elaborate infrastructure. It requires an understanding of how a logistics hub actually functions: which scanner has a calibration issue, when the shift transitions create gaps, where the sightlines end and the shadows begin.
|
||||
|
||||
The honest truth is that every workplace has these vulnerabilities. What makes The Terminal interesting is that both the smuggler and the detective know this — the smuggler because they exploit it daily, the detective because they're trained to find it. They're reading the same room with different alphabets.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](../../world/sova-transit-district.md) — Parent district
|
||||
- [Maintenance Corridors](maintenance-corridors.md) — Connected via break room service hatch
|
||||
- [The Last Shift](the-last-shift.md) — Where workers go after shift
|
||||
- [NPC Index](../../npcs/index.md) — Full character roster
|
||||
- D-036: Sova Transit District as v0.1 setting
|
||||
- D-027: Vertical slice definition
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — v0.1 workplace social site
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
|
||||
# Devra
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | Smuggling Ring + The Last Shift (Bar) | Entangled
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Devra
|
||||
**Age**: 38
|
||||
**Role**: Ring coordinator (manages external contacts, logistics planning); publicly, a freelance supply broker with a regular seat at The Last Shift
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, born off-station (Orbital Manufacturing Platform 3), relocated to Sova 5 years ago
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Standard professional (commercial-grade communication and logistics tools)
|
||||
**Employer**: Self-employed (supply brokering — legitimate cover); The Arrangement (ring coordination, operational)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Keep the operation running smoothly and profitably.
|
||||
|
||||
Devra is the ring's operational brain. She manages the external supply chain — coordinating with Sabel (off-station contact) for incoming shipments, scheduling handoffs, managing the timeline between gate transits and dock processing. She's good at this. Better than Nils, frankly, though she'd never say it.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Maintain her legitimate cover.
|
||||
|
||||
The supply brokering business isn't just cover — it's real income and real social capital. Devra brokers small freight contracts for independent operators. This gives her a legitimate reason to know shipping schedules, gate transit windows, and cargo volumes. The line between her legal and illegal work is intentionally blurred.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: The supply brokering business is partly a cover for ring logistics. Visible to anyone who tracks how much time Devra spends on freight details that don't match her client list.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: Devra manages the relationship with Sabel, the off-station supplier. If the chain is traced upstream, it runs through Devra. She's more exposed than anyone except Nils.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: The external contact chain. Devra is the single point of failure between the local ring and the supply source. If Sabel is compromised, Devra is the next link. If the detective traces cargo origins, Devra's brokering records are the thread to pull.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Nils Davan** (off-stage): Ring coordinator (strategic). Devra handles operations; Nils handles personnel and security. They respect each other's competence but disagree on risk tolerance — Devra favors steady volume, Nils pushes for escalation.
|
||||
|
||||
**Sabel** (off-station, Tier 3): External supplier. Devra's primary off-station contact. Professional, efficient, no personal warmth. Sabel delivers; Devra pays. The relationship is transactional.
|
||||
|
||||
**Lera Sessik**: The bar is Devra's social stage. She drinks there, brokers small deals publicly, maintains the image of a working professional. Lera knows Devra uses the back room but doesn't know for what.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**High**. Devra is calm under pressure, thinks operationally, and doesn't panic. What breaks her tolerance: Pell's wavering (internal security threat), unexpected Commission presence (the detective's arrival is exactly the kind of disruption Devra planned to avoid), and Nils pushing volume too fast.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**08:00 - 12:00**: Supply brokering work (lattice calls, contract negotiation, legitimate business)
|
||||
**12:00 - 14:00**: Lunch, sometimes at the hub (maintaining visibility near freight operations)
|
||||
**14:00 - 17:00**: Bar (The Last Shift) — social presence, quiet coordination
|
||||
**17:00 - 19:00**: Back room meetings (1-2x per week, ring business)
|
||||
**19:00+**: Home or continued brokering
|
||||
**Night operations**: Coordinates gate transit timing with Sabel during off-peak windows (lattice communication from home)
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Ring structure (all operational details), supply chain from Sabel through dock to distribution, which containers are flagged, gate transit schedules, who in the ring is reliable and who isn't. Knows Pell is wavering (Renn reported suspicions to Nils, who told Devra). Knows Kael handles dock-side operations efficiently.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Kael's exit attempt (Kael concealed this from everyone in the ring), Sera's compliance check, the detective's investigation details, Maret's growing suspicion about manifests.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate-high**. Devra is competent and knows it. The operation runs well. The money is good. The brokering cover is solid. Her contentment would drop sharply if the operation were threatened — not because she loves the work, but because she's built her entire life in the district around it.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Strategic** — thinks in logistics, plans contingencies, manages complexity.
|
||||
**Secondary: Controlled** — doesn't show stress, maintains composure, presents a professional face.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Ambitious** — wants the operation to grow (at a sustainable pace), not just survive.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Increased lattice activity** | Coordinating with Sabel about incoming shipment timing | Smuggler (if ring member, recognizes the pattern), Detective (if tracking lattice traffic) |
|
||||
| **Back room usage** | Ring coordination meetings — Devra enters, door closes, 30-60 minutes | Lera (knows the door is closed), Sess (observes from behind the bar), Detective (if tracking movement patterns in the bar) |
|
||||
| **Professional demeanor shift** | When discussing ring business, Devra's casual bar persona drops — sentences get shorter, eye contact increases | Smuggler (recognizes the operational mode), anyone paying close attention |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Supply chain logistics, contract negotiation, freight brokering, commercial communication.
|
||||
**Ring-relevant**: External coordination, timing management, operational planning, information compartmentalization.
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Devra is not physical. If threatened, she leverages connections and information, not force.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Standard professional (commercial-grade, not military or investigative).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Professional (public bar persona)**
|
||||
- *"I've got a freight contract clearing through Gate 2 next cycle. Standard components. Nothing exciting, but it pays the rent."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Operational (ring coordination)**
|
||||
- *"The window is tight. Sabel confirms transit for the 22:00 cycle. Renn handles pickup. Nobody else needs to be involved."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Concerned (about Pell)**
|
||||
- *"Pell's been quiet. Too quiet. When someone stops complaining, that's when I worry."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Devra is the operational heart of the ring. The smuggler respects her competence and relies on her coordination. If the smuggler is a ring member, Devra is the colleague who keeps things running. *"Devra's got the next shipment scheduled. She's reliable — more reliable than Nils, honestly."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Devra is a freelance supply broker who spends a lot of time at the bar and knows freight schedules in unusual detail. The detective initially reads her as a local businesswoman. Only deeper investigation reveals the brokering is partly cover. *"Freelance broker. Devra, no family name offered. Knows freight schedules better than most hub workers. Interesting."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Not a formal v0.1 triangle member.** Devra's role is connective — she links the ring's internal operations to the external supply chain. She's referenced in multiple triangles without being a node in one. Her significance is operational, not interpersonal.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Renn](renn.md), [Pell](pell.md), [Lera Sessik](lera-sessik.md), [Sabel](sabel.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
|
||||
# Drin
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 3 NPC** | Logistics Hub (The Terminal) | Flat
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Essential Axes
|
||||
|
||||
### Want
|
||||
|
||||
Stay out of trouble. Pay off the debt. Get through the shift.
|
||||
|
||||
Drin is a maintenance tech who also handles dock inspections. He's competent at both. The problem is the gambling debt to Harek — a significant sum from the bar card games that Drin can't repay on his salary. The debt doesn't require Drin to do anything explicitly illegal. It just means Drin is slow during inspections of certain containers. He doesn't open them. He doesn't look hard. The ring has noticed this pattern and relies on it. Drin is compromised by omission, not commission.
|
||||
|
||||
### Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**06:00 - 14:00**: Day shift — maintenance rounds and scheduled dock inspections
|
||||
**10:30**: Break room, avoids Harek if present
|
||||
**14:00 - 16:00**: Post-shift — home or bar (card game nights, 2x per week)
|
||||
**Night**: Home, worrying about the debt
|
||||
|
||||
### Personality
|
||||
|
||||
**Quiet, methodical, avoidant.** Drin fixes things. Pipes, wiring, environmental systems, loading equipment. He's good with objects and bad with people. The gambling started as social bonding (card games at the bar) and became a trap. Drin doesn't talk about the debt, doesn't talk about the inspections, doesn't talk much at all. His silence is both personality and survival strategy.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Hint
|
||||
|
||||
*"I just do maintenance. Inspections are part of the schedule. I run them by the book."* [Flat delivery, eye contact avoided]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Function Note
|
||||
|
||||
Drin exists as the **compromised institutional node** in Triangle 2 (Worried Knowledge). Maret notices his clean inspection reports. Voss needs him functional. Harek holds the leverage. Pell (in Triangle 5) might approach Drin as an institutional contact — not knowing Drin is already under the ring's indirect control. Drin is the person where the legitimate system and the criminal system overlap, and neither works properly because of it.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Drin is a tool — compromised and reliable because of it. *"Drin's on inspection today. We're good."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Drin is a data point — his inspection reports are too clean for the volume. *"The inspector — Drin. Maintenance tech pulling double duty. Reports are spotless. Nobody's reports are that spotless."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Harek](harek.md), [Maret Korr](maret-korr.md), [Voss](voss.md), [Pell](pell.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
|
||||
# Hael
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | The Last Shift (Bar) | Mundane
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Hael
|
||||
**Age**: 33
|
||||
**Role**: Teacher, Station Sova community school (Residential Radial A)
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, Krenn Prime (surface), relocated to Station Sova 8 years ago
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Baseline
|
||||
**Employer**: Sova Station Education Services
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Understand what's happening with Kael.
|
||||
|
||||
Hael and Kael have been together 6 years. It was good — stable, warm, predictable. Then Kael started coming home late. Evasive answers. Money that didn't match the hours. Stress that Kael won't explain. Hael doesn't know about the ring. Hael knows that the person they share a life with is hiding something, and the not-knowing is worse than almost any truth.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Protect the life they've built.
|
||||
|
||||
Hael teaches station kids. Has a community, a reputation, a daily rhythm. Whatever Kael is hiding, Hael wants it resolved without destroying everything — the home, the relationship, the stability that took years to build. This is why Hael confides in Sera instead of confronting Kael directly: Hael wants advice, not a fight.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: Worried about Kael. Visible to anyone who sees Hael's stress — Sera, bar regulars, anyone paying attention.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: Hael confided in Sera about Kael's behavior. This is the action that set Sera's compliance check in motion, though Hael doesn't know that. Hael shared a personal worry with a trusted friend. That trusted friend had institutional access.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: Emotional exposure. Hael's worry is genuine, visible, and exploitable. The detective can cultivate Hael as a source by being sympathetic. The smuggler (if Kael's friend) feels guilt seeing Hael's distress. Hael is the emotional center of Triangle 4 — the person everyone wants to protect and nobody can protect without making it worse.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Kael Davan**: Partner, 6 years. Deep love, growing anxiety. Hael doesn't question Kael's character — just Kael's honesty. The relationship is the strongest bond in Hael's life and the source of the greatest stress.
|
||||
|
||||
**Sera Venn**: Close friend, 10 months. Met at the bar after Sera transferred. Genuine friendship — Sera is smart, calm, from outside the district's close-knit social web. Hael trusts Sera as someone who can give perspective without gossip.
|
||||
|
||||
**Lera Sessik**: Bar acquaintance. Hael isn't a heavy drinker but comes to The Last Shift for the social environment. Lera is warm to Hael — the kind of protective attention a good bartender gives to someone who's visibly struggling.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate**. Hael is patient — teaching station kids requires it. But the patience is fraying. Every evasive answer from Kael, every late night, every "it's just work" chips at Hael's tolerance. If pushed to a breaking point, Hael confronts Kael directly — which could trigger Kael's crisis, force Sera's hand, or give the detective an opening.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**07:00 - 15:00**: Teaching (community school, Residential Radial A — tram to Transit District)
|
||||
**15:00 - 15:30**: Commute back to Transit District
|
||||
**15:30 - 17:30**: Bar (The Last Shift) — meets Sera, social time, decompresses
|
||||
**17:30 - 22:00**: Home. Waits for Kael. Sometimes Kael is there, sometimes not.
|
||||
**Late evenings**: Alone in the apartment, wondering where Kael is.
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Kael's normal routine (6 years of partnership). Kael's recent deviations (late nights, evasive answers, unexplained stress). Sera's Commission role (knows Sera is a tech, not an investigator). Bar social dynamics from Sera's descriptions. The school community, kids' families, education bureaucracy.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Ring, smuggling, Kael's membership, manifest discrepancies, Sera's compliance check, the detective's investigation. Hael lives in the civilian layer of the district where none of this is visible — until it becomes personal.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Low** — and declining. Hael was content: stable job, loving partner, community. Now the relationship anxiety is coloring everything. Teaching is harder when you're distracted. The bar visits are tinged with worry. Home is where the absence lives. Hael's contentment trajectory mirrors Kael's — both declining, for connected but different reasons.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Caring** — genuinely invested in other people's wellbeing (students, Kael, Sera).
|
||||
**Secondary: Patient** — tolerates uncertainty longer than most, but not indefinitely.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Perceptive** — reads emotional states well. Knows when Kael is lying even if Hael can't prove it.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Visible stress** | Tired eyes, distracted conversation, checking lattice for messages from Kael | Sera, Lera, Detective (if visiting the bar), bar regulars |
|
||||
| **Mentions Kael unprompted** | Worry overflowing into conversation — "Kael was late again" or "I don't know what's going on at the hub" | Sera (primary recipient), Detective (if sitting nearby or in conversation) |
|
||||
| **Increased bar presence** | Coming to the bar more often and staying longer — avoiding the empty apartment | Lera (notices the pattern), Sera (recognizes the coping mechanism) |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Teaching, community engagement, youth education, curriculum management.
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Hael is entirely civilian.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Baseline.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Worried (to Sera)**
|
||||
- *"Kael was home at midnight again. Said it was overtime. There's no overtime posted for this week — I checked. Sera, what do I do?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Warm (baseline social)**
|
||||
- *"The kids are doing better with the new math curriculum. Kael helped me set up the practice modules last month — back when Kael had time for things like that."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Brittle (close to breaking point)**
|
||||
- *"I'm not asking for much. Just — tell me the truth. Whatever it is. I can handle it. I can't handle not knowing."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Hael is emotional collateral. The smuggler knows why Kael is busy and can't say. Seeing Hael's worry creates guilt — especially if the smuggler is Kael's friend. If Hael asks the smuggler about Kael, there's no good answer. *"Hael's at the bar again. Alone. Looking at the door every time it opens. I know where Kael is. I can't say."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Hael is a potential source. A partner who suspects their loved one is hiding something is a classic entry point for investigation. The detective can cultivate Hael's trust by being sympathetic — listen, validate, gently probe. Hael might not know specifics, but Hael knows Kael's routine, habits, and recent changes better than anyone. *"The partner — Hael. Teacher. Visibly stressed. Keeps looking at the door. If Davan is involved, this partner knows something changed, even if they don't know what."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 4: Worried Partner (Hael - Kael - Sera)** — The emotional center. Hael's worry about Kael triggered Sera's investigation. Hael's trust in Sera makes Sera's concealment more painful. Hael connects the detective's investigation to Kael's personal life — through Sera, through Hael's own observations, through the simple fact that a worried partner is the best witness to behavioral change.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Kael Davan](kael-davan.md), [Sera Venn](sera-venn.md), [Lera Sessik](lera-sessik.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
|
||||
# Harek
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | The Last Shift (Bar) + Logistics Hub | Mundane
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Harek
|
||||
**Age**: 44
|
||||
**Role**: Station Security officer (off-duty at bar, on-duty at hub perimeter)
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, Station Sova
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Standard security (patrol monitoring, incident reporting)
|
||||
**Employer**: Sova Station Security
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Maintain his comfortable position.
|
||||
|
||||
Harek has a good thing: security officer with a predictable schedule, card games at the bar after shift, and enough social capital to be respected without being scrutinized. He doesn't want promotions (more responsibility, more visibility). He doesn't want trouble. He wants the steady, predictable life of a man who knows exactly how much effort each day requires.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Keep Drin's debt leverageable.
|
||||
|
||||
Drin owes Harek money from card games — a significant sum that Drin can't easily repay. Harek doesn't press the debt aggressively; he keeps it active. A security officer with a dock inspector who owes him favors is useful. Harek hasn't explicitly traded the debt for inspection negligence, but the debt's existence creates a power dynamic that the ring has noticed and exploited.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: Holds Drin's gambling debt. Known to bar regulars. Nobody thinks much of it — people owe each other money on Sova.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: Harek knows (or suspects) that Drin's inspection negligence is being leveraged by someone else. He sees the dynamic: Drin owes him, Drin looks away during inspections, the ring benefits. Harek hasn't connected all the dots, but he understands that his card game created a tool that others are using.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: Complicity by inaction. Harek hasn't done anything illegal. But a security officer who notices a dock inspector being leveraged and doesn't report it is, at minimum, negligent. If investigated, Harek's position crumbles.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Drin**: Card game partner, debtor. Harek likes Drin personally — they've played cards for years. The debt complicates this, but Harek doesn't see himself as a predator. He sees a friend who's bad at cards and bad at saying no.
|
||||
|
||||
**Lera Sessik**: Bar owner. Professional familiarity. Harek's card games bring customers. Lera facilitates. Mutually beneficial.
|
||||
|
||||
**Torek Lintar**: Card game regular. Harek has noticed Torek's spending but doesn't flag it — Torek's money at the card table is Harek's entertainment.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate-high**. Harek is comfortable and complacent. He tolerates a lot because engagement is effort. What breaks his tolerance: direct institutional pressure (Commission or Security command asking about Drin), or violence (Harek takes safety seriously even if he's loose on contraband).
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**06:00 - 14:00**: Security patrol — hub perimeter and freight bay access points (day shift)
|
||||
**14:00 - 14:30**: Shift transition
|
||||
**14:30 - 20:00**: Bar (The Last Shift) — drinks, card games (2-3 times per week)
|
||||
**20:00+**: Home
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Security patrol routes, hub access protocols, freight bay entry logs, which areas have Meridian coverage and which don't. Drin's debt and behavioral changes. Torek's spending. Bar social dynamics.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Ring structure, specific smuggling operations, manifest details, Kael's exit attempt, Sera's compliance check. Harek knows something is going on at the hub — he's a security officer, he's not blind — but he's chosen not to investigate because investigating would mean confronting what Drin's debt has become.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate-high**. Harek is the quintessential "comfortable enough not to rock the boat." He has a stable job, social standing, entertainment, and just enough willful ignorance to keep his conscience manageable.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Complacent** — takes the path of least resistance.
|
||||
**Secondary: Sociable** — enjoys the card games, the bar crowd, the community.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Perceptive** — sees more than he admits. His training doesn't turn off, even when his ethics do.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Watches Drin more carefully** | When Drin is stressed or evasive — Harek monitors his investment | Detective (if tracking the Harek-Drin dynamic), bar regulars |
|
||||
| **Steers conversation away from security topics** | When someone (especially the detective) asks about hub access or patrol gaps | Detective (classic deflection tell) |
|
||||
| **Card game invitation** | Harek invites people to play cards — this is social intelligence gathering wrapped in entertainment | Detective (if they recognize the information exchange happening at the table) |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Security patrol, access control, incident response, observation training.
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **Yes** (basic). Station security training — non-lethal restraint, de-escalation, emergency response. Not tactical.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Standard security (patrol monitoring, incident reporting, basic surveillance access).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Sociable (baseline)**
|
||||
- *"Cards tonight? I've got a good feeling. Drin — you in? Don't worry about the tab, I'll cover your first round."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Deflective (security questions)**
|
||||
- *"Hub security's solid. We run standard patrols, standard protocols. Nothing unusual. You want specifics, talk to my supervisor — I just walk the route."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Harek is a known quantity — off-duty security who doesn't look too hard. The smuggler reads Harek's card games as harmless social activity and his complacency as a feature, not a bug. *"Harek's at the bar. Security badge off, drink in hand. As long as he stays that way, we're fine."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Harek is a security officer who socializes with the people he's supposed to monitor. His card games create financial relationships that could be leverage vectors. His patrol routes create knowledge of hub access patterns. Harek is either an asset (could be turned to provide patrol gap data) or a problem (if he's actively complicit). *"Station Security — Harek. Off-duty, but the training doesn't turn off. He sees the same things I'd see. The question is what he does with it."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 2: Worried Knowledge (Maret - Drin - Voss)** — Harek is not a triangle member but is the external pressure on Drin. Harek's debt creates the vulnerability that the ring exploits. He's the unseen fourth wall of Triangle 2.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Drin](drin.md), [Lera Sessik](lera-sessik.md), [Torek Lintar](torek-lintar.md), [Voss](voss.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,268 @@
|
||||
# NPC Roster — Sova Transit District
|
||||
|
||||
17 NPCs across 3 social sites (Logistics Hub, The Last Shift, Smuggling Ring). Tier 1 = full production depth (THE FRIEND), Tier 2 = working profile, Tier 3 = sketch.
|
||||
|
||||
## Roster Table
|
||||
|
||||
| # | Name | Role | Social Site | Tier | Entanglement | Triangles |
|
||||
|---|------|------|-------------|------|--------------|-----------|
|
||||
| 1 | **Kael Davan** | Dock Worker | Hub + Ring | **Tier 1 (FRIEND)** | Entangled | Hub Power, Worried Partner |
|
||||
| 2 | **Sera Venn** | Commission Field Tech | Bar | **Tier 1 (FRIEND)** | Mundane | Worried Partner |
|
||||
| 3 | Voss | Shift Supervisor | Hub | Tier 2 | Mundane | Hub Power, Worried Knowledge |
|
||||
| 4 | Lera Sessik | Bar Owner | Bar | Tier 2 | Mundane | Bar Tensions |
|
||||
| 5 | Torek Lintar | Dock Worker / Bar Regular | Bar + Hub | Tier 2 | Mundane | Bar Tensions |
|
||||
| 6 | Devra | Ring Coordinator | Ring + Bar | Tier 2 | Entangled | (Referenced, not triangle member in v0.1) |
|
||||
| 7 | Maret Korr | Freight Scheduler | Hub | Tier 2 | Mundane | Worried Knowledge |
|
||||
| 8 | Resha | New Hire Dock Worker | Hub | Tier 2 | Mundane | (Background tension, not formal triangle) |
|
||||
| 9 | Hael | Teacher (Kael's Partner) | Bar | Tier 2 | Mundane | Worried Partner |
|
||||
| 10 | Drin | Maintenance Tech | Hub | Tier 3 | Flat | Worried Knowledge, Informant Question |
|
||||
| 11 | Sess | Bartender | Bar | Tier 3 | Flat | None |
|
||||
| 12 | Olin | Drifter / New Arrival | Bar | Tier 3 | Flat | Bar Tensions |
|
||||
| 13 | Renn | Courier | Ring + Hub | Tier 2 | Entangled | Informant Question |
|
||||
| 14 | Pell | Wavering Ring Member | Ring | Tier 2 | Entangled | Informant Question |
|
||||
| 15 | Harek | Off-Duty Security | Bar + Hub | Tier 2 | Mundane | None (external pressure on Triangle 2) |
|
||||
| 16 | Sabel | Off-Station Fence | Ring (off-station) | Tier 3 | Flat | None (off-station) |
|
||||
| 17 | Tav | Lookout | Ring + Hub | Tier 3 | Flat | None |
|
||||
|
||||
**Entanglement breakdown**:
|
||||
- **Tier 1 (THE FRIEND)**: 2 NPCs (Kael, Sera) — 1 entangled, 1 mundane
|
||||
- **Tier 2**: 10 NPCs — 3 entangled (Devra, Renn, Pell), 7 mundane
|
||||
- **Tier 3**: 5 NPCs (Drin, Sess, Olin, Sabel, Tav) — all flat
|
||||
|
||||
**Total**: 4 entangled (24%), 8 mundane (47%), 5 flat (29%). Closer to D-029 entanglement target (20%) with Tier 3 additions.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Diagrams
|
||||
|
||||
### Triangle 1: Hub Power (Voss - Kael - Nils)
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Voss (Shift Supervisor)
|
||||
/ \
|
||||
resents being takes cut,
|
||||
managed by smooths inspections
|
||||
subordinate |
|
||||
/ |
|
||||
/ |
|
||||
Kael (Dock Worker) <--blood loyalty--> Nils (Ring Coordinator, off-stage)
|
||||
handles cargo,
|
||||
uncomfortable with
|
||||
escalation
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Tension**: Voss has positional authority but takes orders from Nils (via intermediaries). Kael is caught between shift supervisor (Voss) and ring coordinator (Nils, Kael's older sibling). Nils pushes for higher volume; Voss wants stability; Kael wants everyone to calm down.
|
||||
|
||||
**Player relevance**:
|
||||
- **Smuggler**: Navigates this daily. Knows the resentments, smooths tensions.
|
||||
- **Detective**: Sees Voss's anxiety, doesn't know why. Kael is efficient, unremarkable. Doesn't know Nils exists initially.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Triangle 2: Worried Knowledge (Maret - Drin - Voss)
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Maret (Freight Scheduler)
|
||||
/ \
|
||||
notices processes manifests,
|
||||
manifest sees discrepancies,
|
||||
discrepancies hasn't reported
|
||||
| |
|
||||
| |
|
||||
Voss (Shift Supervisor) <--needs both quiet--> Drin (Dock Inspector)
|
||||
maintains schedule gambling debt,
|
||||
that creates windows compromised by Harek
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Tension**: Maret is smart and worried. She's not in the ring — she just sees the numbers don't add up. Drin has been compromised (debt to Harek) into looking away during inspections. Voss needs both of them functional and silent. Maret suspects but doesn't know whom to tell. Drin might crack under pressure.
|
||||
|
||||
**Player relevance**:
|
||||
- **Smuggler**: Knows Maret is a risk (observant). Knows Drin is a tool (compromised). Must manage both.
|
||||
- **Detective**: Maret is a potential cooperative witness. Drin is a potential turned asset. Both paths lead toward the operation.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Triangle 3: Bar Tensions (Lera - Torek - Olin)
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Lera (Bar Owner)
|
||||
/ \
|
||||
protective of tolerates because
|
||||
regulars, worried spending = business
|
||||
about attention |
|
||||
| |
|
||||
| |
|
||||
Torek (Regular) <--asks questions--> Olin (Drifter)
|
||||
spending beyond new in district,
|
||||
means, visible ambiguous intent
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Tension**: Torek has been spending visibly beyond a standard dock worker's income (new jacket, buying rounds, lattice accessories). Lera is protective but profit-driven — Torek's spending keeps the bar viable. Olin (new arrival) asks questions that could be innocent job-seeking or something else. Is Olin competition? An informant? Just looking for work?
|
||||
|
||||
**Player relevance**:
|
||||
- **Smuggler**: Torek's spending is a liability (exposure risk). Olin is an unknown variable (threat assessment). Lera is an ally who needs managing.
|
||||
- **Detective**: Torek's spending is a financial tell. Olin is a potential fresh source. Lera is the social hub who sees everything.
|
||||
|
||||
**Note**: Mundane triangle with *potential* entanglement. Torek's money could be from the ring, or a side hustle, or an inheritance. The ambiguity is load-bearing.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Triangle 4: The Worried Partner (Hael - Kael - Sera)
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Hael (Teacher, Kael's Partner)
|
||||
/ \
|
||||
worried about confides in friend
|
||||
Kael's late nights, |
|
||||
evasive answers |
|
||||
| |
|
||||
Kael (Dock Worker) <--friendship--> Sera (Commission Field Tech)
|
||||
oblivious to anxiety hears Hael's worries,
|
||||
he's causing at home connects to investigation?,
|
||||
loyalty vs. duty
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Tension**: Hael's loyalty to Kael vs. growing suspicion. Sera's friendship with Hael vs. institutional duty (Sera is Commission, sitting on unreported evidence). Kael is oblivious to the anxiety he's causing. If Hael asks the smuggler (if smuggler is Kael's friend) about Kael's behavior, there's no good answer. If the detective asks Sera about Hael, Sera faces a loyalty test.
|
||||
|
||||
**Player relevance**:
|
||||
- **Smuggler**: Most emotionally loaded triangle. Kael is THE FRIEND. Hael is Kael's partner. The smuggler knows why Kael is busy and can't say. Protecting Kael means lying to Hael.
|
||||
- **Detective**: Sera is THE FRIEND. Hael is a potential source (partner who suspects something). If the detective asks Sera about Hael, Sera must choose: friend or duty.
|
||||
|
||||
**THE FRIEND integration**: Both FRIEND NPCs (Kael, Sera) are nodes in this triangle. The triangle *is* the contradiction structure.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Triangle 5: The Informant Question (Pell - Renn - Drin) [CROSS-TEMPLATE]
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Pell (Wavering Ring Member)
|
||||
/ \
|
||||
considering suspects Pell
|
||||
cooperation with is unreliable,
|
||||
authorities told Nils/Devra
|
||||
| |
|
||||
| |
|
||||
Drin (Dock Inspector) <--three unraveling paths--> Renn (Courier)
|
||||
compromised (debt), moves product,
|
||||
could receive Pell's physical risk,
|
||||
information if Pell turns loyal to ring
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Tension**: Three ways the ring unravels:
|
||||
1. **Pell turns informant** (from inside)
|
||||
2. **Drin breaks under pressure** and cooperates (institutional corruption cracks)
|
||||
3. **Renn's suspicion of Pell** creates internal ring conflict that becomes observable
|
||||
|
||||
**Player relevance**:
|
||||
- **Smuggler**: Pell is the biggest threat. Must decide: support Pell (reduce pressure), report to Nils/Devra (eliminate threat), or try to calm them down (risky). Each choice has cascading consequences.
|
||||
- **Detective**: Doesn't know any of this yet. But the consequences — nervous behavior, hushed arguments, people avoiding each other — are the observable signals the investigation follows.
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-template**: Spans all three social sites. Pell (ring), Renn (ring + hub), Drin (hub + bar). Information and tension propagate across the entire district.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPC Coverage by Social Site
|
||||
|
||||
### Logistics Hub (The Terminal)
|
||||
|
||||
- Voss (Shift Supervisor) — authority figure
|
||||
- Kael Davan (Dock Worker, THE FRIEND) — ring member, smuggler's anchor
|
||||
- Maret Korr (Freight Scheduler) — worried, processes manifests
|
||||
- Resha (New Hire) — asks too many questions
|
||||
- Drin (Maintenance Tech) — flat, fixes things, notices things, says nothing
|
||||
- Torek Lintar (bridge to bar) — off-shift presence
|
||||
- Renn (bridge to ring) — courier, moves cargo
|
||||
- Harek (bridge to bar) — off-duty security, debt leverage on Drin
|
||||
|
||||
**Total**: 8 NPCs (5 primary, 3 bridge)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### The Last Shift (Bar)
|
||||
|
||||
- Lera Sessik (Bar Owner) — knows everyone, willful ignorance
|
||||
- Sera Venn (Commission Field Tech, THE FRIEND) — detective's anchor
|
||||
- Hael (Teacher) — Kael's partner, worried
|
||||
- Torek Lintar (Regular) — spending beyond means
|
||||
- Harek (Off-duty Security) — card games, debt holder
|
||||
- Sess (Bartender) — flat, observant, discreet
|
||||
- Olin (Drifter) — flat, ambiguous, new arrival
|
||||
|
||||
**Total**: 7 NPCs (5 primary, 2 bridge via Torek/Harek overlap with hub)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Smuggling Ring (The Arrangement)
|
||||
|
||||
- Devra (Ring Coordinator) — legitimate business front at bar, criminal operations
|
||||
- Nils Davan (Kael's older sibling, off-stage in v0.1) — gives orders, referenced not instantiated
|
||||
- Kael Davan (bridge to hub) — handles cargo
|
||||
- Renn (Courier, bridge to hub) — moves product
|
||||
- Pell (Wavering Member) — considering cooperation, cracking under tolerance threshold
|
||||
- Sabel (Off-station fence) — external supplier, mostly off-stage, 1-2 brief visits in v0.1
|
||||
- Tav (Lookout) — watches entry points during corridor operations
|
||||
|
||||
**Total**: 7 NPCs (2 primary ring-only, 3 bridge, 2 peripheral)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Bridge NPCs (Cross-Template Connections)
|
||||
|
||||
| NPC | Home Template | Connected To | Bridge Function |
|
||||
|-----|---------------|-------------|-----------------|
|
||||
| **Kael Davan** | Hub | Ring | Day job at hub, ring member after hours. THE FRIEND for smuggler. |
|
||||
| **Sera Venn** | Bar | (Institutional bridge to Commission) | Social at bar, institutional access. THE FRIEND for detective. |
|
||||
| **Torek Lintar** | Bar | Hub | Off-shift bar regular, works at hub. Spending tells. |
|
||||
| **Harek** | Bar | Hub | Social at bar, authority at hub (security). Sees things in both contexts. |
|
||||
| **Renn** | Ring | Hub | Criminal at ring, logistics at hub. Physical movement connects sites. |
|
||||
| **Devra** | Ring | Bar | Criminal at ring, legitimate at bar. Public face conceals operation. |
|
||||
|
||||
**6 bridge connections** across 3 templates. Information, tension, and consequences propagate in multiple directions.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Content Deliverables per Tier
|
||||
|
||||
### Tier 1 (THE FRIEND — Kael, Sera)
|
||||
|
||||
**Per NPC**:
|
||||
- Full 10-axis profile (Want, Secret, Relationships 1-3, Tolerance, Routine, Information, Contentment, Personality, Tell, Skills)
|
||||
- Backstory paragraph (3-5 sentences)
|
||||
- Voice sample (3-5 lines covering different moods)
|
||||
- Dual-lens notes (how smuggler sees them vs. how detective sees them)
|
||||
- Triangle role notes (function in each triangle, pressures faced)
|
||||
- Secret (what they're hiding, from whom, consequences if exposed)
|
||||
- Contradiction arc (3+ phases, observable tells, dialogue shifts pre/post discovery)
|
||||
- ~70-100 authored lines (25-35 dialogue, 15-20 trust-gated, 5-8 unprompted, 10-15 monologue per character, 5-8 tell observations, 3-5 contradiction discovery lines)
|
||||
|
||||
**Total**: ~2 pages per NPC. **No generation expansion** — all hand-authored.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Tier 2 (Working Profile — Voss, Lera, Torek, Devra, Maret, Resha, Hael, Renn, Pell, Harek)
|
||||
|
||||
**Per NPC**:
|
||||
- 10-axis data (all axes populated)
|
||||
- Voice sample (2-3 lines)
|
||||
- Dual-lens notes (brief, 1-2 sentences per lens)
|
||||
- Triangle role notes (function in triangles)
|
||||
- ~40-60 authored lines (15-20 dialogue, 8-12 trust-gated, 5-8 unprompted, 5-8 monologue per character if relevant)
|
||||
|
||||
**Total**: ~0.5-1 page per NPC. Generation expansion 4x (write 15, generate to 60).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Tier 3 (Sketch — Drin, Sess, Olin, Sabel, Tav)
|
||||
|
||||
**Per NPC**:
|
||||
- Essential axes only (Want, Routine, Personality)
|
||||
- Voice hint (1 line)
|
||||
- Function note (why they exist, atmospheric role)
|
||||
- ~10-15 authored lines (greetings, stock responses, atmospheric presence)
|
||||
|
||||
**Total**: ~0.25 page per NPC. Generation expansion 4x (write 3-4, generate to 12-15).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Next files**: Individual NPC profiles starting with THE FRIEND NPCs at full Tier 1 depth.
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,397 @@
|
||||
# Kael Davan — THE FRIEND (Smuggler)
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 1 Production-Level NPC** | Logistics Hub + Smuggling Ring | Entangled
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Kael Davan
|
||||
**Age**: 34
|
||||
**Role**: Dock worker, Sova Transit District Logistics Hub
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, born on Station Sova
|
||||
**Cultural Group**: Krenn System culture (compact names, first-name-primary, pragmatic, mind-your-business ethos)
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Baseline
|
||||
**Employer**: Sova Logistics Consortium (legitimate cover); The Arrangement (smuggling ring, informal)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Protect the operation and the people in it.
|
||||
|
||||
Kael didn't join the ring for ideology or ambition. He joined because Nils (his older sibling) asked, because the money helped, and because it felt manageable. Two years in, Kael is good at it — efficient, careful, reliable. But the operation is escalating (higher volume, tighter margins, more risk), and Kael's Want is shifting from "keep things running" to "keep people safe."
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Protect Hael (partner) from the truth and the consequences.
|
||||
|
||||
Hael doesn't know about the smuggling. Kael's late nights and evasive answers are creating anxiety at home. Kael Wants to shield Hael from danger, but the shielding itself is the danger.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret** (smuggler knows, detective suspects): Ring member. Handles physical cargo — routing flagged containers, managing dock-side handoffs.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret** (nobody knows except the unknown contact): Kael is trying to **exit the ring**. Hael's worry has become unbearable. Kael contacted someone from a different district (not Sabel, not anyone the ring knows) who's offered to help Kael get out — for a price. The unknown contact is leverage (they know Kael is in the ring), extraction support (they have connections), and a massive security breach (unauthorized contact is grounds for ring elimination).
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: The exit attempt. If Nils finds out, Kael is out — violently. If the smuggler (if playing ring-member path) finds out, trust collapses. If the detective finds out, Kael is the perfect informant (desperate, motivated, already halfway to cooperation).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship 1: Nils Davan** (older sibling, ring coordinator)
|
||||
- **Type**: Blood loyalty, complicated by power dynamic
|
||||
- **History**: Nils brought Kael into the ring. "It's just moving containers. You're good at logistics. We take care of our own."
|
||||
- **Current tension**: Nils is pushing for higher volume. Kael thinks it's too fast, too risky. Kael can't say no to Nils (family), but resents being pushed.
|
||||
- **Mechanical relevance**: If Kael's exit attempt is discovered, Nils is the primary threat.
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship 2: Hael** (partner, teacher, civilian)
|
||||
- **Type**: Domestic partnership, 6 years
|
||||
- **History**: Met at a community event. Hael teaches station kids, represents ordinary life, stability, the future Kael wants but smuggling threatens.
|
||||
- **Current tension**: Hael knows something's wrong. The late nights, the evasive answers, the money that doesn't quite track. Hael has confided in Sera (friend, Commission field tech). Kael is oblivious to how much anxiety he's causing.
|
||||
- **Mechanical relevance**: Hael is Kael's emotional anchor and his vulnerability. Threaten Hael, Kael breaks.
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship 3: The Smuggler** (if smuggler is playing ring-member path)
|
||||
- **Type**: Close colleague, trusted friend, shared risk
|
||||
- **History**: Work together on legitimate shifts AND ring operations. Cover for each other. Share lunch, drinks at Lera's, the easy camaraderie of people who've been through things together.
|
||||
- **Current tension**: Kael is lying to the smuggler. The unauthorized contact, the exit attempt — all of it is concealed. The smuggler trusts Kael completely, which makes the betrayal worse when discovered.
|
||||
- **Mechanical relevance**: THE FRIEND. The relationship phase arc (warmth → trust → doubt → conflict) plays out here.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate** — Kael can handle pressure, but has limits.
|
||||
|
||||
**What Kael tolerates**:
|
||||
- Routine smuggling operations (manageable risk)
|
||||
- Voss's resentment and Nils's demands (family and operational necessity)
|
||||
- Lying to Hael (hates it, but does it to protect)
|
||||
|
||||
**What pushes Kael toward breaking**:
|
||||
- Escalating volume (feels like the operation is spiraling)
|
||||
- Hael's increasing worry (guilt accumulation)
|
||||
- The detective's investigation (paranoia about exposure)
|
||||
|
||||
**What breaks Kael**:
|
||||
- Direct threat to Hael (if the ring or the detective uses Hael as leverage, Kael flips immediately)
|
||||
- Nils discovering the exit attempt (Kael either runs or fights, no middle ground)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**06:00 - 06:30**: Arrive at Logistics Hub, shift startup
|
||||
**06:30 - 10:30**: Morning shift, freight handling (legitimate work)
|
||||
**10:30 - 11:00**: Break room, lunch with smuggler (if applicable) or other dock workers
|
||||
**11:00 - 14:00**: Afternoon shift
|
||||
**14:00 - 14:30**: Shift end, sometimes lingers for "overtime" (ring operations during transition window)
|
||||
**14:30 - 16:00**: Off-shift, heads home or to The Last Shift (bar)
|
||||
**16:00 - 22:00**: Home with Hael, or occasional ring coordination meetings (Corridor B-7, back room)
|
||||
**22:00+**: Late-night ring operations (1-2x per week, during night shift transition)
|
||||
|
||||
**Routine deviations** (tells):
|
||||
- Increased lattice checking (nervous, expecting contact from exit coordinator)
|
||||
- Shortened social interactions (distracted, avoiding prolonged conversation)
|
||||
- Late arrivals home (Hael notices, worries)
|
||||
- Unauthorized presence in Corridor B-7 (the contradiction discovery moment for smuggler)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows** (KnowsDetails or Direct):
|
||||
- Ring structure: Nils coordinates, Voss provides scheduling cover, Renn handles courier work, Lera provides handoff point, Devra manages external contacts
|
||||
- Smuggling routes: freight bay → service corridor → temp storage → bar back room
|
||||
- Shift schedules and coverage gaps (operational knowledge)
|
||||
- Manifest doctoring process (Maret processes, Voss approves)
|
||||
- Drin's compromise (gambling debt to Harek, looks away during inspections)
|
||||
- Hael's worry (knows Hael suspects something, doesn't know Hael talked to Sera)
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**:
|
||||
- The detective is investigating (unless playing detective path and Kael has been flagged)
|
||||
- Sera is sitting on unreported evidence about Kael's manifest discrepancies (protects Hael by not reporting)
|
||||
- Pell is considering turning informant (internal ring threat)
|
||||
- The full supply chain (Kael knows cargo comes from Sabel off-station, doesn't know upstream Syndic sources)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate-low** (D-024 thematic axis).
|
||||
|
||||
Kael is *comfortable enough to function* but not happy. The smuggling pays well, the work is manageable, the team (Nils, smuggler, Renn) is solid. But the guilt about lying to Hael is corrosive. The escalating volume makes every shift feel riskier. The exit attempt is itself a contentment signal: Kael wants out because "enough" isn't enough anymore — the cost is too high.
|
||||
|
||||
**Contentment trajectory**: Declining. Two years ago, Kael was moderate (the operation was stable, Hael didn't suspect). Now, Kael is low and falling. The exit attempt is a desperate grab for a future that doesn't involve looking over his shoulder.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Loyal** — to people, not institutions. Kael's loyalty is personal (Nils, Hael, the smuggler) and situational (the ring, because the people he cares about are in it). If forced to choose between the ring and a person, Kael chooses the person.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary: Protective** — defaults to shielding others from consequences. Lies to Hael to protect. Tries to exit the ring to protect Hael from future fallout. Would cover for the smuggler even at personal cost.
|
||||
|
||||
**Tertiary: Pragmatic** — doesn't waste words, doesn't dramatize. Handles problems as they arise. The exit attempt is Kael being pragmatic: "This situation is unsustainable. I need a way out. I'll find one."
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavioral changes that signal Kael's internal state:**
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To | Mechanical Flag |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|-----------------|
|
||||
| **Increased lattice checking** | Expecting contact from exit coordinator | Smuggler (if observant), Detective (if tracking behavioral patterns) | `behavior_flags: lattice_checking` |
|
||||
| **Shortened social interactions** | Distracted, avoiding prolonged conversation where lies might surface | Smuggler, Hael, bar regulars | `behavior_flags: distracted,evasive` |
|
||||
| **Looks left before answering** | Lying or deflecting (Kael's personal tell, smuggler knows this from history) | Smuggler (recognizes the tell from experience) | `tell_observed: looks_left_when_lying` |
|
||||
| **Unauthorized spatial presence** | Meeting unknown contact in Corridor B-7 (restricted area, not part of normal routine) | Smuggler (direct observation), Detective (if surveillance active) | `contradiction_flagged: meeting_unknown_contact` |
|
||||
|
||||
**Tell progression** (smuggler's perspective):
|
||||
1. **Week 1-2** (baseline): Kael is normal. Reliable, warm, punctual.
|
||||
2. **Week 3** (first crack): Kael checks lattice more often. Smuggler monologue: "Kael's distracted today. Probably nothing."
|
||||
3. **Week 4** (pattern): Shortened lunch conversations. Kael excuses himself early. Smuggler monologue: "Kael's been quiet lately."
|
||||
4. **Week 5** (the observation): Smuggler sees Kael in Corridor B-7, talking to unknown person. THE FRIEND contradiction discovered. Smuggler monologue: "That wasn't anyone from our rotation. Kael, what are you doing?"
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Freight logistics, cargo handling, manifest reading, shift coordination.
|
||||
|
||||
**Ring-relevant**: Container routing, timing coordination (knows when surveillance gaps occur), physical cargo movement (lifts, secures, reroutes).
|
||||
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Kael is not combat-trained. If cornered, Kael runs or capitulates. Violence is not part of Kael's skill set or personality.
|
||||
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Baseline tier. No enhanced perception, no analytical overlays. Kael uses lattice for communication, shift schedules, and routine queries.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Backstory
|
||||
|
||||
Born on Station Sova. Grew up in the freight district — child of logistics workers, pragmatic Krenn System upbringing. Joined Sova Logistics Consortium at 22, worked the docks for a decade before Nils (older sibling, always more ambitious) brought him into the ring. "It's just moving containers, Kael. You're good at this. We take care of our own." Two years in, Kael is good at it — efficient, careful, trusted. But the operation is escalating, Hael is worried, and Kael realizes he's in deeper than he intended. The exit attempt is Kael trying to reclaim a future that doesn't end in a cell or worse.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Casual (baseline, smuggler interaction)**
|
||||
- *"Shift's looking smooth today. Freight's on schedule, no surprises. Let's keep it that way."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Protective (deflecting Hael's worry)**
|
||||
- *"I'm fine, Hael. Just work stuff. Long shifts, you know how it is. Don't worry about me."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Evasive (post-contradiction, smuggler pressing)**
|
||||
- *"It's nothing. Just a thing. Don't worry about it."* [Looks left before answering — the tell]
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Desperate (if cornered by detective or Nils)**
|
||||
- *"You don't understand. I'm trying to protect someone. If I don't get out, they're at risk. I can't— I can't keep doing this."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Warm (to smuggler, early game)**
|
||||
- *"There you are. Good — I was starting to worry. Ready for another day of making the galaxy's freight move?"* [Slight smile, genuine relief]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
### How the Smuggler Sees Kael
|
||||
|
||||
**Access tier**: Insider + Peer (if ring-member path) OR Peer (if non-ring civilian smuggler)
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship**: Friendly (baseline) → PersonOfInterest (post-contradiction)
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone (baseline)**: Fond, casual. *"Kael's here. Good — always reliable."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone (post-contradiction)**: Conflicted, analytical. *"Kael's lying to me. I know his tells. What are you hiding?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**What the smuggler knows that the detective doesn't**: Kael is a ring member (if smuggler is also in the ring). Kael's personal tell (looks left when lying). Kael's relationship with Hael. The unauthorized meeting is a *betrayal of operational security*, not just suspicious behavior.
|
||||
|
||||
**Emotional weight**: Maximum. Kael is THE FRIEND. The color shift from green to amber is the moment the smuggler realizes trust has been compromised.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### How the Detective Sees Kael
|
||||
|
||||
**Access tier**: Public (baseline) → Authority (if investigation escalates and detective pressures Kael)
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship**: Unknown → Known → PersonOfInterest (if tells accumulate)
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone (baseline)**: Clinical, observational. *"Dock worker. Davan, K. Unremarkable on paper."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone (post-tells)**: Analytical suspicion. *"Davan's nervous. Lattice activity spiked. Behavioral pattern suggests concealment."*
|
||||
|
||||
**What the detective knows that the smuggler doesn't**: Manifest discrepancies tied to Kael's shifts (if Sera has shared or detective has analyzed logs). Hael's worry (if detective talks to Hael or Sera). Kael as a pressure point — partner at risk, potential informant.
|
||||
|
||||
**Emotional weight**: Low initially (just another dock worker). High if Kael becomes the key to cracking the ring (the detective's professional satisfaction vs. Kael's desperation creates tension, but not personal betrayal).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
### Triangle 1: Hub Power (Voss - Kael - Nils)
|
||||
|
||||
**Kael's function**: The executor. Kael handles the physical work — routing containers, managing dock-side operations. Caught between Voss (shift supervisor, resentful of being managed) and Nils (ring coordinator, Kael's sibling, pushing for escalation).
|
||||
|
||||
**Pressure**: Voss complains to Kael about Nils. Nils gives Kael orders. Kael has to keep both satisfied while doing the actual smuggling work.
|
||||
|
||||
**Player relevance**: Smuggler (if in ring) helps Kael navigate this. Detective sees Kael as efficient and wonders why Voss seems nervous around him.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Triangle 4: The Worried Partner (Hael - Kael - Sera)
|
||||
|
||||
**Kael's function**: The oblivious cause. Kael's smuggling (late nights, evasive answers) is making Hael worried. Hael confides in Sera. Sera knows enough to connect Kael to the investigation but hasn't reported (loyalty to Hael). Kael doesn't know Hael talked to Sera.
|
||||
|
||||
**Pressure**: Hael's worry is escalating. If Hael confronts Kael directly, Kael has to lie or confess. If Sera reports, Hael's life explodes. Kael is trying to exit the ring to stop the worry, but the exit attempt is itself creating more risk.
|
||||
|
||||
**Player relevance**: Smuggler (if Kael's friend) knows why Kael is busy, can't tell Hael. Detective (if Sera's friend) might hear about Hael's worry from Sera, creating a path to Kael.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Triangle 5: Cross-Template (Pell - Renn - Drin)
|
||||
|
||||
**Kael's indirect role**: Not a triangle member, but connected. Kael works with Renn (courier). If Pell (wavering member) turns informant, Kael's name will come up (Pell knows Kael handles cargo). If the ring starts fracturing internally, Kael's exit attempt becomes more dangerous (less trust, more paranoia).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Secret
|
||||
|
||||
**What Kael is hiding**: The exit attempt. Unauthorized contact with someone outside the ring who's offered extraction help.
|
||||
|
||||
**From whom**: Everyone. Nils, the smuggler, Hael (Hael doesn't even know about the ring), Sera, the detective.
|
||||
|
||||
**Consequences if exposed**:
|
||||
- **Nils finds out**: Kael is eliminated (violently or expelled, either way gone).
|
||||
- **Smuggler finds out**: Trust collapses. If smuggler reports to Nils, Kael is done. If smuggler protects Kael, smuggler is complicit in a security breach.
|
||||
- **Detective finds out**: Kael becomes the perfect informant. Desperate, already trying to leave, motivated by protecting Hael. Detective can offer protection in exchange for cooperation.
|
||||
- **Hael finds out**: Emotional devastation. Hael learns (1) Kael is a smuggler, (2) Kael has been lying for two years, (3) Kael is in danger trying to exit. Trust in the relationship is destroyed, even if Hael understands the motive.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Contradiction Arc
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 1: Comfort (Friendly, baseline)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 0-10 minutes (game start)
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavior**: Kael is warm, reliable, present. Greets the smuggler with genuine affection. Talks about shift schedules, complains about Voss, asks about the smuggler's weekend.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (smuggler)**: *"Kael's already at the dock. Good. The day's better when he's on shift."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Soft green (Friendly)
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue tone**: Insider-tier, warm. Trust-gated content available.
|
||||
|
||||
**Tell**: None — baseline normal.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 2: First Crack (still Friendly, but flags accumulating)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 10-15 minutes
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavior**: Kael checks lattice more often than usual. Excuses himself from lunch early. Shortened social interactions.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (smuggler)**: *"Kael's distracted today. Probably nothing."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Still green (Friendly), but `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["behavior_flags"]` updates to `"lattice_checking,distracted"`.
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue tone**: Still warm, but Kael deflects prolonged conversation.
|
||||
|
||||
**Tell**: **Increased lattice checking** (observable if smuggler pays attention).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 3: The Observation (Friendly → PersonOfInterest)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 15-20 minutes
|
||||
|
||||
**Trigger**: The smuggler sees Kael in Corridor B-7 (restricted maintenance corridor) talking to an unknown person. The person leaves before the smuggler gets close.
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavior**: Kael in unexpected location, with unrecognized contact, during off-shift time.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (smuggler)**: *"That wasn't anyone from our rotation. And Kael didn't tell me about a meeting. What's going on?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge system**:
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.state` → `KnowledgeState::Contradicted` (prior belief: "Kael operates within ring protocol" conflicts with observation: "Kael meeting unauthorized contact")
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["contradiction_flagged"]` = `"meeting_unknown_contact"`
|
||||
- `RelationshipState` transitions: `Friendly` → `PersonOfInterest`
|
||||
|
||||
**Color shift**: Soft green → amber. **This is the emotional moment.** The player trusted Kael. Now Kael is amber.
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue options unlock**: Confrontation path ("Kael, who was that?"), observation path (don't confront yet, gather more information).
|
||||
|
||||
**Tell**: **Spatial deviation** — presence in restricted area at irregular time.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 4: Confrontation Opportunity (PersonOfInterest, dialogue shift)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 20-25 minutes
|
||||
|
||||
**Trigger**: Smuggler can ask Kael about the meeting. Dialogue option: *"I saw you in Corridor B-7. Who were you talking to?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**Kael's response** (deflection): *"Just a thing. Don't worry about it."* [Looks left before answering — **the tell**]
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (smuggler)**: *"He looked left. He always looks left when he's making something up. Kael is lying to me."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge system**:
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["tell_observed"]` = `"looks_left_when_lying"`
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["secret_held"]` = `"unauthorized contact, exit attempt?"`
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["secret_confidence"]` = `"confirmed"` (the tell confirms the lie)
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue tone**: Kael becomes evasive, subject changes, forced casualness. Trust-tier content locks (Kael won't share real information while hiding the exit attempt).
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Remains amber (PersonOfInterest).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 5: New Equilibrium (PersonOfInterest, contaminated trust)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 25-30 minutes (remainder of vertical slice)
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavior**: Kael acts normal again. Same shifts, same greetings, same surface warmth. But the smuggler is now **watching**.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (smuggler)**: *"Same old Kael. Laughing at the same jokes. ...What are you not telling me?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue options**:
|
||||
- **Path A (understanding)**: Smuggler confronts gently: *"Kael, if you're in trouble, I can help."* Kael might confess (exit attempt, protecting Hael). `RelationshipState` remains `PersonOfInterest` (still a problem), but tone shifts to sympathetic. Player gains information, can choose to help Kael exit or report to Nils.
|
||||
- **Path B (betrayal)**: Smuggler reports to Nils or pressures Kael harshly: *"You broke protocol. Unauthorized contact is grounds for elimination."* Kael turns defensive. `RelationshipState` → `Hostile`. Kael avoids smuggler, might actively obstruct or flee.
|
||||
- **Path C (observation)**: Smuggler doesn't confront, just watches. Accumulate more evidence, decide later. `RelationshipState` remains `PersonOfInterest`. Tension simmers.
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Amber (paths A/C) or Red (path B).
|
||||
|
||||
**Emotional payload**: The warm interactions from Phase 1 are **contaminated**. Every smile, every joke, every "good to see you" is now filtered through doubt. THE FRIEND arc doesn't resolve — it metastasizes.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Content Requirements (Tier 1)
|
||||
|
||||
**~70-100 authored lines total** (no generation expansion):
|
||||
|
||||
- **25-35 dialogue lines**: Greetings (5), shift talk (8), bar casual (6), ring coordination (6 if smuggler is in ring), deflection/evasion (5-8 post-contradiction), confrontation responses (3-5)
|
||||
- **15-20 trust-gated lines**: Insider-tier (close colleague talk, ring operations), secret-tier (if smuggler earns deep trust pre-contradiction)
|
||||
- **5-8 unprompted lines**: Kael volunteers information or warnings (early), excuses or deflections (late)
|
||||
- **10-15 monologue lines per character**:
|
||||
- Smuggler monologue about Kael: warmth (3), concern (3), contradiction discovery (4), post-confrontation (3-5)
|
||||
- Detective monologue about Kael: identification (2), behavioral observation (4), suspicion (3), informant potential (2-3)
|
||||
- **5-8 tell observation lines**: Lattice checking (2), distraction (2), looks-left tell (2), spatial deviation (2)
|
||||
- **3-5 contradiction discovery lines**: The Corridor B-7 moment from multiple angles (direct observation, monologue reaction, follow-up dialogue)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Authoring Notes
|
||||
|
||||
- **Kael's voice**: Direct, practical, short sentences. Doesn't waste words. Uses first names. Warm to people he trusts, evasive when hiding something.
|
||||
- **The tell** (looks left when lying) must be established early in casual dialogue so the smuggler (and player) recognize it during the contradiction.
|
||||
- **Hael references**: Kael mentions Hael in casual conversation ("Hael's got a school event tonight, so I'm heading home early"). Establishes the relationship before it becomes load-bearing.
|
||||
- **Ring operations dialogue** (if smuggler is in ring): Matter-of-fact, operational. "Container 4471 is flagged. I'll reroute it during shift transition." No drama, no theatrics.
|
||||
- **Deflection dialogue** (post-contradiction): Kael doesn't lie outright (too risky). Kael deflects: "It's handled." "Don't worry about it." "Just work stuff." The evasion itself is the tell.
|
||||
- **Dual-lens discipline**: Every Kael line must work for BOTH the smuggler (who knows Kael personally) AND the detective (who reads Kael analytically). The same sentence lands differently per character.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**End Kael Davan Profile**. This is the full Tier 1 production depth. Sera Venn (detective's FRIEND) follows the same structure with different contradiction mechanics.
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
|
||||
# Lera Sessik
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | The Last Shift (Bar) | Mundane
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Lera Sessik
|
||||
**Age**: 52
|
||||
**Role**: Owner and primary bartender, The Last Shift
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, Krenn Prime (surface), relocated to Sova 20 years ago
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Baseline
|
||||
**Employer**: Self-employed (The Last Shift is her business, her livelihood, her identity)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Keep the bar viable.
|
||||
|
||||
The Last Shift operates on thin margins. The after-shift crowd is what keeps the lights on. Lera knows that some of her regulars have grey-market income — she doesn't ask where the money comes from because the spending keeps her solvent. Willful ignorance isn't moral failure for Lera; it's business survival.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Protect her regulars.
|
||||
|
||||
Lera has been behind this bar for 18 years. She's watched people come and go, relationships form and break, careers rise and stall. Her regulars are her community. She protects them reflexively — warns them when unfamiliar faces show up, signals when conversations are being overheard, remembers who doesn't want to see whom. This protective instinct extends to the ring: not because she's complicit, but because the ring members are also regulars.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: Knows the back room of the bar is used for ring coordination meetings. Hasn't asked what happens there. The arrangement is simple: they pay for the space, they buy drinks, they don't cause trouble.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: None. Lera doesn't have conspiracy-level secrets. What she has is accumulated knowledge from 18 years of bartending — fragments of conversations, behavioral patterns, relationship dynamics. She knows more about the district's social fabric than anyone, and what makes her valuable is that she doesn't talk about it.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: The bar itself. Threaten to shut down The Last Shift (health inspection, license review, institutional pressure) and Lera cooperates with whoever is doing the threatening. She has no fallback.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Harek**: Off-duty security officer, bar regular. They have professional familiarity — Harek drinks, plays cards, tips well. Lera tolerates Harek's card games because they bring in customers. She's aware Harek holds debt over Drin but views that as none of her business.
|
||||
|
||||
**Sera Venn**: Bar regular. Lera likes Sera — quiet, polite, tips consistently, doesn't cause trouble. Commission employee who doesn't act like Commission. Lera treats her like any regular.
|
||||
|
||||
**Torek Lintar**: Bar regular. Lera is protective of Torek but worried about his spending. New jacket, buying rounds, lattice accessories — visible generosity that's drawing attention. Lera hasn't said anything directly but is thinking about it.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**High**. Lera has been bartending for nearly two decades. She tolerates drunks, arguments, gossip, and grey-market activity with professional detachment. What breaks her tolerance: violence in the bar (zero tolerance, immediate ejection), institutional pressure on her business, or a direct threat to a regular she cares about.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**10:00 - 12:00**: Bar prep (inventory, cleaning, restocking)
|
||||
**12:00 - 14:00**: Quiet hours (a few early regulars, food prep)
|
||||
**14:00 - 22:00**: Peak hours (shift transition crowd, evening regulars, card games)
|
||||
**22:00 - 02:00**: Late crowd (smaller, quieter, ring coordination sometimes uses back room)
|
||||
**02:00 - 03:00**: Close, clean, home
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Who drinks with whom, who avoids whom, who's spending more than they should, who's been fighting, who's worried. Social intelligence that no one else in the district possesses. The back room is used for meetings she doesn't attend. Torek's spending pattern. Sera's avoidance of Torek. Hael's worry about Kael.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Ring structure, cargo details, manifest discrepancies, the detective's specific mandate. Lera knows something is going on. She doesn't know what, and she's been careful not to learn.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate**. The bar is viable. Her regulars are loyal. The work is hard but familiar. Lera's contentment is functional — she's not thriving, but she's not miserable. The smuggling economy keeps her bar profitable. If that economy is disrupted, her contentment drops sharply.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Observant** — sees everything, processes quietly, acts selectively.
|
||||
**Secondary: Protective** — of her bar, her regulars, her community.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Pragmatic** — makes the moral compromises necessary to keep the lights on.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Cleans glasses when nervous** | Unfamiliar authority enters the bar, or a conversation at a table gets too loud | Detective, regular patrons |
|
||||
| **Redirects conversations** | A regular is about to say something incriminating near an outsider | Smuggler (recognizes the signal), Detective (if paying attention to Lera's social management) |
|
||||
| **Watches the door** | Someone she considers a risk is due to arrive, or the back room is in use | Detective (if tracking Lera's attention patterns) |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Bar management, customer service, social intelligence, conflict de-escalation.
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Lera has a security alarm and knows when to use it.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Baseline.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Welcoming (baseline)**
|
||||
- *"Shift's over? You look like you need this. Sit. The ale's fresh."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Protective (warning a regular)**
|
||||
- *"New face at the corner table. Asking about work schedules. Probably nothing, but — you know. Thought you should know."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Guarded (detective asking questions)**
|
||||
- *"I serve drinks. People talk. I don't take notes. You want information, try the Commission kiosk on Level 3. It's usually empty."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Lera is infrastructure — the bar is a social hub, a meeting point, a place to read the district's mood. The smuggler trusts Lera to protect the community (including them) without being told to. *"Lera's watching the door. Something's up. I'll ask later."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Lera is the gatekeeper. She knows everyone and shares nothing voluntarily. The detective can build rapport (become a regular, tip well, ask small questions) or apply pressure (institutional leverage on the bar license). Either approach takes time. *"The bartender — Sessik. Runs this place. She sees everything. Getting her to talk will take patience or leverage."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 3: Bar Tensions (Lera - Torek - Olin)** — The business owner caught between profit and exposure. Torek's spending keeps the bar viable. Olin's questions make everyone nervous. Lera wants the money and the quiet but can't have both if Torek keeps being visible.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Torek Lintar](torek-lintar.md), [Harek](harek.md), [Sera Venn](sera-venn.md), [Hael](hael.md), [Olin](olin.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
|
||||
# Maret Korr
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | Logistics Hub (The Terminal) | Mundane
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Maret Korr
|
||||
**Age**: 41
|
||||
**Role**: Freight scheduler, Sova Transit District Logistics Hub
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, Station Sova
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Baseline
|
||||
**Employer**: Sova Logistics Consortium
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Understand what's happening with the manifests.
|
||||
|
||||
Maret processes freight schedules. She reconciles incoming manifests with cargo bay allocations, shift assignments, and gate transit logs. She's meticulous — numbers are her language. And the numbers aren't adding up. Container counts don't match gate logs. Certain bays have manifests revised after the fact. Shifts supervised by Voss have more discrepancies than others. Maret doesn't know what this means, but she knows it means something.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Protect herself. Not get involved.
|
||||
|
||||
Maret didn't ask to see the discrepancies. She sees them because that's her job. She hasn't reported because she doesn't know whom to report to (the Commission kiosk is unmanned, station security handles accidents not contraband, and going to Voss feels dangerous). She's paralyzed between duty and self-preservation.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: Maret has noticed manifest discrepancies. She's mentioned it to no one, but her increased attention to certain records is potentially observable.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: Maret has started keeping a personal log of discrepancies on her private lattice storage. If discovered, this log is either evidence (for the detective) or a threat (for the ring).
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: Knowledge without protection. Maret knows enough to be useful to the detective and dangerous to the ring, but has no institutional backing, no allies in the conflict, and no exit strategy.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Voss**: Shift supervisor. Professional relationship. Maret respects Voss's competence but has noticed the correlation between his schedule adjustments and manifest discrepancies. She hasn't confronted him. She's afraid of what the answer would be.
|
||||
|
||||
**Drin**: Maintenance tech who handles dock inspections. Maret knows Drin gambles at the bar. She's observed that inspection reports from Drin's shifts are consistently clean — too clean for the volume of freight processed. Another data point she's filed and not acted on.
|
||||
|
||||
**Resha**: New hire. Maret is protective of Resha in a distant, professional way — making sure the new worker gets proper training, isn't overloaded. Resha's questions about locked bays and irregular schedules echo Maret's own unspoken concerns.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**Low-moderate**. Maret is not built for confrontation. She handles data, not people. The discrepancies are eating at her, but she's tolerated them for weeks because action feels more dangerous than silence. What breaks her: the detective asking the right question, or the ring discovering her private log.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**06:00 - 14:00**: Day shift — freight scheduling, manifest reconciliation, bay allocation
|
||||
**10:30 - 11:00**: Break room. Maret eats alone or with Resha. Avoids Voss during breaks.
|
||||
**14:00 - 15:00**: Post-shift, reviews next day's gate schedule
|
||||
**15:00 - 17:00**: Home or occasional bar visit (not a regular — Maret goes for Hael's company sometimes)
|
||||
**After hours**: Reviews her private discrepancy log. Adds entries. Worries.
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Manifest processing (entire legitimate system), scheduling patterns, bay allocations, gate transit correlations. The specific discrepancies: container counts that don't reconcile, manifests revised after Voss's schedule adjustments, Drin's suspiciously clean inspection reports. Knows Resha is asking questions.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Ring structure, who's involved (suspects Voss, suspects something about Kael's shifts, doesn't have names for the operation), the contraband itself, Kael's exit attempt, Sera's compliance check, the detective's presence or mandate.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Low**. Maret was content before the discrepancies became impossible to ignore. She's a person who finds peace in orderly systems, and the manifest irregularities have disrupted that peace. She sleeps poorly. She double-checks everything. The contentment axis reads as anxiety held in check by routine.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Meticulous** — detail-oriented, systematic, can't ignore inconsistencies.
|
||||
**Secondary: Anxious** — worries about consequences, overthinks, avoids confrontation.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Honest** — fundamentally wants to do the right thing but is trapped by circumstance.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Increased manifest checking** | Reviewing the same records multiple times, cross-referencing gate logs she doesn't normally access | Voss (if monitoring staff activity), Detective (if tracking system access patterns) |
|
||||
| **Avoids Voss during breaks** | Doesn't want casual conversation that might lead to questions about manifests | Resha (notices the social distance), Smuggler (if observant at the hub) |
|
||||
| **Eats alone more often** | Stress withdrawal — reduces social interactions to minimize the chance of revealing what she knows | Hub workers generally |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Freight scheduling, manifest reconciliation, data analysis, logistics coordination.
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Maret is entirely non-physical.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Baseline with scheduling system access (standard for her role).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Professional (baseline)**
|
||||
- *"Bay 3 allocation looks clean for the morning cycle. I've reconciled the gate logs. Should be a smooth shift."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Anxious (when pressed)**
|
||||
- *"I just process the schedules. If there's a question about manifest revisions, that's Voss's authorization. I don't — I just run the numbers."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Tentative (if detective earns trust)**
|
||||
- *"There are... patterns. In the data. I'm not saying it's anything. But if someone wanted to look at Bay 7 allocations during Voss's shift adjustments, the numbers would be worth comparing."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Maret is a risk. She processes the paperwork that the ring's operations depend on, and she's too smart not to notice. The smuggler reads Maret's anxiety as a threat — someone who knows too much and might talk. *"Maret's been quiet. She's usually all numbers and schedules. When she gets quiet, she's thinking. That's not good."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Maret is a potential cooperative witness. She has the data, the context, and the anxiety that suggests she's seen something she shouldn't have. The detective's task is building enough trust that Maret shares what she knows. *"The freight scheduler — Korr. Meticulous. Anxious. She processes the manifests. If there are irregularities in the paperwork, she's seen them."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 2: Worried Knowledge (Maret - Drin - Voss)** — The one who sees the data. Maret processes manifests and has noticed discrepancies she can't explain and can't ignore. Caught between Voss (who authorizes the schedule changes) and Drin (whose inspections are suspiciously clean). Maret has the information to break the ring open — if someone asks the right question.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Voss](voss.md), [Drin](drin.md), [Resha](resha.md), [Hael](hael.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
|
||||
# Olin
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 3 NPC** | The Last Shift (Bar) | Flat
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Essential Axes
|
||||
|
||||
### Want
|
||||
|
||||
Find work. Settle in. Start over.
|
||||
|
||||
Olin arrived in Sova Transit District recently — a drifter from another district (or another station, stories vary). Looking for freight work, asking around, buying the occasional drink. Olin's story is plausible: contract work dried up elsewhere, heard Sova had openings, showed up. The story is also convenient — and in a district where new faces attract attention, convenience is suspicious.
|
||||
|
||||
### Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**Variable**: No fixed schedule. Olin appears at the bar in the afternoon, sometimes the hub entrance asking about openings, sometimes just walking the district. New arrivals without fixed employment have irregular patterns by nature.
|
||||
|
||||
### Personality
|
||||
|
||||
**Friendly, curious, slightly too interested.** Olin asks questions — about work schedules, shift structures, who runs what, where the good spots are. These are reasonable questions for a job-seeker. They're also the kind of questions a scout, informant, or rival operation would ask. The ambiguity is the point: Olin might be exactly what they claim, or might be something else entirely. The game deliberately does not resolve this for the player.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Hint
|
||||
|
||||
*"I'm just looking for steady work. Know anyone hiring at the hub? I'm good with freight — done it for years."* [Open, direct, a little too eager]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Function Note
|
||||
|
||||
Olin is the **ambiguity NPC** — the new arrival who could be innocent or threatening, depending on how the player reads them. For the smuggler, Olin is a threat assessment: rival operation? Informant? Just a drifter? For the detective, Olin is a potential fresh source: unconnected to local loyalties, might share observations without social filtering. Olin's function is to create productive uncertainty — a new variable in a stable system that forces both characters to evaluate and respond.
|
||||
|
||||
In Triangle 3 (Bar Tensions), Olin's questions and Torek's spending create a combined pressure on Lera: is Olin drawn by Torek's visible wealth? Is Olin asking about the hub because they've heard something? The triangle's tension rises from ambiguity, not certainty.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Threat. Unknown variable. *"New face. Asking about hub work. Could be nothing. Could be everything. Watching."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Potential source. Unattached. *"New arrival — Olin. No local ties. Fresh eyes, no loyalty obligations. Could be useful if they've seen something the regulars have learned to ignore."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Lera Sessik](lera-sessik.md), [Torek Lintar](torek-lintar.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
|
||||
# Pell
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | Smuggling Ring | Entangled
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Pell
|
||||
**Age**: 35
|
||||
**Role**: Ring member (handles inventory tracking and distribution scheduling for smuggled goods)
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, Orbital Manufacturing Platform 3 (relocated to Sova 4 years ago)
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Baseline
|
||||
**Employer**: Self-employed (freelance logistics consulting — thin cover); The Arrangement (ring operations)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Get out without getting killed.
|
||||
|
||||
Pell is cracking. The ring seemed manageable when it was small-scale — a few containers per month, modest supplements to a modest income. Now the volume is escalating (Nils pushing for growth), the Commission liaison rotation gap is closing (the detective's arrival signals institutional attention), and Pell is realizing that the risk-to-reward ratio has inverted. Pell is considering cooperation with authorities, but doesn't know how, doesn't know whom to trust, and is terrified of what happens if the ring finds out.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Find someone — anyone — who can offer protection in exchange for information.
|
||||
|
||||
Pell is an informant looking for a handler. The detective is the obvious candidate, but Pell doesn't know the detective exists yet (or doesn't know the detective is an investigator). Drin is an institutional contact (dock inspector with authority to receive reports), but Drin is compromised. The irony is thick: the one person Pell might approach is already under the ring's thumb.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: Ring member. Known to the ring; not known to the detective or most civilians.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: Pell is considering turning informant. This is the most dangerous secret in the district. If Nils or Devra confirm Renn's suspicion, Pell is dead or disappeared. If Pell successfully cooperates with the detective, the ring collapses.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: Isolation. Pell has no allies in this decision. The ring would kill him. The authorities don't know he exists. He's making the biggest decision of his life completely alone.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Renn**: Fellow ring member. Renn suspects Pell is unreliable and has reported this. Pell doesn't know about Renn's report, but senses the increased scrutiny. The relationship has chilled.
|
||||
|
||||
**Devra**: Ring coordinator. Pell receives scheduling instructions from Devra. Devra is watching Pell more closely since Renn's report. Pell feels the pressure without understanding its specific source.
|
||||
|
||||
**Drin**: Dock inspector. Pell knows Drin processes freight inspections and has institutional authority. Pell has considered approaching Drin — unaware that Drin is compromised through Harek's gambling debt. This potential contact is a trap Pell doesn't see.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**Exceeded**. Pell is past his tolerance. The escalating volume, the increasing risk, the paranoia — all of it has pushed Pell beyond functional tolerance. He's operating on anxiety and habit, not commitment. Any external pressure (the detective asking the right question, Renn confronting him, Nils summoning him) could trigger the break.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**Irregular**. Pell's freelance cover doesn't require fixed hours. His ring duties (inventory tracking, distribution scheduling) are done via lattice communication, often from home or from public locations where he blends in.
|
||||
|
||||
**09:00 - 12:00**: Freelance work (legitimate small logistics contracts, sporadic)
|
||||
**12:00 - 15:00**: Variable — bar (occasionally), residential pod, wandering
|
||||
**15:00 - 19:00**: Ring communication (lattice-based, encrypted, scheduled by Devra)
|
||||
**Night**: Ring coordination meetings (bar back room, 1-2x per week)
|
||||
|
||||
**Routine deviations**: Pell's routine is becoming MORE irregular as his anxiety increases — skipping meetings, failing to respond to lattice messages promptly, avoiding locations where ring members congregate.
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Ring operational details (inventory levels, distribution schedules, client lists), Kael's dock-side handling, Renn's courier routes, Devra's coordination patterns. The contraband mix (lattice components, medical-grade replacements). Knows the ring's vulnerabilities from inside — which operations are sloppiest, which timing windows are tightest, which members are essential.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Kael's exit attempt (Kael concealed from everyone), Sera's compliance check, the detective's identity or investigation scope, Drin's compromise, the supply chain above Sabel.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Very low**. Pell was moderate-low when the ring was manageable. Now he's in crisis. Every interaction with ring members feels dangerous. Every stranger could be an investigator. Every lattice message could be a summons. Pell's contentment is a measure of how far someone can fall when the thing that was supposed to help them (supplementary income from the ring) becomes the thing that threatens to destroy them.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Anxious** — overthinking, paranoid, struggling to maintain composure.
|
||||
**Secondary: Intelligent** — understands systems, recognizes patterns, can articulate what the ring does and how to dismantle it.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Desperate** — willing to take risks he wouldn't have considered a year ago.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Missed meetings** | Failing to show for ring coordination — anxiety and avoidance | Devra (tracks attendance), Renn (confirms suspicion), Smuggler (if ring member) |
|
||||
| **Nervous behavior in public** | Checking over shoulder, scanning entrances, avoiding eye contact | Bar regulars, Detective (if observing), Lera (if Pell is at the bar) |
|
||||
| **Irregular schedule** | No consistent pattern — unpredictable location, unreliable availability | Ring members (destabilizing), Detective (anomalous behavior if cross-referenced with other NPC routines) |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Logistics consulting (legitimate — scheduling, supply chain analysis, inventory management).
|
||||
**Ring-relevant**: Inventory tracking, distribution scheduling, client relationship management, encrypted communication.
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Pell is entirely non-physical. If confronted, he freezes or capitulates.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Baseline with commercial communication tools.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Anxious (baseline, current state)**
|
||||
- *"I'm fine. Just — a lot on my mind. Freelance work's been slow. You know how it is."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Desperate (if found by the detective)**
|
||||
- *"If I talk — if I tell you what I know — can you protect me? Not just a promise. Actual protection. Because the people I'd be talking about don't forgive."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Pell is the biggest internal threat. The smuggler reads Pell's anxiety as instability — a wavering member who might bring the whole operation down. The decision: support Pell (reduce the pressure), report to Nils (eliminate the threat), or try to calm Pell down (risky, might not work). *"Pell missed another meeting. Renn's right — something's off. If Pell talks, we're all exposed."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Pell is initially invisible — a freelance logistics consultant who occasionally drinks at the bar. But the behavioral signals (nervousness, irregular schedule, isolation) read as someone under pressure. If the detective can identify and approach Pell before the ring acts, Pell becomes the case's keystone witness. *"The consultant — Pell. No fixed schedule. Nervous. Avoids eye contact. Either antisocial or scared. If they're scared, I need to know of whom."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 5: The Informant Question (Pell - Renn - Drin) [Cross-Template]** — The wavering member. Pell's potential to turn informant is the ring's existential threat. Renn has flagged the risk. Drin is the compromised institutional contact Pell might approach without knowing the trap. Three ways the ring unravels — and Pell is the trigger for all of them.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Renn](renn.md), [Drin](drin.md), [Devra](devra.md), [Harek](harek.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
|
||||
# Renn
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | Smuggling Ring + Logistics Hub | Entangled
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Renn
|
||||
**Age**: 26
|
||||
**Role**: Courier, Sova Transit District (moves contraband between freight bay, storage, and handoff points)
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, Station Sova
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Baseline
|
||||
**Employer**: Sova Logistics Consortium (legitimate — cargo runner); The Arrangement (ring courier)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Stay useful to the ring without getting caught.
|
||||
|
||||
Renn is the physical movement in the operation. When Kael routes a flagged container, Renn transfers the contraband to Corridor B-7 or the bar's back room. It's physical work — lifting, carrying, timing runs through maintenance corridors during Meridian dead spots. Renn is young, fit, and takes pride in the execution. The job feels important.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Prove loyalty to Nils and Devra.
|
||||
|
||||
Renn came into the ring through Nils — a friend-of-a-friend introduction. He's still earning trust. Running the courier routes is his proving ground. If he performs well, he moves up. If he's caught, he's expendable.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: Ring member. Moves contraband through the district's maintenance corridors. Known to the ring; unknown to the detective initially.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: Renn suspects Pell is unreliable. He's reported this to Nils (through Devra). This creates an internal ring tension — Renn has effectively marked Pell as a threat, which may trigger Nils to act against Pell.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: Physical exposure. Renn is the person most likely to be caught in the act — carrying contraband through corridors during off-hours. If security or the detective encounters Renn in a dead spot with cargo, the entire operation is blown.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Kael Davan**: Colleague (ring operations). Kael routes; Renn moves. Functional respect. Not close personally — different shifts, different social circles. Renn admires Kael's competence.
|
||||
|
||||
**Pell**: Fellow ring member. Renn distrusts Pell's reliability. Has reported concerns. This creates a dangerous dynamic — Renn may be right (Pell is wavering) or may be paranoid (Pell is just stressed).
|
||||
|
||||
**Devra**: Ring coordinator. Renn receives timing instructions from Devra. Professional relationship — Devra values Renn's reliability but doesn't invest personally.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate**. Renn can handle the physical risk and the pressure. What he can't handle: being abandoned. If the ring distances itself from Renn (because he's exposed or expendable), his loyalty inverts. A courier who feels discarded is a courier who talks.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**Legitimate**: Day shift at logistics hub as cargo runner (06:00-14:00). Handles legitimate freight movement between bays. This provides cover for knowing the facility's layout and timing.
|
||||
|
||||
**Ring operations**: Night shift transitions (22:00-01:00, 1-2x per week). Moves flagged cargo from temporary storage to Corridor B-7 or bar back room. Uses maintenance corridors and Meridian dead spots.
|
||||
|
||||
**Off-duty**: Bar occasionally, but Renn isn't a regular. Prefers to stay home and keep a low profile between operations.
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Corridor routes (which maintenance corridors have Meridian coverage, which are dead spots), timing windows (when security patrols create gaps), handoff procedures, Kael's routing patterns, Devra's coordination timing. Pell's behavior changes.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Full ring structure (knows Nils gives orders, Devra coordinates, doesn't know the supply chain above Sabel), manifest details, the contraband's origins or ultimate destination, Kael's exit attempt, the detective's investigation.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate**. Renn is young and feels like he's going somewhere. The ring money supplements his cargo runner salary. The work is exciting in a way the legitimate job isn't. This contentment is precarious — it depends entirely on the ring's stability.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Loyal** — to the people who gave him a chance (Nils, Devra). Loyalty is performance-based, not unconditional.
|
||||
**Secondary: Alert** — hyperaware of spatial surroundings, patrol timing, corridor traffic.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Suspicious** — watches people, trusts slowly. The suspicion about Pell comes from this trait.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Presence in maintenance corridors during off-hours** | Courier run in progress | Detective (if surveillance is active), security patrol (if timing is wrong) |
|
||||
| **Watches Pell** | Monitoring Pell's behavior for signs of wavering | Smuggler (if ring member, recognizes the surveillance), Pell (if perceptive) |
|
||||
| **Avoids the bar on operation nights** | Doesn't want to be placed at a social venue when he should be unaccounted for | Lera (might notice the absence pattern), Detective (if tracking NPC schedules) |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Cargo handling, freight movement, facility navigation.
|
||||
**Ring-relevant**: Corridor navigation in low/no-Meridian conditions, timing coordination, physical cargo movement, spatial awareness.
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Renn runs, doesn't fight. If cornered, he surrenders or flees.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Baseline.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Operational (ring coordination)**
|
||||
- *"Route's clear through south maintenance. I'll have it in position by the 22:30 window. Tell Devra I'm on schedule."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Suspicious (about Pell)**
|
||||
- *"Pell didn't show for the prep meeting. Third time. I'm not saying anything, but — someone should be asking where Pell goes when they're not where they're supposed to be."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Renn is a known quantity — the runner, the courier, the physical movement. If the smuggler is in the ring, Renn is a colleague to coordinate with. Renn's suspicion about Pell is useful intelligence. *"Renn's reliable. Runs clean, stays quiet. If he says Pell's a problem, Pell's a problem."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Renn is initially invisible — just another cargo runner at the hub. But if the detective tracks movement patterns in maintenance corridors during off-hours, Renn is the NPC who appears where he shouldn't be. *"Cargo runner. Night shift movement in restricted corridors doesn't match his posted schedule. Following up."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 5: The Informant Question (Pell - Renn - Drin) [Cross-Template]** — The enforcer of trust. Renn is the one who noticed Pell's wavering and reported it. If Pell does turn informant, Renn's early warning was the system's first immune response. If Renn's suspicion is wrong, he's created paranoia that fractures the ring from inside.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Pell](pell.md), [Devra](devra.md), [Kael Davan](kael-davan.md), [Drin](drin.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
|
||||
# Resha
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | Logistics Hub (The Terminal) | Mundane
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Resha
|
||||
**Age**: 23
|
||||
**Role**: Dock worker (new hire, 3 months), Sova Transit District Logistics Hub
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, Residential Radial B (Station Sova — short-term housing district)
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Baseline
|
||||
**Employer**: Sova Logistics Consortium
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Do the job well and prove herself.
|
||||
|
||||
Resha is 3 months into her first permanent position at the hub. She came from short-term contract work in other districts — unstable, underpaid, no community. This job matters. She wants to be competent, reliable, valued. She studies the shift protocols, asks questions about procedures, and takes notes.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Understand why things don't make sense.
|
||||
|
||||
Resha asks questions because she's learning. Some of those questions — about locked bays, irregular schedule changes, containers that appear on manifests but aren't in the bay — are innocently dangerous. She doesn't know she's asking about the ring's operations. She's asking because the procedures she was taught don't match what she observes.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: None. Resha is transparent — she's new, eager, and has nothing to hide.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: None. Resha's significance isn't what she's hiding — it's what she's noticing.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: Naivety. Resha doesn't understand the social dynamics well enough to know which questions are dangerous. Her curiosity makes her a risk to the ring and a potential asset to the detective — neither of which she's aware of.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Voss**: Shift supervisor. Resha respects authority and tries to please Voss. Voss is professionally competent with Resha but wants her to stop asking about irregularities.
|
||||
|
||||
**Kael Davan**: Senior colleague. Kael is patient with Resha — shows her the ropes, answers procedural questions, covers for her mistakes. Resha looks up to Kael. This makes Kael protective, which complicates Kael's position.
|
||||
|
||||
**Maret Korr**: Freight scheduler. Maret gives Resha scheduling data and is protective in a quiet, professional way. Resha's questions about manifest discrepancies echo Maret's own concerns.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**Low**. Resha hasn't been tested yet. She's never been in a situation where loyalty conflicts with safety. If directly threatened or warned to stop asking questions, Resha would be scared and confused. She doesn't have the experience to navigate institutional pressure.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**06:00 - 14:00**: Day shift — cargo handling, bay allocation assistance, learning procedures
|
||||
**10:30 - 11:00**: Break room, often with Kael or other dock workers
|
||||
**14:00 - 15:00**: Post-shift, sometimes stays late studying shift protocols
|
||||
**15:00+**: Home (Residential Radial B) or occasionally bar (not a regular — Resha is still establishing social connections)
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Basic hub operations (3 months of learning), shift procedures, which bays handle what cargo, Voss's authority, Kael's reliability. Observations: locked bays that don't appear on her manifest, schedule changes posted after the fact, containers with routing codes she wasn't trained on.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Ring, smuggling, the significance of her observations, Kael's secret life, Voss's compromise, anything about the bar social dynamics.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate-high**. Resha is happy to have a stable job. The community is welcoming enough. The work is hard but meaningful. Her contentment is that of someone at the beginning of something — optimistic, not yet disillusioned.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Curious** — asks questions, observes, wants to understand systems.
|
||||
**Secondary: Earnest** — genuine effort, no cynicism, takes the work seriously.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Observant** — notices details because she's learning, not because she's suspicious.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Asks questions about locked bays** | Encounters a procedure she wasn't trained for | Voss (nervous), Kael (protective), Smuggler (if at hub) |
|
||||
| **Takes notes on her lattice** | Recording procedures, schedules, observations — standard for a new hire, but the data she's capturing includes anomalies | Maret (recognizes the pattern), Detective (if accessing Resha's notes) |
|
||||
| **Looks to Kael for guidance** | Uncertain about a procedure or social situation | Everyone at the hub |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Cargo handling (learning), bay allocation (basic), manifest reading (training level).
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Baseline.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Eager (baseline)**
|
||||
- *"The Bay 7 manifest doesn't list that container. Should I flag it, or is that a late addition? I just want to make sure I'm processing it right."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Confused (observing irregularity)**
|
||||
- *"Voss changed the afternoon rotation again. Is that normal? I thought the schedule was set at shift start."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Resha is a variable. Her questions are innocent but dangerous. The smuggler reads Resha as someone who needs to be managed — either brought into confidence (risky) or steered away from sensitive areas (ongoing effort). *"Resha's asking about Bay 7 again. Someone needs to teach her that not every question needs an answer."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Resha is a fresh pair of eyes. Uncompromised, observant, and unaware of the social pressures that keep everyone else silent. If the detective talks to Resha early, her observations become data. If the detective talks to Resha late, Resha may have been warned to stop asking questions — and THAT is also data. *"New hire. Three months. Still asking questions the veterans stopped asking years ago. Either naive or useful. Possibly both."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Not a formal triangle member.** Resha's function is atmospheric and catalytic — her questions create pressure on Voss and Kael, her observations could feed into the detective's investigation, and her presence reminds the hub workers that the operation is only invisible to people who've learned not to look.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Voss](voss.md), [Kael Davan](kael-davan.md), [Maret Korr](maret-korr.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
|
||||
# Sabel
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 3 NPC** | Smuggling Ring (Off-Station) | Flat
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Essential Axes
|
||||
|
||||
### Want
|
||||
|
||||
Deliver. Get paid. Maintain the supply chain.
|
||||
|
||||
Sabel is the ring's off-station contact — the external supplier who sends contraband (unlicensed lattice components, medical-grade neural replacements) through legitimate freight shipments to Sova. Sabel operates from elsewhere in the Krenn System (exact location unspecified in v0.1). The relationship with Devra is purely transactional: Sabel confirms transit timing, Devra coordinates local pickup.
|
||||
|
||||
### Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**Not directly observable.** Sabel is referenced, not instantiated in the v0.1 play area. Sabel appears in lattice communications (Devra's coordination), in cargo manifests (origin codes), and in ring members' dialogue ("Sabel says the next shipment is on the 22:00 cycle"). Sabel's physical presence in the district is limited to at most 1-2 brief visits during the vertical slice — enough to be observed, not enough to be interrogated.
|
||||
|
||||
### Personality
|
||||
|
||||
**Professional, efficient, impersonal.** Sabel treats the ring as a business relationship. No personal investment, no loyalty to the local team, no interest in their problems. If the operation on Sova is compromised, Sabel cuts the connection and finds another distribution point. This coldness is itself a narrative signal: Sabel represents the layer above the local ring, the bigger operation that views Sova as replaceable infrastructure.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Hint
|
||||
|
||||
*"Transit confirmed for 22:00. Standard package. Don't be late."* [Flat, operational, no warmth]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Function Note
|
||||
|
||||
Sabel is the **upstream connection** — the thread that leads from the local smuggling operation to the wider criminal supply chain. For the smuggler, Sabel is the voice on the other end of the lattice, the person who keeps the goods flowing. For the detective, Sabel is a ghost — a name in communications, an origin code on freight manifests, a person who exists in the district's data but not in its social fabric. Tracing Sabel is the detective's path to understanding that the ring is not a local phenomenon but part of a larger network.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Supply source. Professional respect. *"Sabel's reliable. The timing is always clean. Whatever happens on this end, the supply keeps coming."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Data point. Ghost. *"Origin codes on flagged manifests trace to off-station. Someone's sending this cargo. Finding who could crack the upstream network."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Devra](devra.md), [Renn](renn.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,397 @@
|
||||
# Sera Venn — THE FRIEND (Detective)
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 1 Production-Level NPC** | The Last Shift (Bar) + Commission | Mundane
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Sera Venn
|
||||
**Age**: 31
|
||||
**Role**: Lattice Commission field technician, Sova Transit District
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, born on Krenn Prime (surface), transferred to Station Sova 14 months ago
|
||||
**Cultural Group**: Krenn System culture (compact names, first-name-primary, pragmatic)
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Standard professional (Commission-grade diagnostic tools, not investigative)
|
||||
**Employer**: Lattice Commission, Krenn System field office (posted to Sova for routine compliance maintenance)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Keep her life stable and her friendships intact.
|
||||
|
||||
Sera transferred to Sova after a stressful posting on a border-system relay station — too many compliance violations, too many confrontations with people running unlicensed lattice modifications. Sova was supposed to be quiet. Routine calibration checks, scheduled inspections, paperwork. A posting where nobody yells at you and you go home at a reasonable hour. For 12 months, it was exactly that.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Protect Hael from the consequences of what Sera has discovered.
|
||||
|
||||
Hael is Sera's closest friend on the station. When Hael started confiding worry about Kael's late nights and evasive behavior, Sera did what a Commission tech can do that a civilian can't — she ran an unofficial diagnostic on Kael's work patterns through the compliance system. What she found (manifest discrepancies tied to Kael's shifts) pointed to something she didn't want to see. Reporting it would mean Kael gets investigated, possibly arrested, and Hael's life falls apart. Not reporting it means Sera is sitting on evidence. The quiet life she wanted is gone.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret** (detective eventually suspects, smuggler may notice): Sera is a Commission employee who socializes at the bar but avoids certain people — specifically Torek Lintar. Her avoidance pattern is visible to anyone paying attention.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret** (nobody knows except Sera): Sera ran an unauthorized compliance check on Kael Davan's freight handling records after Hael confided worry about Kael's behavior. She found manifest discrepancies — containers logged by Kael's shifts that don't reconcile with incoming freight manifests. This is reportable evidence. Sera has not reported it. She has been sitting on this information for approximately 6 weeks, protecting Hael from the consequences of her partner being investigated.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: The unreported evidence. If the detective discovers Sera's concealment, Sera faces institutional consequences (dereliction of duty, obstruction). If the ring discovers that a Commission employee has their manifests flagged, Sera becomes a target. If Hael discovers Sera investigated Kael behind their back, the friendship is damaged regardless of Sera's motivation.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship 1: The Detective** (pre-existing institutional contact, friend)
|
||||
- **Type**: Professional-turned-personal. They trained at adjacent postings, overlapped on a compliance sweep two years ago. Genuine mutual respect.
|
||||
- **History**: The detective is one of few people who understands institutional culture — the protocols, the frustrations, the isolation of being Commission on a station that views you as the compliance police. When the detective arrives in the district, Sera is genuinely glad. A familiar face. Someone who speaks her language.
|
||||
- **Current tension**: Sera is now keeping evidence from the detective. Every helpful tip, every piece of background she shares, is contaminated by the thing she's NOT sharing. The detective trusts Sera completely, which makes the concealment worse.
|
||||
- **Mechanical relevance**: THE FRIEND. The relationship phase arc (trust > pattern observation > confrontation > contaminated trust) plays out here.
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship 2: Hael** (close friend, civilian)
|
||||
- **Type**: Personal friendship, 10 months. Met at the bar shortly after Sera's transfer.
|
||||
- **History**: Hael teaches station kids, represents the community Sera embedded herself in. They drink together after Hael's school day and Sera's shift, swap complaints about work, talk about Hael's relationship with Kael. Hael is the reason Sova feels like home instead of just another posting.
|
||||
- **Current tension**: Hael confided in Sera about Kael's behavior (late nights, evasion, unexplained stress). This is what triggered Sera's unofficial compliance check. Sera now knows more about Kael's situation than Hael does — and can't share it without destroying everything.
|
||||
- **Mechanical relevance**: Hael is the emotional anchor that makes Sera's concealment sympathetic. Sera isn't hiding evidence to protect a criminal. She's hiding evidence to protect her friend's partner.
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship 3: Torek Lintar** (avoidance target, unintentional connection)
|
||||
- **Type**: Avoidance. Sera doesn't have a relationship with Torek — she has an anti-relationship.
|
||||
- **History**: When Sera ran her unofficial compliance check, she didn't just find Kael's discrepancies. She found that the manifest irregularities correlate with shifts where Torek Lintar handles dock inspections. Torek is a thread she doesn't want to pull. Being seen near Torek while sitting on unreported evidence about his inspection patterns feels like compounding the risk.
|
||||
- **Current tension**: Sera leaves the bar when Torek arrives. Every time. Different excuses. She doesn't realize how visible this pattern is becoming.
|
||||
- **Mechanical relevance**: The avoidance pattern IS the contradiction the detective discovers. Sera's attempt to minimize risk is itself creating observable risk.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**High** — Sera is disciplined and emotionally controlled. But she's managing an impossible situation.
|
||||
|
||||
**What Sera tolerates**:
|
||||
- Institutional isolation (being the Commission person on a station that views Commission as an imposition)
|
||||
- Minor ethical compromises (running the unofficial check was already outside protocol)
|
||||
- The cognitive dissonance of helping the detective while hiding evidence from them
|
||||
|
||||
**What pushes Sera toward breaking**:
|
||||
- The detective asking specifically about manifest discrepancies (too close to what Sera already knows)
|
||||
- Hael's worry escalating into direct action (if Hael confronts Kael, or asks the detective for help)
|
||||
- Torek behaving in ways that make Sera's concealment feel more dangerous (if Torek's spending becomes even more visible, the investigation will reach him, and Sera's connection becomes harder to deny)
|
||||
|
||||
**What breaks Sera**:
|
||||
- Direct confrontation from the detective with evidence of the concealment (Sera can't lie to the detective's face — she'll deflect, but she won't fabricate)
|
||||
- Hael being hurt by the consequences Sera was trying to prevent (if Kael is arrested and Hael blames Sera for not warning them)
|
||||
- Institutional pressure from Commission (if a superior notices the compliance check was run but never filed)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**07:30 - 08:00**: Morning lattice diagnostics at Commission kiosk (Level 3, unmanned — Sera runs calibration checks remotely)
|
||||
**08:00 - 12:00**: Field rounds — compliance verification at assigned locations (logistics hub equipment, bar terminal, residential nodes)
|
||||
**12:00 - 13:00**: Lunch, usually at a vendor near the logistics hub
|
||||
**13:00 - 15:00**: Afternoon rounds or report filing at Commission kiosk
|
||||
**15:00 - 15:30**: Off-shift. Returns to residential pod briefly.
|
||||
**15:30 - 18:00**: Bar (The Last Shift). Sera is an early-evening regular. Meets Hael here most days. Occupies the same corner booth.
|
||||
**18:00 - 22:00**: Home or occasional return to bar for quieter late-evening drink.
|
||||
|
||||
**Routine deviations** (tells):
|
||||
- Leaving the bar abruptly when Torek Lintar arrives (the contradiction pattern — three occurrences in the vertical slice)
|
||||
- Increased helpfulness to the detective (overcompensation — Sera shares MORE district background after the concealment begins, as if making up for what she's withholding)
|
||||
- Avoiding the logistics hub during certain shifts (the shifts where Kael's discrepancies are concentrated — Sera doesn't want to observe anything else she'd have to not-report)
|
||||
- Extended time at Commission kiosk (re-checking the compliance data she ran, compulsive verification that she hasn't been caught)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows** (KnowsDetails or Direct):
|
||||
- Manifest discrepancies tied to Kael Davan's shifts (unauthorized compliance check, 6 weeks ago)
|
||||
- Torek Lintar's inspection shifts correlate with manifest irregularities (pattern analysis from same check)
|
||||
- Hael is worried about Kael's behavior (direct confidence from Hael, multiple conversations)
|
||||
- The Commission kiosk on Level 3 has diagnostic access to freight manifest systems (institutional knowledge — standard for her role)
|
||||
- The district's Commission presence is minimal (she's the only Commission employee in the district most days)
|
||||
- Detective's background (professional history, approach, institutional reputation — pre-existing relationship)
|
||||
- Bar regulars' names, habits, social patterns (10 months of observation as a regular)
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**:
|
||||
- Kael is a ring member (Sera found manifest discrepancies, not ring membership — she suspects smuggling but doesn't know the organizational structure)
|
||||
- Kael is attempting to exit the ring (Sera doesn't know the ring exists, let alone that Kael wants out)
|
||||
- The smuggler's identity or role (if the smuggler is a ring member, Sera has no reason to flag them)
|
||||
- Devra, Renn, Pell, or any ring operational details (Sera's compliance check caught freight data anomalies, not personnel)
|
||||
- Drin's gambling debt and compromise (Sera's check was focused on Kael's shifts, not Drin's inspections — though Drin's data is in the system if she looked harder)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate** (D-024 thematic axis) — declining.
|
||||
|
||||
Sera was content. Sova was the calm posting she needed after the stressful border station. She had a routine, a friend (Hael), a social life at the bar, competent work that didn't demand too much. For her first 10 months, contentment was high.
|
||||
|
||||
Now it's eroding. The compliance check changed everything. Sera can't un-know what she found. Every evening at the bar is shadowed by the evidence she's concealing. Every conversation with Hael is a reminder of why she's concealing it. Every interaction with the detective is a test of how much longer she can sustain the concealment without being caught.
|
||||
|
||||
**Contentment trajectory**: Declining. Before the compliance check: high. After the check: moderate. After the detective arrives and starts asking questions: moderate-low and falling. Sera is experiencing the slow erosion of a life she built specifically to be calm — and she did it to herself.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Competent** — Sera is good at her job. She runs clean diagnostics, files thorough reports (when she files them), and understands Commission systems at a technical level most field techs don't bother with. This competence is what enabled the unofficial check — and what makes the concealment so damaging. She found the discrepancies because she's good. She's hiding them because she's human.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary: Loyal** — to people, not institutions. Sera joined the Commission because it was stable work with good benefits, not because she believes in regulatory perfection. Her loyalty to Hael outweighs her institutional obligation. This surprises even Sera — she thought she was a by-the-book person until she had to choose between the book and a friend.
|
||||
|
||||
**Tertiary: Controlled** — Sera manages her presentation carefully. She doesn't panic, doesn't raise her voice, doesn't show stress visibly. This control is professional training (Commission field techs deal with hostile communities regularly) and personal temperament. It makes her excellent at deflection — and makes the avoidance pattern (leaving when Torek arrives) more striking precisely because it breaks her usual composure.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavioral changes that signal Sera's internal state:**
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To | Mechanical Flag |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|-----------------|
|
||||
| **Avoidance of Torek Lintar** | Torek enters the bar. Sera makes an excuse and leaves within 2-3 minutes. | Detective (pattern recognition across 3 occurrences), Hael (if paying attention), bar regulars | `behavior_flags: avoidance_pattern` |
|
||||
| **Increased helpfulness** | Detective asks about the district. Sera volunteers extra information, background context, names and routines of regulars. | Detective (might read as genuine helpfulness OR overcompensation) | `behavior_flags: overcompensating` |
|
||||
| **Topic deflection on manifests** | Anyone mentions freight, manifests, compliance, or cargo irregularities. Sera changes the subject smoothly. | Detective (if tracking topic avoidances), Hael (might notice Sera steering away from Kael-adjacent topics) | `behavior_flags: topic_avoidance` |
|
||||
| **Extended kiosk time** | Sera spends longer at the Commission kiosk than her duties require. Visible to hub workers. | Detective (if tracking Sera's routine), Voss or Maret (if observant about who's at the kiosk) | `tell_observed: extended_kiosk_access` |
|
||||
|
||||
**Tell progression** (detective's perspective):
|
||||
1. **Visit 1-2** (baseline): Sera is warm, informative, comfortable. A welcome familiar face. Detective monologue: "Good to see Sera. She always was the reliable one."
|
||||
2. **Visit 2-3** (background data): Sera mentions Hael as "a friend from the district." Hael joins them once. Sera and Hael have obvious genuine rapport. Detective notes Sera is socially connected — useful.
|
||||
3. **Visit 3** (first avoidance): Torek enters. Sera says "Early shift tomorrow." Leaves. Detective barely notices. Monologue: "Sera headed out. Long day, probably."
|
||||
4. **Visit 4** (second avoidance): Torek enters. Sera says "Headache. Going to lie down." Detective notes it but doesn't flag it. Monologue: "Sera left again. She's been tired lately."
|
||||
5. **Visit 5** (third avoidance — the pattern): Torek enters. Sera says "Need to check on something at the kiosk." Detective's training fires. Monologue: "That's the third time. Sera leaves when Torek arrives. Three different excuses. That's not coincidence."
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Lattice diagnostic and calibration, compliance documentation, field equipment maintenance, Commission data systems access (read-only for most functions, diagnostic-level write for calibration records).
|
||||
|
||||
**Investigation-relevant**: Sera can look things up in Commission systems that civilians can't access. Manifest cross-referencing, lattice registration queries, compliance history searches. She's not an investigator — she can't issue warrants or access sealed records — but she has diagnostic access that is functionally useful for someone who knows what to look for.
|
||||
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Sera has standard Commission self-defense training (all field personnel) but has never used it operationally. If threatened, Sera's first instinct is to leave, not fight.
|
||||
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Standard professional tier. Commission diagnostic overlays, system access tools, compliance reporting interface. No investigative or analytical upgrades — those are reserved for Commission investigators, not field techs.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Backstory
|
||||
|
||||
Born on Krenn Prime surface. Grew up in a mid-sized settlement where the Commission maintained a regional office — lattice infrastructure was part of daily life, and the people who maintained it were respected, ordinary workers. Sera joined the Commission at 21 as a field technician trainee, graduated to full field tech at 23. Spent 6 years on various postings — mostly routine, one stressful border-system relay where unlicensed lattice modifications were endemic and the local population viewed Commission as an occupying force. That posting burned Sera out. She requested a transfer to a quiet logistics hub. Station Sova, Krenn System. Home territory. Routine calibration checks, minimal confrontation. For 10 months, it was exactly what she needed. Then Hael started talking about Kael, and Sera's competence made her curious, and her curiosity made her compromised.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Casual (baseline, detective interaction at bar)**
|
||||
- *"There you are. Grab a seat — Hael was here earlier, you just missed them. Lera's doing that thing with the grain spirit again. Don't ask, just trust me and order the ale."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Informative (sharing district knowledge)**
|
||||
- *"Voss runs the day shift at the hub. Tight schedule, doesn't like surprises. Maret does the freight scheduling — she's sharp, notices things. If you need a way into the hub's operations, Maret's the one who understands the paperwork."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Deflective (asked about Torek)**
|
||||
- *"Torek? He's just loud. Gets a couple drinks in him and decides everyone needs to hear his opinions. I don't like loud drunks. That's it."* [Controlled delivery, slight smile, topic change to follow]
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Stressed (post-contradiction, detective pressing)**
|
||||
- *"I don't know what you're looking for. I told you everything I know about the district. If you're asking whether I'm hiding something — I'm a field tech, not an analyst. I maintain calibration equipment. That's my job."* [Defensive but not aggressive — Sera retreats into institutional role]
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Warm (to Hael, early game)**
|
||||
- *"You look tired. How are the kids doing with the new curriculum? No — sit. Let me get us something. You've been running all day."* [Genuine care, attentive, protective]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
### How the Detective Sees Sera
|
||||
|
||||
**Access tier**: Peer (pre-existing institutional relationship) → PersonOfInterest (post-contradiction discovery)
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship**: Friendly (baseline) → PersonOfInterest (post-contradiction)
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone (baseline)**: Professional warmth, relief. *"Good to see a familiar face. Sera always was the reliable one."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone (post-contradiction)**: Analytical doubt layered over personal conflict. *"She's not lying. But she's not telling me everything. Sera, what do you know?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**What the detective knows that the smuggler doesn't**: Sera is Commission (institutional affiliation visible through lattice query). Sera has access to compliance systems. Sera's avoidance of Torek is a behavioral pattern, not just social preference. The detective reads Sera through an investigative lens even when trying to be personal — training doesn't turn off.
|
||||
|
||||
**Emotional weight**: Maximum. Sera is THE FRIEND. The detective's only ally in a district that doesn't want them here. The color shift from green to amber is the moment the detective realizes their safe harbor has been contaminated. It's not just professional betrayal — it's the loss of the one relationship in the district that felt genuine.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### How the Smuggler Sees Sera
|
||||
|
||||
**Access tier**: Public (baseline — the smuggler doesn't know Sera well) → Known (if observant over multiple bar visits)
|
||||
|
||||
**Relationship**: Known (the Commission woman at the bar) → PersonOfInterest (only if the smuggler independently notices the avoidance pattern)
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone (baseline)**: Cautious categorization. *"Commission woman. Sera, I think. Field tech, not an investigator — but still Commission. Keep an eye on her."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue tone (if avoidance noticed)**: Mild curiosity. *"Sera left again. That's twice when Torek showed up. Probably hates his singing. Everyone does."*
|
||||
|
||||
**What the smuggler knows that the detective doesn't**: Torek is ring-adjacent (if the smuggler is in the ring, they know Torek's spending is connected to the operation). Sera's avoidance of Torek could be institutional wariness of someone connected to the ring — or it could be nothing. The smuggler's framework interprets Sera through threat assessment: is a Commission tech avoiding ring-adjacent people because she knows something, or because she's just antisocial?
|
||||
|
||||
**Emotional weight**: Low to moderate. Sera is not the smuggler's FRIEND — she's institutional background noise. But a Commission tech who behaves strangely is worth watching. On replay (after playing the detective's path), the smuggler player understands that Sera's avoidance wasn't about Torek's personality — it was about what Sera had found and was hiding.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
### Triangle 4: The Worried Partner (Hael - Kael - Sera)
|
||||
|
||||
**Sera's function**: The confidante who knows too much. Sera is the person Hael confides in. She's also the person who, because of her institutional access, turned that confidence into concrete knowledge she can't safely act on.
|
||||
|
||||
**Pressure**: Hael's worry is escalating. Every bar conversation where Hael mentions Kael's late nights or evasion tightens the vice on Sera. Sera can't tell Hael what she found (that would reveal the unofficial check and potentially endanger Hael further). She can't report it (that destroys Hael's life). She can't un-know it (competence doesn't have an undo function). Every interaction with Hael is Sera managing a conversation while hiding a time bomb.
|
||||
|
||||
**Player relevance**:
|
||||
- **Detective** (if Sera's friend): Hears about Hael through Sera. May eventually meet Hael directly. The detective who follows the Hael thread back to Kael's behavior follows it directly through Sera's concealment.
|
||||
- **Smuggler** (if Kael's friend): Knows why Kael is busy, knows Hael is worried, may see Sera and Hael together at the bar and think nothing of it. On replay, the smuggler player understands that Sera was the connective tissue between the detective's investigation and Kael's vulnerability.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Cross-Template Connections
|
||||
|
||||
**Sera has no formal triangle membership beyond Triangle 4.** Her significance is structural: she's the bridge between the detective's institutional world and the district's social fabric. She connects the investigation to the personal — Hael's worry to Kael's behavior to the manifest discrepancies to the ring's operations. Every thread passes through Sera, even though Sera herself isn't part of the conspiracy.
|
||||
|
||||
**Institutional bridge**: Sera is the only Commission employee who regularly socializes in the district. This makes her the detective's guide to a world the detective doesn't understand — and simultaneously makes her the person most positioned to conceal evidence from the detective.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Secret
|
||||
|
||||
**What Sera is hiding**: Unreported evidence. Manifest discrepancies tied to Kael Davan's shifts, discovered through an unauthorized compliance check, concealed for approximately 6 weeks to protect Hael.
|
||||
|
||||
**From whom**: Everyone. The detective (the person with the most right to know), Hael (who doesn't know Sera investigated Kael), Kael (who doesn't know he's been flagged in Commission systems), her own institution (which would view the unauthorized check and non-reporting as disciplinary offenses).
|
||||
|
||||
**Consequences if exposed**:
|
||||
- **Detective finds out**: Trust is shattered. Sera's help has been contaminated from the start. The detective can: use the evidence and report Sera (institutional response — Sera is reprimanded, possibly reassigned, the friendship is destroyed), use the evidence without reporting Sera (pragmatic — maintains the ally but the relationship is forever changed), or protect Sera and accept the information gap (loyal — but the detective's investigation is compromised). No clean option.
|
||||
- **Hael finds out**: Complicated devastation. Sera investigated Kael without asking Hael. Even though Sera's motive was protective, the unauthorized check feels like betrayal — Sera went behind Hael's back, used institutional access against Hael's partner, and then hid it. Hael learns (1) Kael is involved in something illegal, (2) Sera knew and didn't say, (3) Sera used Commission systems to investigate Hael's partner. The friendship survives only if Hael believes Sera's silence was protection, not self-interest.
|
||||
- **Ring finds out**: Sera becomes a target. A Commission employee sitting on evidence is either an asset to recruit or a threat to eliminate. If Devra or Nils learn that a Commission tech has flagged their manifests, Sera is in physical danger.
|
||||
- **Commission finds out**: Disciplinary action. The unauthorized compliance check is a protocol violation. The non-reporting is dereliction. At minimum, Sera is reprimanded and transferred. At maximum, she's suspended and investigated herself.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Contradiction Arc
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 1: Trust (Friendly, baseline)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 0-10 minutes (detective's first bar visits)
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavior**: Sera is warm, competent, available. Waves the detective over to her corner booth. Shares district background freely — who the regulars are, what shifts run when, which maintenance corridors are shortcuts. Introduces Hael on the second visit. Orders the detective a drink. Feels like the one genuine relationship in an unfamiliar place.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (detective)**: *"Good to see Sera. She always was the reliable one. At least someone in this district speaks my language."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Soft green (Friendly)
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue tone**: Peer-tier, cooperative. Trust-gated content available — Sera shares institutional background (Commission presence, liaison rotation, compliance schedules) that civilians wouldn't know.
|
||||
|
||||
**Tell**: None — Sera is baseline comfortable.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 2: Background Data (still Friendly, social context accumulating)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 10-15 minutes
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavior**: Sera mentions Hael. "A friend from the district — you'd like them. They teach the station kids." Hael joins them at the bar once. Sera and Hael have easy, genuine rapport — inside jokes, comfortable silences, the shorthand of actual friendship. Sera also mentions running compliance checks as part of her routine. "It's mostly calibration. Boring stuff. But it keeps the systems honest."
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (detective)**: *"Sera's connected here. Good. She knows the locals. And she's got diagnostic access — useful if I need to cross-reference anything."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Still green (Friendly). No flags.
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue tone**: Still warm, sharing. Sera is building the detective's picture of the district as a functioning community.
|
||||
|
||||
**Tell**: **Social embeddedness** — Sera has personal relationships in the district, not just institutional ones. The detective notes this as an asset without realizing it's also the source of the conflict.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 3: The Pattern (Friendly → PersonOfInterest)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 15-20 minutes (across visits 3-5 to the bar)
|
||||
|
||||
**Trigger**: The detective observes Sera leaving the bar when Torek Lintar arrives. Three times. Three different excuses: "Early shift tomorrow," "Headache — going to lie down," "Need to check something at the kiosk."
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavior**: Sera is at the bar. Torek enters. Within 2-3 minutes, Sera makes an excuse and leaves. The excuses vary. The timing doesn't. The detective, trained to notice behavioral patterns, connects the dots on the third occurrence.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (detective)**: *"That's the third time. Sera leaves when Torek arrives. Early shift, headache, kiosk check. Three different excuses, same result. Sera, what are you avoiding?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge system**:
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.state` → `KnowledgeState::Contradicted` (prior belief: "Sera is comfortable in the district and has no reason to avoid anyone" conflicts with observation: "Sera systematically avoids Torek Lintar")
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["behavior_flags"]` = `"avoidance_pattern,evasive"`
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["contradiction_flagged"]` = `"avoidance_inconsistency"`
|
||||
- `RelationshipState` transitions: `Friendly` → `PersonOfInterest`
|
||||
|
||||
**Color shift**: Soft green → amber. **This is the emotional moment.** Different from Kael's — slower, cumulative. Not a single shocking observation but a dawning pattern. The player trusted Sera. Now the trust has hairline fractures.
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue options unlock**: Direct questioning path ("Sera, you leave every time Torek shows up. What's going on?"), observation path (don't ask yet, track the pattern, gather more context).
|
||||
|
||||
**Tell**: **Avoidance pattern** — departure from bar correlates with specific NPC arrival. Excuse variety masks behavioral consistency.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 4: The Question (PersonOfInterest, dialogue shift)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 20-25 minutes
|
||||
|
||||
**Trigger**: Detective asks Sera about Torek directly. Dialogue option: *"Sera, I've noticed something. You leave every time Torek Lintar arrives. Three times now. Different reasons each time. What's going on?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**Sera's response** (deflection): *"Torek? He's just loud. Gets a couple drinks in him and decides everyone needs to hear his opinions about gate scheduling. I don't like loud drunks. That's all it is."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (detective)**: *"She's not lying — Torek IS loud. But she's not telling me everything. Her shoulders shifted when I said his name. Sera, what do you know about Torek that you're not saying?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge system**:
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["tell_observed"]` = `"controlled_deflection,topic_change"`
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["secret_held"]` = `"unreported evidence, connection to investigation?"`
|
||||
- `EntityKnowledge.known_attributes["secret_confidence"]` = `"suspected"` (the deflection pattern suggests concealment but doesn't confirm what's being concealed)
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue tone**: Sera becomes more controlled. Warmth is still present but calibrated — she steers conversations away from freight, manifests, Kael's work schedule. She is compensating with extra helpfulness on other topics ("Let me tell you about the night shift regulars — there's a group that...").
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Remains amber (PersonOfInterest).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
### Phase 5: Contaminated Trust (PersonOfInterest, new equilibrium)
|
||||
|
||||
**Timing**: 25-30 minutes (remainder of vertical slice)
|
||||
|
||||
**Observable behavior**: Sera continues being helpful. Shows up at the bar at the same time. Saves the detective's seat. Offers background on NPCs the detective is tracking. She is, by every surface measure, the same Sera. But the detective is now **watching**.
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue (detective)**: *"Still the same Sera. Still reliable. Shares everything I ask about — names, routines, connections. ...Everything except whatever she's not telling me about Torek. What are you protecting, Sera?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**Dialogue options**:
|
||||
- **Path A (trust test)**: Detective confronts Sera directly, not about Torek but about the concealment itself: *"Sera, I've known you long enough to know when you're holding something back. What did you find?"* Sera may confess: the unauthorized compliance check, the manifest discrepancies, Hael, all of it. `RelationshipState` remains `PersonOfInterest` (still a problem), but tone shifts to conflicted understanding. Player gains critical evidence. Must decide what to do with Sera.
|
||||
- **Path B (institutional)**: Detective reports Sera's suspicious behavior through Commission channels: *"I need to flag a potential conflict of interest with a local Commission employee."* Sera is formally investigated. `RelationshipState` → `Hostile`. Sera is reprimanded, possibly reassigned. The detective loses their only local ally. The evidence is obtained through institutional channels — slower, but clean.
|
||||
- **Path C (observation)**: Detective doesn't confront, just watches. Tracks Sera's movements, cross-references her kiosk access times, builds a parallel case. `RelationshipState` remains `PersonOfInterest`. Eventually, the evidence chain leads to the same place — but the detective has more leverage when they finally ask.
|
||||
|
||||
**Color**: Amber (paths A/C) or Red (path B).
|
||||
|
||||
**Emotional payload**: Every piece of helpful information Sera shared in Phase 1 is now recontextualized. Was she being genuinely helpful, or was she steering the detective away from the manifests? Was introducing Hael friendship, or preemptive framing? The trust from the first 10 minutes is **retroactively contaminated**. That's the FRIEND arc — it doesn't just change the present, it changes the past.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Content Requirements (Tier 1)
|
||||
|
||||
**~70-100 authored lines total** (no generation expansion):
|
||||
|
||||
- **25-35 dialogue lines**: Bar greetings (5), district orientation/background sharing (8-10), Hael-related conversation (4-5), institutional/Commission discussion (3-4), deflection/evasion about Torek (5-6), confrontation responses (3-5)
|
||||
- **15-20 trust-gated lines**: Peer-tier (institutional background, compliance schedules, Commission access details), secret-tier (if detective earns deep trust pre-contradiction — Sera's genuine feelings about the concealment, hints about what she found)
|
||||
- **5-8 unprompted lines**: Sera volunteers district background (early), introduces topics or people (mid), steers conversations away from sensitive areas (late)
|
||||
- **10-15 monologue lines per character**:
|
||||
- Detective monologue about Sera: trust/relief (3), pattern observation (3-4), contradiction discovery (3-4), post-confrontation (3-5)
|
||||
- Smuggler monologue about Sera: institutional categorization (2), avoidance notation (2-3 if observant), cautious assessment (2-3)
|
||||
- **5-8 tell observation lines**: Avoidance pattern (3 — one per departure), topic deflection (2), overcompensation helpfulness (2), extended kiosk time (1)
|
||||
- **3-5 contradiction discovery lines**: The third departure from multiple angles (detective noticing the pattern, monologue reaction, follow-up dialogue about Torek)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Authoring Notes
|
||||
|
||||
- **Sera's voice**: Competent, slightly wry, conversational but precise. Uses complete sentences. Doesn't waste words but isn't as terse as Kael — Sera explains things, provides context, frames information. Professional warmth, not casual warmth. When deflecting, Sera doesn't go silent — she redirects. The redirect itself is the tell.
|
||||
- **The avoidance pattern** must be established through THREE observed departures, not one. The detective's training recognizes patterns, not anomalies. One departure is nothing. Two is coincidence. Three is data. The pacing must allow all three departures within the vertical slice timeframe.
|
||||
- **Hael references**: Sera mentions Hael naturally, warmly, frequently. "Hael says the kids are doing better with the new curriculum." "Hael's worried about something at home — didn't want to pry." This establishes the friendship's depth before it becomes load-bearing.
|
||||
- **Commission background**: Sera shares institutional details casually — compliance schedules, liaison rotation, kiosk access patterns. This is helpful (gives the detective real information) AND establishes Sera's access level (the detective later realizes Sera COULD have found what she found).
|
||||
- **Deflection dialogue** (post-contradiction): Sera doesn't lie outright. She deflects: "He's just loud." "I don't like that crowd." "It's nothing." The deflections are plausible. The detective's training is what elevates them from excuses to tells.
|
||||
- **Dual-lens discipline**: Every Sera line must work for BOTH the detective (who sees a trusted friend and institutional ally) AND the smuggler (who sees a Commission employee in the social landscape). The same sentence lands differently per character. When Sera says "I ran the usual calibration checks today," the detective hears routine work. The smuggler hears "Commission is still active in the district."
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**End Sera Venn Profile**. This is the full Tier 1 production depth. Parallels Kael Davan (smuggler's FRIEND) with different contradiction mechanics: cumulative pattern recognition vs. single spatial observation, institutional concealment vs. operational security breach, slow doubt vs. sudden alarm.
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
|
||||
# Sess
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 3 NPC** | The Last Shift (Bar) | Flat
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Essential Axes
|
||||
|
||||
### Want
|
||||
|
||||
Do the job. Go home. Don't get involved.
|
||||
|
||||
Sess bartends evening shifts at The Last Shift under Lera Sessik. The work is steady, the tips are adequate, and the regulars are predictable. Sess has no ambitions beyond maintaining this equilibrium. In a district full of people with secrets, Sess's lack of hidden agenda is itself a kind of camouflage.
|
||||
|
||||
### Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**14:00 - 02:00**: Bar shift (arrives before opening, stays through close)
|
||||
**Breaks**: Brief, in the back — Sess doesn't leave the bar during shift
|
||||
**Off-days**: Home, personal time, no bar social life (Sess separates work from everything else)
|
||||
|
||||
### Personality
|
||||
|
||||
**Observant, discreet, laconic.** Sess sees everything from behind the bar — who drinks with whom, who avoids whom, who's spending too much, who's stressed, who's new. Sess processes this information but doesn't share it unprompted. Getting Sess to talk requires building trust over multiple visits, and even then, Sess offers fragments, not narratives. A good bartender hears everything. A great bartender remembers everything and says nothing.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Hint
|
||||
|
||||
*"What'll it be?"* [Minimal. Efficient. A question that doesn't invite conversation unless you offer it.]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Function Note
|
||||
|
||||
Sess is the **ambient observer** — the social wallpaper who notices everything and says almost nothing. For the detective, Sess is a potential long-game source: repeated visits, consistent tipping, demonstrated trustworthiness might eventually unlock Sess's observations. For the smuggler, Sess is safe — a known quantity who doesn't gossip. Sess's function is atmospheric: proving that Sova Transit District has ordinary people living ordinary lives, and that the bar is a real place where real service workers show up and pour drinks.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Background. Safe. *"Sess is behind the bar. Good. Reliable, doesn't talk."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Potential source — eventual. *"The bartender. Sess. Sees the whole room every night. Getting them to share will take time."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Lera Sessik](lera-sessik.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
|
||||
# Tav
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 3 NPC** | Smuggling Ring + Logistics Hub | Flat
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Essential Axes
|
||||
|
||||
### Want
|
||||
|
||||
Do the watch. Don't get noticed. Prove useful.
|
||||
|
||||
Tav is the ring's lookout — stationed at strategic positions during operations to watch for security patrols, unexpected personnel, or anything that shouldn't be where it is. The job is simple: watch, signal, move. Tav takes it seriously because it's the first responsibility anyone has trusted him with, and because the consequences of failure are immediate and severe.
|
||||
|
||||
### Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**Legitimate**: Irregular shift work at the logistics hub (cargo staging, equipment prep). Not a fixed roster — Tav picks up shifts as available, which gives him flexible hours that align conveniently with ring operations.
|
||||
|
||||
**Ring operations**: Positioned at corridor intersections or freight bay entries during night-shift courier runs (1-2x per week). Watches for 30-60 minute windows. Signals Renn via lattice if a patrol approaches.
|
||||
|
||||
**Off-duty**: Home or wandering the district. Tav doesn't drink at the bar — he's young, broke, and socially peripheral.
|
||||
|
||||
### Personality
|
||||
|
||||
**Quiet, watchful, nervous.** Tav is the youngest ring member (early 20s). He's hypervigilant during operations — every footstep sounds like a patrol, every shadow could be someone approaching. This nervous energy is his strength (nothing gets past him on watch) and his weakness (the anxiety is visible to anyone who knows what to look for).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Hint
|
||||
|
||||
*"Clear. South corridor, no movement for the last twenty minutes. You're good."* [Short, precise, slightly breathless]
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Function Note
|
||||
|
||||
Tav is the **peripheral ring member** — the person at the lowest level of the organization who sees the physical movement of operations without understanding the structure above him. For the smuggler, Tav is a reliable set of eyes. For the detective, Tav is a loitering youth in the wrong place at the wrong time — easily explained away as a lost worker, but suspicious if the detective is already tracking corridor movement patterns. Tav is also the ring member most likely to be caught and least likely to have useful information — he knows routes, not names. Catching Tav reveals a thread but not the tapestry.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Trusted lookout. Known quantity. *"Tav's on watch. Good — he doesn't miss anything."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Loitering youth. Anomaly if context is right. *"Young worker. Irregular shift. Seen near freight corridors outside his posted hours. Probably nothing. Filing it."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Renn](renn.md), [Devra](devra.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
|
||||
# Torek Lintar
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | The Last Shift (Bar) + Logistics Hub | Mundane
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Torek Lintar
|
||||
**Age**: 29
|
||||
**Role**: Dock worker (day shift) and bar regular
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, Station Sova
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Baseline (recently upgraded accessories — visible and notable)
|
||||
**Employer**: Sova Logistics Consortium
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Enjoy the good life while it lasts.
|
||||
|
||||
Torek is young, single, and for the first time in his life has money beyond rent and food. The source of that money is ambiguous — even to the player. It could be ring income (Torek handles dock inspections and could be receiving payments for looking away), a side hustle (freelance freight brokering), or an inheritance (an aunt on Krenn Prime who passed recently). The ambiguity is load-bearing: Torek's spending is a tell, but what it tells depends on the truth the player never fully confirms.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Be seen. Be liked. Be the generous one.
|
||||
|
||||
Torek buys rounds. Tips well. Has a new jacket. Latest lattice accessories. He's performing generosity — and the performance is the problem. In a district where everyone knows everyone's salary, visible wealth is a signal that demands explanation.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: Spending beyond a standard dock worker's means. Visible to everyone at the bar.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: The source of Torek's money. The game deliberately doesn't confirm this for the player. Torek might be ring-compensated (paid for inspection negligence), might have legitimate supplementary income, or might be spending an inheritance unwisely. The investigation can reach any of these conclusions depending on the evidence path.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: Visibility. Torek can't help being noticed. His spending makes him a target for the detective (financial tell), a liability for the smuggler (exposure risk), and a subject of gossip for everyone else.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Lera Sessik**: Bar owner. Torek is one of her best customers. She appreciates the spending, worries about the attention it draws.
|
||||
|
||||
**Olin**: New arrival. Torek has been friendly to Olin (buys them drinks, offers bar introductions). Could be genuine hospitality or could be cultivating someone new.
|
||||
|
||||
**Harek**: Card game partner. They play regularly at the bar. Torek usually wins — which is itself notable, given Harek's longer experience.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**Low**. Torek isn't built for pressure. He's enjoying a good time and hasn't thought much about consequences. If confronted about his spending by the detective, Torek gets defensive, then nervous. If pressured by the ring (if he's ring-connected) to be less visible, he complies resentfully but can't actually change his habits.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**06:00 - 14:00**: Day shift at logistics hub (dock inspection and cargo handling)
|
||||
**14:00 - 14:30**: Shift transition — walks to bar district
|
||||
**14:30 - 20:00**: The Last Shift (primary social hours — drinks, card games, socializing)
|
||||
**20:00+**: Home or extended bar session on end-of-cycle days
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Hub operations (dock procedures, inspection protocols, shift patterns), bar social dynamics, who's a regular, who's new. If ring-connected: which containers don't get inspected carefully.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Ring structure (even if compensated, Torek would know only his handler, not the organization), manifest details, Kael's exit attempt, Sera's compliance check, the detective's investigation scope.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**High** — for now. Torek is living his best version of life on Sova. Money, friends, status at the bar. This contentment is fragile because it depends on income that may not be sustainable and visibility that's attracting the wrong attention.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Generous** — buys rounds, tips well, shares freely. Whether this is genuine warmth or performance is part of his ambiguity.
|
||||
**Secondary: Careless** — doesn't think about consequences. Lives for the immediate.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Social** — needs to be around people. The bar is his second home.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Visible spending** | Buying rounds, new accessories, generous tips | Everyone at the bar. Detective (financial tell). Smuggler (exposure risk). |
|
||||
| **Gets loud after drinks** | 3+ drinks — volume increases, stories get bigger, discretion decreases | Lera (worried), Sera (leaves), Detective (observing behavioral patterns) |
|
||||
| **Defensive when questioned about money** | Anyone asks directly about his income or spending | Detective (confrontation opportunity), bar regulars |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Dock inspection, cargo handling, freight procedures.
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Torek avoids trouble.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Baseline with aftermarket accessories (social/entertainment upgrades, not professional).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Generous (baseline)**
|
||||
- *"Next round's on me. No — don't argue. What's the point of working the docks if you can't buy your friends a drink?"*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Defensive (pressed about money)**
|
||||
- *"What, I can't treat myself? I work hard. Overtime pays. You want to see my pay stubs, or can I finish my drink?"*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Torek is a liability. His spending draws attention the operation can't afford. The smuggler reads Torek's generosity as a security risk. *"Torek's buying rounds again. He needs to calm down before someone starts asking questions."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Torek is a financial tell. A dock worker buying rounds and wearing new accessories flags immediately. The question is whether the money comes from something illegal or something mundane. *"Lintar, T. — dock worker. Spending pattern inconsistent with standard logistics salary. Worth a closer look."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 3: Bar Tensions (Lera - Torek - Olin)** — The visible spender. Torek's generosity keeps the bar profitable but his visibility creates risk. Olin's arrival adds a variable — is Olin drawn by Torek's spending, or is that coincidental? Lera is caught between welcoming the money and worrying about the attention.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Lera Sessik](lera-sessik.md), [Olin](olin.md), [Harek](harek.md), [Sera Venn](sera-venn.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
|
||||
# Voss
|
||||
|
||||
**Tier 2 NPC** | Logistics Hub (The Terminal) | Mundane
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
**Name**: Voss
|
||||
**Age**: 46
|
||||
**Role**: Shift supervisor, Sova Transit District Logistics Hub
|
||||
**System Origin**: Krenn System, Station Sova (born and raised)
|
||||
**Lattice Tier**: Baseline
|
||||
**Employer**: Sova Logistics Consortium
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 10-Axis Profile
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. Want
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary**: Keep his shift running without incident.
|
||||
|
||||
Voss has supervised the day shift for 11 years. He's good at logistics — schedules, manifests, personnel management. He takes pride in clean handoffs and zero incident reports. The smuggling operation complicates this because it introduces variables he can't control, but the cut he receives smooths the rough edges of a supervisor's salary.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary**: Maintain authority despite being undermined by Nils.
|
||||
|
||||
Voss is the shift supervisor. Nils Davan (Kael's older sibling, ring coordinator, off-stage in v0.1) gives orders through intermediaries that Voss is expected to follow. Voss resents this — he has positional authority on the floor, but the ring's needs override his scheduling decisions. He complies because the money is good and because refusing Nils has consequences he doesn't want to test.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. Secret / Vulnerability
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret**: Takes a cut from the ring to smooth inspections and schedule coverage windows. Most hub workers suspect this; nobody says it.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret**: Voss is terrified that the escalating volume will get him caught. He's been shift supervisor long enough that any investigation into the hub's operations will start with him. He has no exit strategy.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability**: Institutional exposure. Voss is the most visible member of the ring's logistics chain. If the detective follows the manifest trail, it leads to the shift supervisor's schedule first.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Relationships
|
||||
|
||||
**Kael Davan**: Subordinate, ring colleague. Voss respects Kael's competence but resents taking orders (via Nils) from someone who technically works under him. Functional, tense.
|
||||
|
||||
**Nils Davan** (off-stage): Ring coordinator. Voss's real boss for ring operations. Voss resents Nils but fears the consequences of refusal. The relationship is compliance, not loyalty.
|
||||
|
||||
**Maret Korr**: Freight scheduler. Voss needs Maret functioning and quiet. Maret is smart enough to notice discrepancies, and Voss is aware she's noticed. He manages her through professional attention — making sure she feels valued, heard, but never asked to look deeper.
|
||||
|
||||
### 4. Tolerance Threshold
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate-high**. Voss has been doing this for years and can handle routine pressure. What he can't handle is escalation — higher volume, tighter windows, more risk. Nils pushing for bigger shipments is what keeps Voss awake at night. If an investigation reaches his desk, Voss will cooperate with whoever offers the best deal. He's pragmatic, not loyal.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5. Daily Routine
|
||||
|
||||
**05:45**: Arrives at hub, reviews shift manifest
|
||||
**06:00 - 14:00**: Day shift supervision
|
||||
**10:30**: Break room, coffee, reviews afternoon handoff notes
|
||||
**14:00 - 14:30**: Shift transition, handoff to swing supervisor
|
||||
**14:30 - 16:00**: Occasional bar visit (not a regular — Voss drinks at home)
|
||||
**Ring operations**: Adjusts schedules as needed to create coverage windows. Does this during normal scheduling — invisible unless you know what to look for.
|
||||
|
||||
### 6. Information Inventory
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows**: Ring structure (not leadership details, but operational flow), schedule manipulation patterns, which inspectors are compromised, Maret's growing suspicion, Kael's reliability, Drin's gambling debt.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know**: Kael's exit attempt, Sera's compliance check, the detective's investigation focus, Pell's wavering.
|
||||
|
||||
### 7. Contentment
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate-low**. Voss had a functional life before the ring escalated. The extra money was welcome. The extra risk is not. He's a man who wanted a quiet career and ended up as the load-bearing wall in a smuggling operation.
|
||||
|
||||
### 8. Personality Traits
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary: Cautious** — overthinks, plans for contingencies, hates surprises.
|
||||
**Secondary: Resentful** — feels trapped between institutional responsibility and criminal obligation.
|
||||
**Tertiary: Professional** — despite everything, runs a clean shift on the legitimate side.
|
||||
|
||||
### 9. Tell System
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| **Nervous schedule adjustments** | Ring requests schedule change; Voss reprocesses manifests multiple times | Maret (sees the rework), Detective (if tracking manifest revision patterns) |
|
||||
| **Clipped responses to Kael** | Nils has given orders Voss disagrees with | Smuggler, Resha, other hub workers |
|
||||
| **Avoids break room during ring operations** | Doesn't want to be seen idle when containers are being rerouted | Detective (if tracking Voss's routine deviations) |
|
||||
|
||||
### 10. Skill Set
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational**: Shift management, freight logistics, manifest processing, personnel scheduling.
|
||||
**Combat tag**: **No**. Voss avoids confrontation physically and socially.
|
||||
**Lattice capability**: Baseline.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Voice Sample
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Professional (baseline)**
|
||||
- *"Manifest's clean for the morning run. Let's keep it that way. Resha, you're on Bay 3. Kael, take the overflow from yesterday."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Stressed (post-schedule manipulation)**
|
||||
- *"Just — follow the schedule I posted. I don't need questions about why Bay 7 is offline during transition. It's maintenance. That's all."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Mood: Resentful (to himself, about Nils)**
|
||||
- *"Another 'adjustment.' Like I don't have enough to manage without reworking the whole rotation at the last minute."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler**: Knows Voss is compromised and stressed. Reads Voss's schedule changes as operational signals. Voss is management to navigate, not a friend. *"Voss is tense today. Nils must have changed the window again."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective**: Sees an experienced shift supervisor who's anxious about something. Schedule irregularities are the first data point. Voss is the institutional face of the hub — any investigation starts here. *"The shift supervisor — Voss. Runs a tight operation on paper. But he reworks manifests more than the workload justifies."*
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Triangle Roles
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 1: Hub Power (Voss - Kael - Nils)** — The authority figure who isn't really in charge. Voss has the title; Nils has the power. Kael is caught between. Voss's resentment toward the Davan siblings is professional and personal.
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 2: Worried Knowledge (Maret - Drin - Voss)** — The manager who needs everyone quiet. Maret notices too much. Drin is compromised and might crack. Voss has to keep both functional and silent without revealing why.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:** [Kael Davan](kael-davan.md), [Maret Korr](maret-korr.md), [Drin](drin.md), [Resha](resha.md)
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
|
||||
# Clone Transfer
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Core Technology
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Death mechanics, identity persistence, backup systems
|
||||
**Also Known As:** Re-embodiment (formal), "getting a new body" (colloquial)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
Clone transfer is the technology that makes death temporary in the Settled Reach — for those who can afford it and maintain their backups. A person's neural state is periodically backed up to a secure facility. If the original body dies, the backed-up state is transferred to a cloned body. The person wakes up in a new body with memories intact up to their last backup.
|
||||
|
||||
Everything since the last backup is lost.
|
||||
|
||||
This is the core of the death mechanic: death is not game over. Death is information loss. And in a game built on asymmetric information, losing what you've learned is worse than losing a body.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## How Clone Transfer Works
|
||||
|
||||
**The backup process:**
|
||||
1. The bearer visits a registered backup facility (typically institutional — Commission, medical center, or licensed private provider)
|
||||
2. Neural state is captured via lattice interface — memories, learned skills, relationship data, personality patterns
|
||||
3. The backup is stored securely, encrypted, institutionally managed
|
||||
4. Backup frequency varies: wealthy individuals back up daily; working-class citizens back up weekly, monthly, or less
|
||||
|
||||
**The transfer process (on death):**
|
||||
1. Death is confirmed (biological cessation of original body)
|
||||
2. Most recent backup is retrieved from secure storage
|
||||
3. A clone body is prepared (grown in advance or accelerated-growth, depending on tier)
|
||||
4. Neural state is transferred to the clone body
|
||||
5. The individual wakes up in the new body with memories up to their last backup point
|
||||
|
||||
**The gap:** Everything between the last backup and death is gone. Conversations. Discoveries. Relationships formed. Deals struck. Evidence collected. If the detective backs up on Monday and dies on Thursday, three days of investigation vanish. If the smuggler backs up before a run and dies during it, they don't remember the run at all.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Body Types
|
||||
|
||||
Clone bodies are not all equal.
|
||||
|
||||
**Standard clone:** Biological replica of the original body at a baseline state. No enhancements beyond the original genetic template. This is what most people receive — functional, healthy, unremarkable.
|
||||
|
||||
**Enhanced clone:** Improved biological specifications — better muscle density, faster neural pathways, optimized organ function. Available through institutional channels (military, intelligence, wealthy dynasties) or high-end private providers.
|
||||
|
||||
**Custom bodies:** In the wider Settled Reach, some individuals change body specifications with each transfer — different appearance, different physical capabilities, different sex. Identity becomes fluid when the body is replaceable. This is more common in cosmopolitan core systems than in working-class stations like Sova.
|
||||
|
||||
**v0.1 scope:** Clone transfer is referenced technology, not a gameplay mechanic. No character dies and is re-embodied during the vertical slice. But the *possibility* of death-as-information-loss shapes how the player treats risk, and backup status shapes NPC behavior (someone without a recent backup is more cautious).
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## The Cost Problem
|
||||
|
||||
Clone transfer is not free. Backup storage requires institutional infrastructure. Clone bodies require biological manufacturing. Transfer requires specialized medical facilities. All of this costs money, and all of it is regulated.
|
||||
|
||||
**Institutional access:** Commission employees, Concord Assembly staff, military personnel, and corporate workers typically have backup coverage as an employment benefit. Their backups are regular, their clone bodies pre-grown, their transfer priority high.
|
||||
|
||||
**Civilian access:** Independent workers, freelancers, and small-business owners must pay out of pocket. Backup frequency drops with income. A dock worker on Station Sova might back up monthly — or less. The cost is a line item they weigh against food, rent, and lattice maintenance.
|
||||
|
||||
**The uninsured:** Some people in the Reach have no backup at all. Death, for them, is final. This is rare but not unknown, particularly on frontier stations or among populations that reject the technology for cultural or philosophical reasons.
|
||||
|
||||
**The implication:** Clone transfer creates a mortality gradient. Wealthy people with daily backups lose hours if they die. Working-class people with monthly backups lose weeks. People without backups lose everything. Death is not equal in the Settled Reach — it's proportional to your economic status.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Clone Transfer and Identity
|
||||
|
||||
Let me complicate this: if your body dies and a new body wakes up with your memories, is it *you*?
|
||||
|
||||
Most people in the Settled Reach say yes. The legal system treats the transferred individual as the same person — same rights, same obligations, same identity. Continuity of neural state is continuity of self. This is settled law and settled culture.
|
||||
|
||||
But not everyone agrees. Some philosophical and religious traditions hold that the transferred individual is a copy, not the original — that something essential is lost in the gap. The Guardians of Autonomy (see [Severance Technology](severance-tech.md)) incorporate this skepticism into their broader critique of lattice-mediated identity.
|
||||
|
||||
On Station Sova, this debate is abstract. People here worry about backup costs, not metaphysics. But the philosophical undercurrent exists, and it surfaces in unexpected places — a dock worker who insists on doing dangerous work precisely because their backup is stale and death would mean something, or an NPC who becomes reckless after a recent backup because they feel temporarily invincible.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Death as Information Loss
|
||||
|
||||
From D-008: "Death = information loss, not game over. Memory cell backup system means death costs you everything since your last backup. Lost knowledge, lost relationships, lost deals. The storyteller knows what you've lost and can exploit it."
|
||||
|
||||
**What the player loses on death:**
|
||||
- All knowledge gained since the last backup (facts, entity observations, relationship changes)
|
||||
- Progress on investigation threads
|
||||
- Trust built with NPCs (they remember you, but you don't remember the last conversation)
|
||||
- Spatial knowledge (locations discovered, routes mapped)
|
||||
|
||||
**What the player keeps:**
|
||||
- Everything from before the backup (base knowledge, established relationships, background facts)
|
||||
- Their character's fundamental identity and capabilities
|
||||
- Their lattice tier and equipment (new clone body, same tier lattice installed)
|
||||
|
||||
**What the storyteller gains:** Knowledge of what the player lost. The storyteller (D-005, Rimworld-style AI pacing) knows exactly which threads were severed by death. It can reintroduce the same NPCs, the same situations, the same evidence — but now the player doesn't remember the context. The NPC who was about to betray you? They still remember your conversation. You don't.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Significance
|
||||
|
||||
**The smuggler** has a working-class backup schedule — maybe monthly, maybe less. Death on the job would cost them weeks of operational knowledge, social capital, and relationship maintenance. This makes the smuggler risk-averse in a way that isn't cowardice — it's rational calculation. Getting killed during a run doesn't just end the run; it erases the relationships that make the next run possible.
|
||||
|
||||
**The detective** has institutional backup coverage — regular, reliable, potentially daily. Death costs them investigation progress but not foundational capabilities. This doesn't make the detective reckless, but it shifts their risk calculus. Losing three days of fieldwork is painful; losing their life permanently is not on the table. The detective can afford risks the smuggler can't.
|
||||
|
||||
**The asymmetry:** The smuggler fears death more because it costs them more. The detective fears failure more because their institution is watching. Same mortality technology, different stakes, different behavior.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
**v0.1 Scope:**
|
||||
- Clone transfer is lore and NPC dialogue content, not a playable mechanic
|
||||
- No player death-and-resurrection cycle in the vertical slice
|
||||
- Backup status may appear as NPC behavioral context (cautious vs. reckless correlating to backup freshness)
|
||||
|
||||
**Future Scope (D-008):**
|
||||
- Death triggers knowledge graph rollback to last backup state
|
||||
- Storyteller exploits knowledge gaps created by death
|
||||
- Backup timing becomes a strategic decision (back up frequently = safe but institutional; back up rarely = risky but independent)
|
||||
- Body type selection on transfer (if implemented)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Neural Lattice](neural-lattice.md) — Lattice enables the backup process
|
||||
- D-008: Action pillar (death = information loss, hubris wall)
|
||||
- D-005: Core concept (asymmetric information — death removes information)
|
||||
- D-041: Knowledge graph (backup state = snapshot of knowledge graph)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — death and identity mechanics
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
|
||||
# Founder Gates
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Interstellar Transit Infrastructure
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Interstellar transit (between star systems)
|
||||
**Also Known As:** Horizon Gates
|
||||
**Origin:** Pre-human / alien construction (exact provenance debated)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
Founder Gates — formally Horizon Gates, colloquially "founder gates" — are the interstellar transit network that makes the Settled Reach possible. They connect star systems across light-years of void, enabling the trade, communication, and political structures that bind hundreds of worlds into a functioning civilization.
|
||||
|
||||
Where [span gates](span-gates.md) handle intra-system logistics, founder gates define the shape of interstellar space. Which systems connect to which determines trade routes, political alliances, strategic significance, and cultural exchange. The gate network is the map of the Reach.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Origin and Nature
|
||||
|
||||
Founder gates predate human settlement of the Reach. They were discovered, not built. Their construction is attributed to a precursor civilization — the "Founders" — about whom almost nothing is confirmed. The gates were operational when the first human explorers arrived. They have remained operational since, without observed maintenance or degradation.
|
||||
|
||||
**What is known:**
|
||||
- Gates are paired — each connects exactly two star systems
|
||||
- The connection is stable and persistent (no observed failures in recorded history)
|
||||
- Transit is near-instantaneous
|
||||
- The technology is not understood well enough to replicate or modify
|
||||
- New gates have never been observed appearing or being created
|
||||
|
||||
**What is debated:**
|
||||
- Whether the Founders are extinct, departed, or still present elsewhere
|
||||
- Whether the gate network was designed as a system or accumulated over time
|
||||
- Whether the gates serve purposes beyond transit (communication, observation, something else)
|
||||
- Whether the Interstitium (see below) is an artifact of gate technology or something independent
|
||||
|
||||
These questions are academic in the Krenn System. Workers on Station Sova don't think about Founder Gate metaphysics. They think about freight schedules.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## The Interstitium
|
||||
|
||||
The space between gate endpoints — the transit experience itself — is called the Interstitium. Travelers report it as brief: a moment of disorientation, a sense of distance compressed, then arrival. Some describe it as darkness. Some describe light. Accounts vary in ways that resist standardization.
|
||||
|
||||
**In gameplay terms:** The Interstitium is the experience of crossing between star systems. In the wider Settled Reach, this is a regular occurrence — merchants, travelers, military, diplomats all traverse founder gates. In v0.1, the player never leaves the Krenn System, so founder gates are referenced in dialogue and lore but not directly experienced.
|
||||
|
||||
**Cultural significance:** The Interstitium is one of the few shared experiences that resists technological explanation. In a civilization built on understood technology, the gates are a reminder that not everything is known. Some cultures treat transit as mundane. Others invest it with spiritual significance. The Krenn System's pragmatic culture falls firmly in the "mundane" camp.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## The Gate Network and the Settled Reach
|
||||
|
||||
The Settled Reach exists because founder gates exist. Human civilization spread along the gate network the way ancient civilizations spread along rivers and coastlines — following the infrastructure that was already there.
|
||||
|
||||
**Political implications:**
|
||||
- Systems with many gate connections are politically significant (hub systems)
|
||||
- Systems with few connections are peripheral (frontier systems)
|
||||
- Controlling a gate doesn't mean controlling transit — the gates don't have off switches — but controlling the infrastructure around a gate (stations, docks, inspection points) means controlling what moves through
|
||||
- The Concord Assembly's authority rests partly on its management of gate-adjacent infrastructure
|
||||
|
||||
**The Krenn System** sits at the intersection of three regional trade routes — not because of strategic planning, but because the founder gate network happens to connect Krenn to three directions. This accident of alien infrastructure made Krenn a logistics node.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Founder Gates vs. Span Gates
|
||||
|
||||
| Property | Founder Gates | Span Gates |
|
||||
|----------|--------------|------------|
|
||||
| **Scale** | Interstellar (light-years) | Intra-system (AU) |
|
||||
| **Origin** | Pre-human, alien construction | Human-built technology |
|
||||
| **Understood?** | Partially — operational use, not underlying mechanism | Fully — well-understood engineering |
|
||||
| **Modifiable?** | No — cannot be altered, duplicated, or deactivated | Yes — new span gates can be built, routes adjusted |
|
||||
| **Replicable?** | No | Yes |
|
||||
| **Cultural weight** | Significant — reminder of the unknown | Mundane — just infrastructure |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Significance
|
||||
|
||||
Founder gates are not directly present in the v0.1 gameplay space — the player never transits one. But they shape the world the player inhabits.
|
||||
|
||||
**The smuggler** knows that contraband arrives through the founder gate network from other star systems. The supply chain starts somewhere outside Krenn — Syndic-adjacent manufacturing in another system, routed through founder gates to reach Sova. The smuggler understands their position in a supply chain that spans star systems, even if they've never left Krenn.
|
||||
|
||||
**The detective** knows that the investigation doesn't end at Station Sova. The off-station coordinator (Sabel) operates through the founder gate network. Following the supply chain to its origin means following it through founder gates to other systems. In v0.1, that's beyond scope — but the detective's case file knows the thread doesn't stop here.
|
||||
|
||||
**The larger implication:** Founder gates connect the v0.1 setting to the wider Settled Reach. They're the promise that there's more out there — more systems, more factions, more complications. The ring on Station Sova is a local operation connected to an interstellar supply chain. The story doesn't end at the system boundary.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
**v0.1 Scope:**
|
||||
- Founder gates are referenced in dialogue, monologue, and lore — not traversed
|
||||
- `world.syndic_supply_chain` fact references off-system origins (KnowsDetails: "serial number patterns suggest two sources")
|
||||
- `contraband.supply_chain` fact traces cargo arrival through interstellar routes
|
||||
|
||||
**Future Scope:**
|
||||
- Founder gate traversal is a potential 3D cutscene moment (D-019: camera change to 3D is the dramatic signal)
|
||||
- Multiple star systems as separate maps connected by founder gates (D-008: multiple maps, step through a wormhole, load a new place)
|
||||
- The Interstitium as experiential content
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Span Gates](span-gates.md) — Intra-system transit (human-built)
|
||||
- [Krenn System](../world/krenn-system.md) — Gate network connections for v0.1 setting
|
||||
- D-008: Action pillar (multiple maps connected by wormholes)
|
||||
- D-019: 3D cutscenes for key moments (wormhole traversal)
|
||||
- D-005: Core concept (wormhole network as traversable infrastructure)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — interstellar transit infrastructure
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
|
||||
# Meridian
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Infrastructure Technology
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Station-wide / system-wide information network
|
||||
**Access:** Via [neural lattice](neural-lattice.md) (universal)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Meridian is the ubiquitous information network of the Settled Reach — the data layer that connects people, systems, and institutions. Every neural lattice interfaces with the Meridian. It carries communications, provides location services, streams institutional data, hosts professional toolkits, and mediates most of the information flow in civilized space.
|
||||
|
||||
Think of it as the nervous system of a station. The lattice is the individual's interface; the Meridian is the network everything connects to.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What the Meridian Provides
|
||||
|
||||
**Communication:** Person-to-person messaging, group channels, institutional notifications. The primary way people coordinate across a station. Faster than walking, less personal than conversation.
|
||||
|
||||
**Location Services:** Lattice-to-Meridian pings allow tracking of individuals (with appropriate access). Law enforcement and Commission personnel can query locations of active lattice signatures. Civilians see friend/colleague locations if mutually opted in.
|
||||
|
||||
**Institutional Systems:** Freight manifests, shift schedules, compliance records, Commission databases, station administration — all run through Meridian infrastructure. A freight scheduler's professional toolkit connects to Meridian to pull container data. A Commission liaison queries Meridian for lattice compliance records.
|
||||
|
||||
**Environmental Data:** Station status, atmosphere readings, power grid status, gate cycle schedules. Background information that most people ignore until something goes wrong.
|
||||
|
||||
**Entertainment & Social:** Music feeds, news tickers, social channels. The ambient hum of connected life. Lera's bar runs Meridian music feeds. The news ticker that delivers wow moment #5 runs through Meridian.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Coverage Gradients
|
||||
|
||||
Meridian coverage is not uniform. This is load-bearing for gameplay.
|
||||
|
||||
| Zone | Coverage Level | What Works | What Doesn't |
|
||||
|------|---------------|------------|--------------|
|
||||
| **Logistics Hub** | Comprehensive | Real-time tracking, manifest systems, full surveillance, professional toolkits | Nothing — full coverage |
|
||||
| **Bar District** | Strong | Standard social monitoring, Meridian feeds, communication, music | Fine-grained tracking may lag |
|
||||
| **Residential Pods** | Standard | Personal lattice connectivity, messaging, basic services | Professional toolkits may not stream smoothly |
|
||||
| **Maintenance Corridors** | Degraded | Intermittent connectivity, delayed messages, patchy location data | Real-time tracking unreliable, professional toolkits offline |
|
||||
| **Between-Wall Spaces** | Minimal or Absent | Little to nothing | Everything — effectively off-grid |
|
||||
|
||||
**Why the gaps exist:** Station Sova is 140 years old with layered construction. Meridian infrastructure was installed for the station as designed, not as it was subsequently retrofitted. Older sections between construction eras were never properly wired. Maintenance corridors have basic repeaters that degrade over time and get low priority for replacement.
|
||||
|
||||
**Why the gaps matter:** The smuggling ring operates in Meridian dead spots. Corridor B-7 has zero Meridian signal — no tracking, no surveillance, no logged communications. When NPCs need to discuss something they don't want recorded, they go for a walk to the "quiet spots." The ring's entire operational infrastructure depends on these coverage gaps.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Meridian and Surveillance
|
||||
|
||||
The Meridian is, among other things, a surveillance system. Not a secret one — everyone knows their lattice pings their location, that communications are logged, that institutional queries leave traces. This is accepted infrastructure, not conspiracy.
|
||||
|
||||
**What the Meridian records:**
|
||||
- Lattice location pings (periodic, not continuous — enough for general tracking, not step-by-step)
|
||||
- Communication metadata (who contacted whom, when, duration — not content for civilian channels)
|
||||
- Institutional system access logs (who queried what manifest, who accessed what database)
|
||||
- Environmental sensor data (motion, temperature, atmosphere — infrastructure monitoring, not surveillance per se)
|
||||
|
||||
**What the Meridian doesn't record:**
|
||||
- Conversations held in person (no ambient audio capture in civilian areas)
|
||||
- Physical movements in degraded coverage zones
|
||||
- Lattice-to-lattice direct connections (peer-to-peer, off-Meridian, short range)
|
||||
|
||||
**The surveillance paradox:** The Meridian makes institutional oversight possible but not automatic. The data exists — but someone has to look at it, query it, cross-reference it. The detective can query Meridian logs to track NPC movements. But the detective has to know what to look for. The data doesn't investigate itself.
|
||||
|
||||
This is why the detective's Analytical lattice matters: it automates some of the cross-referencing that would otherwise require manual queries. And it's why [Severance technology](severance-tech.md) is so threatening to institutions — it creates zones where the Meridian's passive data collection simply stops working.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Meridian and the Three-Range Sound Model
|
||||
|
||||
The Meridian connects to the game's three-range information model:
|
||||
|
||||
| Range | Meridian Role | Trust Level |
|
||||
|-------|--------------|-------------|
|
||||
| **Close** (in/near LOS) | Not involved — raw sensory data | High — your own perception |
|
||||
| **Medium** (outside LOS, nearby) | Partial — lattice processes ambient data | Moderate — sensory impression augmented by lattice |
|
||||
| **Long** (across map) | Primary — insert notifications, location alerts, text messages | Low — network-dependent, spoofable, manipulable |
|
||||
|
||||
Long-range information flows through the Meridian. This means it can be intercepted, delayed, falsified, or blocked. An NPC sending you a tip via Meridian messaging is using a channel that someone else could monitor. A location ping could be masked. A news ticker update runs through Meridian infrastructure that has its own editorial filters.
|
||||
|
||||
The further information travels from direct perception, the more the Meridian mediates it — and the less you should trust it.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Significance
|
||||
|
||||
**The smuggler** uses the Meridian the way everyone does — messaging, navigation, checking shift schedules. They know where the dead spots are from years of living here. Meridian gaps aren't mysterious to the smuggler; they're just the parts of the station where your messages don't send and you learn to have conversations in person. The smuggler navigates Meridian coverage intuitively.
|
||||
|
||||
**The detective** uses the Meridian as an investigative instrument. Querying location logs, cross-referencing communication metadata, mapping coverage gaps as potential operational infrastructure. The detective sees dead spots as evidence — if someone consistently moves through degraded-coverage zones, that's a data point. The Meridian is a forensic tool, not just an amenity.
|
||||
|
||||
**The tension:** The smuggler knows the social geography of Meridian coverage — who goes where and why. The detective knows the data geography — what's logged and what's not. Both are right. Neither has the complete map.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge Graph:**
|
||||
- `location.surveillance_gaps` — Meridian coverage gaps as discoverable knowledge (detective: KnowsOf when augmented lattice detects gaps; smuggler: KnowsDetails from operational experience)
|
||||
- `location.corridor_b7_restricted` — Direct confidence gates monologue: "Zero Meridian signal in this section"
|
||||
|
||||
**Perception System:**
|
||||
- Meridian feeds are one input to the insert minimap (D-013)
|
||||
- Camera feed perception mode (D-017, Enhanced tier+) accesses Meridian-connected surveillance
|
||||
- Meridian tracking mode (D-017, Enhanced tier+) queries lattice location pings
|
||||
- Coverage degradation affects which perception modes function in a given area
|
||||
|
||||
**Information Boundaries:**
|
||||
- Meridian coverage level determines what long-range information is available in a zone
|
||||
- Dead spots are zones where information boundary queries return nothing — even for characters with Enhanced lattices
|
||||
- This maps directly to D-010's principle: information boundaries are universal
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Neural Lattice](neural-lattice.md) — Individual interface to the Meridian
|
||||
- [Severance Technology](severance-tech.md) — Technology that blocks Meridian functions
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](../world/sova-transit-district.md) — Coverage map for v0.1 setting
|
||||
- [Station Sova](../world/station-sova.md) — Station-wide infrastructure context
|
||||
- D-017: Perception modes (camera feeds, tracking via Meridian)
|
||||
- D-018: Three-range sound model (long range = Meridian-mediated)
|
||||
- D-013: Diegetic insert navigation (Meridian-fed waypoints)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — station-wide information infrastructure
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
|
||||
# Neural Lattice
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Core Technology
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Prevalence:** Near-universal in the Settled Reach
|
||||
**Regulatory Body:** Lattice Commission (Concord Assembly authority)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The neural lattice is an integrated biotech implant — a web of processing nodes threaded through the human nervous system. It is the foundational technology of life in the Settled Reach. The lattice mediates how people perceive, communicate, work, and navigate. It connects its bearer to the [Meridian](meridian.md) information network, enables perception overlays, provides professional capability enhancement, and serves as the interface for nearly all institutional systems.
|
||||
|
||||
Almost everyone in the Reach has one. The question isn't whether you have a lattice — it's what tier you can afford, who certified it, and what it lets you see that others can't.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Lattice Tiers
|
||||
|
||||
Neural lattices exist on a capability spectrum. Tier determines what perception modes a character can access, what professional functions they can perform, and how they interact with institutional systems.
|
||||
|
||||
| Tier | Capability | Perception Access | Typical Bearers |
|
||||
|------|-----------|-------------------|-----------------|
|
||||
| **Baseline** | Standard sensory processing, Meridian access, basic navigation overlay | Natural vision + carried gear only | Most civilians, laborers, service workers |
|
||||
| **Enhanced** | Insert-based processing modes, camera feed access, audio analysis, professional toolkits | Camera feeds, Meridian tracking, audio analysis | Skilled professionals, technicians, institutional staff |
|
||||
| **Analytical** | Advanced pattern recognition, multi-feed synthesis, forensic capability | All Enhanced modes + anomaly flagging, manifest cross-referencing | Investigators, Commission liaisons, senior institutional roles |
|
||||
| **Higher** | Biononic integration, enhanced spectrum perception, passive environmental scanning | Thermal imaging through walls, extended spectrum, passive scanning | Military, intelligence operatives, ascended individuals |
|
||||
|
||||
**Note:** "ANA-touched" capability (pattern recognition across all feeds, predictive awareness) exists in the wider Reach but is not present in the v0.1 setting. Station Sova's population is Baseline through Analytical.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## How the Lattice Works
|
||||
|
||||
The lattice is not a computer strapped to the brain. It's a distributed network of biocompatible nodes integrated throughout the nervous system during an implantation procedure, typically performed in early adulthood. The nodes communicate with each other and with external systems through the [Meridian](meridian.md) network.
|
||||
|
||||
**Core functions:**
|
||||
- **Sensory augmentation:** Overlays additional information onto natural perception — navigation markers, identity tags, environmental data
|
||||
- **Meridian interface:** Provides access to the station-wide information network, including communication, data queries, and institutional systems
|
||||
- **Professional toolkits:** Specialized processing packages for specific occupations (freight scheduling, medical diagnostics, forensic analysis, engineering oversight)
|
||||
- **Perception modes:** Higher-tier lattices enable alternate ways of sensing the environment (see Perception Modes below)
|
||||
|
||||
**What the lattice doesn't do:**
|
||||
- It doesn't think for you. It processes and presents; you interpret and decide.
|
||||
- It doesn't record everything. Memory remains organic. The lattice augments perception in the moment but doesn't create a perfect archive.
|
||||
- It doesn't make you superhuman. Even an Analytical-tier lattice can be wrong, can be fed bad data, can miss what's happening behind a wall.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Perception Modes
|
||||
|
||||
The lattice enables multiple perception modes — different ways of observing the world, each revealing different information with different trust and quality tradeoffs. What you see depends on what your lattice can process.
|
||||
|
||||
### Baseline Modes (everyone)
|
||||
- **Natural vision:** Detail, color, identity recognition. Blocked by walls. The default.
|
||||
- **Navigation overlay:** Meridian-fed waypoints, location markers, basic environmental data. Only shows what you've learned or been told — not omniscient.
|
||||
|
||||
### Enhanced Modes (Enhanced tier+)
|
||||
- **Camera feeds:** Remote visual from fixed positions. Only where cameras exist. Feed can be spoofed or looped. Requires institutional access or an exploit.
|
||||
- **Meridian tracking:** Location pings of known individuals via their active lattice signatures. Only tracks active inserts. Can be masked. Typically law enforcement or intelligence access.
|
||||
- **Audio analysis:** Sound signatures processed into directional, classified data. No visual component. Trainable — improves with use.
|
||||
|
||||
### Analytical Modes (Analytical tier+)
|
||||
- **Anomaly flagging:** The lattice cross-references observed data against expected patterns and highlights discrepancies. The detective's lattice flags manifest weight mismatches. The smuggler's doesn't.
|
||||
- **Multi-feed synthesis:** Combines multiple perception inputs into a unified analysis. Camera + audio + tracking data merged into a single picture.
|
||||
|
||||
### Higher Modes (not in v0.1)
|
||||
- **Thermal imaging:** Heat signatures through walls. Body count without identity.
|
||||
- **Extended spectrum:** Perception beyond visible light.
|
||||
- **Passive scanning:** Environmental data without active queries — the lattice listens to everything.
|
||||
|
||||
**Key design principle:** Each perception mode is a query against the information boundary system. The engine doesn't distinguish between eyes, thermal sensors, and camera feeds — all are "given this sensor, what state is visible?" This means perception modes are playstyle selectors: a low-tier character sees a survival horror game; a high-tier character drowns in data.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Lattice and Identity
|
||||
|
||||
Your lattice tier shapes how others treat you and how you experience the world.
|
||||
|
||||
**A Baseline dock worker** on Station Sova sees the freight bay with their eyes, checks manifests on a wall terminal, and navigates by memory and habit. Their lattice provides Meridian messaging, basic navigation, and not much else. They know what they see and what people tell them.
|
||||
|
||||
**An Enhanced freight scheduler** has professional toolkit overlays — container tracking, schedule management, weight-to-volume cross-checks. They see the same freight bay but with a data layer on top. Discrepancies that a Baseline worker wouldn't notice become visible. This is why Maret Korr, processing manifests, can see the weight mismatches but can't unsee them.
|
||||
|
||||
**An Analytical investigator** arriving at the same freight bay sees a crime scene. The lattice flags anomalies automatically, cross-references NPC behavioral patterns against baseline data, and processes audio for stress markers. The detective doesn't just notice things — their lattice tells them what to notice.
|
||||
|
||||
The honest truth is that lattice tier creates an information class system. People with better lattices see more of reality. People with Baseline lattices see only what's in front of them. This asymmetry is the engine of both gameplay and social tension.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Commission Regulation
|
||||
|
||||
The Lattice Commission, operating under Concord Assembly authority, regulates all lattice technology in the Settled Reach.
|
||||
|
||||
**What the Commission controls:**
|
||||
- **Certification:** All lattice components must be Commission-certified before implantation or upgrade. Certification is expensive and slow.
|
||||
- **Tier authorization:** Enhanced and Analytical tiers require institutional sponsorship or professional licensing. You can't just buy a better lattice — someone must vouch for your need.
|
||||
- **Compliance inspections:** Quarterly sweeps check lattice signatures against certified configurations. Unauthorized modifications are flagged.
|
||||
- **Violation categories:**
|
||||
- Category 1: Administrative (expired certification, paperwork gaps) — fine
|
||||
- Category 2: Unauthorized upgrade (unapproved components, tier mismatch) — fine + mandatory recertification
|
||||
- Category 3: Unauthorized modification (aftermarket components, bypassed safety protocols) — fine + potential lattice restriction
|
||||
|
||||
**The regulatory gap:** Commission certification costs more than most workers can afford. Enhanced-tier upgrades through legitimate channels require 6-12 month approval cycles and institutional sponsorship. Medical-grade replacements for degrading lattices follow the same bureaucratic timeline, even when the bearer's lattice is failing.
|
||||
|
||||
This creates the market that the smuggling ring serves: people who need better lattice capability than Commission-regulated channels will provide, on a timeline their bodies and careers can't afford to wait for.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Lattice Degradation
|
||||
|
||||
Neural lattices are biotech. They age. Nodes fail. Processing degrades. Over years and decades, a lattice that once ran cleanly begins to slow, to drop data, to miss what it once caught.
|
||||
|
||||
**Degradation effects:**
|
||||
- Perception overlays lag or flicker
|
||||
- Meridian connectivity becomes intermittent
|
||||
- Professional toolkits produce errors or fail to load
|
||||
- In severe cases, sensory processing itself degrades — headaches, perception artifacts, disorientation
|
||||
|
||||
**Replacement through legitimate channels** requires Commission certification, institutional medical authorization, and a 6-12 month approval cycle. Cost is prohibitive for most workers.
|
||||
|
||||
**Replacement through the ring** uses [medical-grade components](../contraband/medical-grade-replacements.md) diverted from Syndic supply chains. Same quality. No certification paperwork. Available now, not in six months.
|
||||
|
||||
This is why the ring has community support. They're not just smuggling luxury goods — they're providing healthcare that the legitimate system gates behind bureaucracy and institutional access.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Significance
|
||||
|
||||
The neural lattice is where the game's two playable characters diverge most sharply in their experience of the same world.
|
||||
|
||||
**The smuggler** has a Baseline lattice — standard for a dock worker. They see the district through their own eyes, rely on social knowledge and personal experience, navigate by familiarity. Their lattice is a tool for work and communication, nothing more. When the smuggler handles contraband lattice components, they're handling something that could improve their own capabilities — or the capabilities of people they care about.
|
||||
|
||||
**The detective** has an Analytical lattice — institutional issue, professional grade. They see the same district through a data overlay that flags anomalies, cross-references patterns, and processes behavioral cues. The lattice is an investigative instrument. It reveals things the smuggler's lattice can't see — but it also creates a false sense of omniscience. The detective's lattice can be fed bad data, can miss social context it wasn't trained on, can flag a nervous person as suspicious when they're just having a bad day.
|
||||
|
||||
**The asymmetry:** The detective sees more data. The smuggler understands more context. Neither has the complete picture. The lattice doesn't create objectivity — it creates a different kind of subjectivity.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge Graph:**
|
||||
- `world.commission_regulations` — Commission regulatory framework (KnowsOf: detective knows from briefing; KnowsDetails: smuggler understands why black market exists)
|
||||
- `contraband.lattice_components` — Contraband identification (detective needs KnowsOf to interpret manifest discrepancies)
|
||||
|
||||
**Perception System (D-017):**
|
||||
- Lattice tier determines which perception modes are available to a character
|
||||
- Each mode is an observer query against the information boundary system
|
||||
- v0.1 implements: natural vision cone + basic audio indicators + insert minimap
|
||||
- Additional modes (camera feeds, tracking, thermal) are milestone features
|
||||
|
||||
**Entity Attributes:**
|
||||
- `faction` attribute on entities determines institutional lattice access
|
||||
- `behavior_flags` can include `lattice_checking` (nervous behavior indicator)
|
||||
- Detective's analytical lattice enables `tell_observed` and `contradiction_flagged` attributes
|
||||
|
||||
**Contraband Connection:**
|
||||
- The ring smuggles [unlicensed lattice components](../contraband/lattice-components.md) — aftermarket mods bypassing certification
|
||||
- [Medical-grade replacements](../contraband/medical-grade-replacements.md) serve people with degrading lattices
|
||||
- A smuggled upgrade could theoretically change what the player perceives — lattice tier is not just lore, it's mechanical
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Meridian](meridian.md) — Information network accessed through the lattice
|
||||
- [Lattice Components (Contraband)](../contraband/lattice-components.md) — Unlicensed aftermarket modifications
|
||||
- [Medical-Grade Replacements (Contraband)](../contraband/medical-grade-replacements.md) — Diverted healthcare components
|
||||
- [Severance Technology](severance-tech.md) — Counter-surveillance tech that blocks lattice functions
|
||||
- [Station Sova](../world/station-sova.md) — Commission presence and enforcement gaps
|
||||
- D-017: Perception modes as character-build system
|
||||
- D-013: Diegetic insert/POI navigation system
|
||||
- D-037: Contraband specification
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — foundational technology of The Settled Reach
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
|
||||
# Severance Technology
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Counter-Surveillance Technology
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical (contraband)
|
||||
**Legality:** Illegal across most of the Settled Reach
|
||||
**Associated Faction:** Guardians of Autonomy
|
||||
**Threat Level:** Institutional — threatens the information infrastructure itself
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
Severance technology is a class of devices and techniques that block, disrupt, or spoof [neural lattice](neural-lattice.md) functions and [Meridian](meridian.md) connectivity. Where the lattice connects people to institutions, Severance tech disconnects them. Where the Meridian provides surveillance and tracking, Severance creates blind spots.
|
||||
|
||||
It is illegal because it doesn't just break rules — it breaks the infrastructure that makes rules enforceable.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## What Severance Tech Does
|
||||
|
||||
**Lattice disruption:** Temporarily blocks or degrades neural lattice functions in a localized area. People in the affected zone lose perception overlays, Meridian access, professional toolkits, and tracking signatures. Enhanced and Analytical lattice users lose the most — they're accustomed to data layers that simply vanish.
|
||||
|
||||
**Meridian blackout:** Creates zones where Meridian infrastructure cannot maintain coverage — not because of aging hardware (like Corridor B-7's natural dead spots), but because active countermeasures are jamming the signal. Severance-created blackouts are more complete and more controllable than infrastructure gaps.
|
||||
|
||||
**Signature masking:** Spoofs or suppresses individual lattice signatures, making a person invisible to Meridian tracking. The individual still has a functioning lattice — they just don't appear on anyone else's queries. They become a ghost in the system.
|
||||
|
||||
**The distinction from natural dead spots:** Station Sova already has Meridian coverage gaps — degraded corridors, between-wall spaces, aging infrastructure. These are passive, structural, and known. Severance tech creates *active* blackouts that can be deployed anywhere, controlled precisely, and removed when no longer needed. It's the difference between a broken streetlight and someone who can turn off streetlights at will.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Why It's Dangerous
|
||||
|
||||
The Settled Reach runs on information infrastructure. The Concord Assembly governs through Meridian-mediated systems. The Commission regulates through lattice compliance monitoring. Law enforcement investigates through Meridian data queries. Commerce tracks through lattice-verified transactions.
|
||||
|
||||
Severance technology threatens all of this simultaneously.
|
||||
|
||||
**For law enforcement:** If suspects can suppress their lattice signatures, location tracking becomes unreliable. If Meridian blackouts can be deployed at will, surveillance infrastructure becomes useless. The detective's entire investigative toolkit — Analytical lattice, manifest cross-referencing, behavioral flagging — depends on a functioning information environment. Severance doesn't just hide evidence; it destroys the detective's ability to gather evidence at all.
|
||||
|
||||
**For institutions:** Lattice compliance is the Commission's regulatory mechanism. If people can mask their lattice configurations, unauthorized modifications become undetectable. The Commission's authority rests on the ability to inspect — Severance removes that ability.
|
||||
|
||||
**For governance:** The Concord Assembly's reach depends on Meridian infrastructure connecting system administrators to central authority. Systematic Severance deployment could fragment the information network that holds the Reach together.
|
||||
|
||||
This is why Severance tech carries the heaviest penalties in the Settled Reach. Unlicensed lattice components are a Category 3 violation — fines and potential lattice restriction. Severance technology is something else entirely: possession suggests intent to undermine institutional infrastructure. It attracts intelligence attention, not just regulatory enforcement.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## The Guardians of Autonomy
|
||||
|
||||
Severance technology is associated with the Guardians of Autonomy — a decentralized political movement that opposes the lattice-mediated information architecture of the Settled Reach.
|
||||
|
||||
**Guardian position:** The lattice-Meridian system is a surveillance architecture disguised as infrastructure. People have traded autonomy for convenience. The Commission doesn't just regulate technology — it regulates perception itself. Every lattice bearer is a node in a monitoring network they didn't consent to. Severance technology is the tool of opt-out.
|
||||
|
||||
**Counter-position:** The lattice-Meridian system enables civilization to function across interstellar distances. Without shared information infrastructure, the Reach fragments. The Guardians confuse surveillance with coordination. Severance doesn't liberate — it isolates.
|
||||
|
||||
**The honest truth:** Both positions have merit, and the game doesn't resolve the tension. The Guardians are not wrong that the lattice system is a surveillance architecture. The institutions are not wrong that the lattice system is critical infrastructure. Whether "surveillance" and "critical infrastructure" can be the same thing without being a problem is the political question that runs beneath the surface of the entire game.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Severance in the v0.1 Setting
|
||||
|
||||
Severance technology appears in v0.1 as the ring's scariest cargo — the thing that elevates a local smuggling operation from grey-market commerce to something with political implications.
|
||||
|
||||
**What the ring carries:**
|
||||
- Primary contraband: [unlicensed lattice components](../contraband/lattice-components.md) (aftermarket mods)
|
||||
- Secondary contraband: [medical-grade replacements](../contraband/medical-grade-replacements.md) (healthcare)
|
||||
- Tertiary contraband: [Severance equipment](../contraband/severance-equipment.md) (counter-surveillance tech)
|
||||
|
||||
**The escalation:** Lattice components are commercially motivated — people want better capability. Medical-grade replacements are morally sympathetic — people need healthcare. Severance equipment is politically charged — someone wants to undermine institutional oversight. The progression from "grey-market commerce" to "political threat" is the escalation that makes the ring's cargo portfolio increasingly dangerous.
|
||||
|
||||
**The smuggler's realization:** Most ring members handle lattice components and don't think too hard about the sealed containers Nils won't discuss. The discovery that the ring is also moving Severance equipment is the moment the smuggler questions how deep the operation goes and who's really behind it. This is the contamination seed — the thing that connects a local smuggling ring to something larger.
|
||||
|
||||
**The detective's discovery:** Finding Severance equipment in the ring's inventory transforms the case. Manifest fraud is a Category 3 violation. Severance distribution attracts intelligence-level attention. The detective's case changes from "local contraband" to "potential threat to institutional infrastructure" — and with it, the stakes of every decision they make.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Significance
|
||||
|
||||
**The smuggler** initially doesn't know Severance tech is in the ring's cargo. When they discover it (through the sealed containers, through Nils's evasion, through the supply chain traces), the question shifts from "am I comfortable with what we're doing?" to "am I comfortable with what we're involved in?" Lattice components serve the community. Severance equipment serves... whom? The Guardians? Someone else? The smuggler's trust in the ring's purpose begins to crack.
|
||||
|
||||
**The detective** recognizes Severance technology as an intelligence-level threat. Its presence in a small station's smuggling ring raises questions that extend beyond the district: Who is supplying it? Through what channels? Is this distribution network or is it targeted deployment? The detective's institutional training tells them to escalate. Their personal investment in the case tells them to keep pulling the thread. This tension — follow procedure or follow curiosity — is the detective's version of the smuggler's trust crisis.
|
||||
|
||||
**The convergence:** Both characters, from opposite sides, arrive at the same unsettling realization: the ring is connected to something bigger than anyone on Station Sova understands. Severance technology is the thread that, if pulled, leads beyond the district, beyond the station, beyond the system.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge Graph:**
|
||||
- `contraband.severance_tech` — Confidence progression:
|
||||
- Suspects: "Sealed containers Nils won't discuss. Heavier than lattice components."
|
||||
- KnowsOf: "Severance equipment. Counter-surveillance tech. Illegal across most of the Reach."
|
||||
- KnowsDetails: "Guardians of Autonomy supply chain. This isn't local — it's connected to something bigger."
|
||||
- Serves as contamination seed for storyteller expansion beyond v0.1
|
||||
|
||||
**Narrative Function:**
|
||||
- Escalation mechanism: elevates the ring's threat profile from commercial to political
|
||||
- Trust fracture: triggers the smuggler's questioning of the ring's true purpose
|
||||
- Case transformation: changes the detective's investigation from local to systemic
|
||||
- Expansion hook: connects v0.1 content to the wider Settled Reach
|
||||
|
||||
**v0.1 Scope:**
|
||||
- Referenced in dialogue, monologue, and investigation — not directly deployed as a gameplay mechanic
|
||||
- Severance-created blackouts are not present; only natural Meridian dead spots
|
||||
- The *existence* of Severance tech in the cargo is the narrative payload, not its use
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Neural Lattice](neural-lattice.md) — The technology Severance disrupts
|
||||
- [Meridian](meridian.md) — The network Severance blocks
|
||||
- [Severance Equipment (Contraband)](../contraband/severance-equipment.md) — The physical cargo profile
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](../world/sova-transit-district.md) — Natural Meridian dead spots vs. Severance blackouts
|
||||
- D-017: Perception modes (Severance disables lattice-dependent modes)
|
||||
- D-037: Contraband specification (Severance as tertiary contraband)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — counter-surveillance technology and political threat
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
|
||||
# Span Gates
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Transit Infrastructure
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Scope:** Intra-system transit (within a star system)
|
||||
**Scale:** Connects stations, planets, orbital platforms within a single system
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
Span gates are the intra-system transit backbone of the Settled Reach. They connect locations within a single star system — station to planet, station to orbital platform, orbital to orbital. Where [Founder Gates](founder-gates.md) bridge the void between stars, span gates handle the daily logistics of moving people and cargo within a system.
|
||||
|
||||
In the Krenn System, span gates are infrastructure the way roads are infrastructure: essential, taken for granted, and noticed only when they stop working.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## How Span Gates Work
|
||||
|
||||
Span gates create stable transit corridors between two fixed endpoints within a star system. Transit is near-instantaneous — step through one side, emerge at the other. The technology is well-understood, reliable, and old. No one in the Settled Reach remembers a time before span gates.
|
||||
|
||||
**Gate cycles:** Gates operate on predictable cycles. During peak shifts on Station Sova, the Sova-to-Krenn Prime gate cycles every 4-6 minutes. Off-peak, every 12-15 minutes. Each cycle moves a fixed volume of cargo and/or passengers.
|
||||
|
||||
**The hum:** Span gates produce a low-frequency vibration — a bass hum that varies in pitch with transit volume. On Station Sova, the gate hum is omnipresent. It's the ambient soundscape of the district. Workers tune it out. New arrivals notice it immediately. The hum rises during peak freight cycles and drops to a low throb during night shifts.
|
||||
|
||||
This sound is the first thing the player hears on arrival (wow moment #1). It never stops.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Krenn System Gate Network
|
||||
|
||||
| Route | Type | Primary Use | Cycle Time |
|
||||
|-------|------|-------------|------------|
|
||||
| Station Sova <-> Krenn Prime Surface Depot | Freight primary | Cargo transfer, surface-to-station logistics | 4-6 min (peak), 12-15 min (off-peak) |
|
||||
| Station Sova <-> Orbital Manufacturing Platform 3 | Component transfer | Parts and assemblies for light manufacturing | Variable |
|
||||
| Additional intra-system routes | Various | System commerce and passenger transit | Various |
|
||||
|
||||
**Transit volume:** High freight, moderate passenger. Krenn's span gates run continuously during standard shifts. The system's prosperity comes from moving things between places — span gates are the mechanism.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Span Gates and Smuggling
|
||||
|
||||
Span gates are chokepoints, and chokepoints create opportunities.
|
||||
|
||||
**Legitimate cargo** arrives through the Sova gate on scheduled freight cycles. Manifests are filed in advance. Containers are logged. Inspectors (like Torek Lintar) check cargo against documentation.
|
||||
|
||||
**Contraband** arrives mixed with legitimate freight. The volume of cargo moving through a busy span gate makes item-by-item inspection impractical. Inspectors work from manifests and spot-checks. The ring exploits this: contraband lattice components packed into containers whose manifests show "standard components" with doctored weight data.
|
||||
|
||||
**The timing window:** Gate cycles create predictable surges of activity. During a peak-cycle arrival, dozens of containers come through simultaneously. Processing bottlenecks force prioritization. Inspectors focus on flagged shipments. Unflagged containers — the ones with carefully doctored manifests — move through with minimal scrutiny.
|
||||
|
||||
This is why Voss's shift scheduling matters: he creates understaffing during high-volume gate cycles, widening the inspection gap that the ring depends on.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Atmosphere and Sensory Detail
|
||||
|
||||
**Sound:** The gate hum is the district's heartbeat.
|
||||
- Peak shifts: bass vibration rises, felt in the floor grating, audible through walls
|
||||
- Off-peak: low throb, almost subliminal, the sound of infrastructure idling
|
||||
- Post-transit: brief ozone scent that fades quickly, a faint crackle of dissipating energy
|
||||
|
||||
**Visual:** Span gates on Station Sova are industrial installations — large, utilitarian, built into the freight bay architecture. No decorative elements. Cargo conveyors feed directly to and from the gate aperture. Safety markings. Warning lights during transit cycles. Workers move around gates with practiced indifference.
|
||||
|
||||
**The feeling:** Span gates represent the mundane miracle of the Settled Reach. Instantaneous transit between a station and a planet's surface — and it's boring. It's commuting. The extraordinary made ordinary through 180 years of daily use.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Dual-Lens Significance
|
||||
|
||||
**The smuggler** sees span gates as the entry point for their livelihood. Cargo arrives through the gate. The timing of gate cycles is their operational clock. They know which cycles run heavy, which inspectors work which shifts, which containers are flagged and which slide through. The gate is a workplace fixture — familiar, predictable, exploitable.
|
||||
|
||||
**The detective** sees span gates as the supply chain entry point. Contraband enters through the gate. The detective queries manifest logs, cross-references arrival times with container processing delays, maps the gap between gate-logged weight and inspector-recorded weight. The gate is an evidence source — every transit cycle generates data that an Analytical lattice can mine.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
**Sound System (D-018, D-038):**
|
||||
- `amb_station_base.ogg` includes span gate vibration as primary ambient element
|
||||
- Gate hum pitch varies with transit volume (game-time driven)
|
||||
- Post-transit ozone is a sensory detail for monologue, not a separate audio asset in v0.1
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge Graph:**
|
||||
- `world.shift_schedule` — Gate cycle timing connects to shift operations (smuggler: KnowsDetails; detective: learns through observation)
|
||||
- `investigation.cargo_anomaly` — Container processing delays traced from gate arrival timestamps
|
||||
|
||||
**Spatial Design:**
|
||||
- Span gate is a fixed location on the freight bay level (Level 1) of Sova Transit District
|
||||
- High-traffic chokepoint during shift transitions
|
||||
- Sightlines from the observation gallery (Level 3) to the gate area enable surveillance gameplay
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Founder Gates](founder-gates.md) — Interstellar gates connecting star systems
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](../world/sova-transit-district.md) — Gate location in v0.1 setting
|
||||
- [Krenn System](../world/krenn-system.md) — System-wide gate network
|
||||
- [Station Sova](../world/station-sova.md) — Gate infrastructure details
|
||||
- D-036: Sova Transit District setting (gate cycles, freight logistics)
|
||||
- D-038: Audio scope (station ambient includes gate hum)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — intra-system transit infrastructure
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
|
||||
# Krenn System
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Star System
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Classification:** Mid-Reach
|
||||
**Star Type:** G3V (slightly cooler than Sol)
|
||||
**Settlement Age:** ~180 years
|
||||
**Population:** ~2.4 million (system-wide)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
The Krenn System is a mid-Reach G3V system with a working-class, pragmatic culture. It's neither frontier (too established) nor core (not politically significant). Krenn is logistics infrastructure — a place things move through, not toward. People come to Krenn for steady work, not opportunity.
|
||||
|
||||
This is the first concrete, named star system in The Settled Reach. Everything about Krenn sets precedent for future systems.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Stellar Profile
|
||||
|
||||
- **Primary Star:** G3V, slightly cooler than Sol
|
||||
- **Natural Light:** Faintly amber quality compared to Earth-standard white
|
||||
- **Planetary Bodies:** 3 terrestrial, 2 gas giants, 1 asteroid belt (mined out decades ago)
|
||||
- **Habitable Worlds:** 1 (Krenn Prime, population ~2 million)
|
||||
- **Stations:** 7 major, including Station Sova
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Economy
|
||||
|
||||
**Economic Base:** Freight logistics, light manufacturing, gate transit services
|
||||
|
||||
Krenn is a supply chain node. The system's prosperity comes from moving things between other places. The gate connections place Krenn at the intersection of three regional trade routes. Manufacturing is mostly component assembly — nothing starts here, nothing finishes here, but many things pass through.
|
||||
|
||||
**Wage Profile:** Steady but modest. The cost of living on Krenn stations is slightly too high for comfort on a single logistics salary. This creates permanent mild financial pressure — not poverty, but awareness of what an extra income stream could provide.
|
||||
|
||||
This economic reality generates the conditions for grey-market activity: people who are employed, housed, fed, but tight enough that smuggling looks like rational risk-taking rather than desperation.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Governance & Institutional Presence
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary Governance:** Concord Assembly (Reach-wide legislature)
|
||||
**Local Authority:** Krenn System Administrator (appointed, bureaucratic)
|
||||
**Lattice Commission Presence:** Moderate. Rotating field liaisons, not permanent enforcement.
|
||||
**Meridian Coverage:** Standard. Comprehensive in populated areas, degraded in older infrastructure.
|
||||
|
||||
The Commission's presence in Krenn is intermittent by design: established enough not to be frontier, not important enough for permanent enforcement installations. This gap — the lag between oversight visits — is what makes small-scale smuggling viable.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Culture & Social Norms
|
||||
|
||||
**Cultural Profile:** Working-class pragmatic. Values reliability, minding your business, and not asking questions that aren't your concern.
|
||||
|
||||
**Naming Conventions:** Compact, consonant-heavy, first-name-primary in social contexts. Surnames used formally or with authority figures. Examples: Kael, Voss, Lera, Torek, Drin, Maret, Hael, Sera, Nils, Kosse, Naia.
|
||||
|
||||
**Social Texture:**
|
||||
- First names signal peer relationships; surname usage signals hierarchy
|
||||
- Direct speech preferred over elaborate courtesy
|
||||
- Informal labor solidarity — covering for colleagues is expected
|
||||
- Institutional authority (Commission, Assembly) viewed as external, not integrated into daily life
|
||||
|
||||
**Greeting Customs:**
|
||||
- Peers: first name + nod or casual gesture
|
||||
- Authority: title + surname ("Supervisor Voss")
|
||||
- Strangers: brief eye contact, no greeting (reserved culture)
|
||||
|
||||
**Trust Dynamics:** Trust is earned through shared risk or long association. New arrivals are treated with polite distance until they prove reliable. This creates natural resistance to outside investigators.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Gate Network Connections
|
||||
|
||||
**Horizon Gates (Interstellar):**
|
||||
- Connection to [mid-core system, TBD]
|
||||
- Connection to [frontier system, TBD]
|
||||
|
||||
**Span Gates (Intra-System):**
|
||||
- Station Sova <-> Krenn Prime Surface Depot
|
||||
- Station Sova <-> Orbital Manufacturing Platform 3
|
||||
- [Additional connections as defined]
|
||||
|
||||
**Transit Volume:** High freight, moderate passenger. Krenn's gates run continuously during standard shifts. Gate hum is the district's ambient soundscape.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Key Locations in System
|
||||
|
||||
- **Krenn Prime:** Primary world, 2M population, light manufacturing
|
||||
- **Station Sova:** Logistics hub, 12k population, freight-primary ([see Station Sova profile](station-sova.md))
|
||||
- **Orbital Manufacturing Platforms:** 3 major, component assembly
|
||||
- **Belt Facilities:** Depleted mining infrastructure, some repurposed for storage
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Worldbuilding Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Why Krenn Works for v0.1:**
|
||||
- Economically grounded: the smuggling makes rational sense
|
||||
- Culturally distinct: the naming and social norms feel specific
|
||||
- Not exotic: this is a place people LIVE, not visit
|
||||
- Politically neutral: no major Assembly factions competing here
|
||||
- Institutionally thin: Commission presence leaves operational gaps
|
||||
|
||||
**The Krenn Vibe:** "We do our jobs, we go home, we don't make trouble, and we don't ask what the people in the back room are doing as long as it doesn't affect us."
|
||||
|
||||
This is the substrate that makes Sova Transit District narratively plausible.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge Graph Flags:**
|
||||
- `world.krenn_system_layout` (KnowsOf: detective knows from briefing, smuggler knows from living here)
|
||||
- `world.krenn_culture` (KnowsDetails: smuggler understands social norms, detective reads them from case files)
|
||||
|
||||
**Perception Differences:**
|
||||
- **Smuggler:** Sees Krenn as home — knows shortcuts, recognizes faces, navigates by familiarity
|
||||
- **Detective:** Sees Krenn as assignment — reads briefing data, queries lattice for names, maps institutional touchpoints
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Station Sova](station-sova.md) — Primary v0.1 location
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](sova-transit-district.md) — v0.1 playable space
|
||||
- D-036: Sova Transit District / Krenn System as v0.1 setting
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — first star system in The Settled Reach
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-11
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,257 @@
|
||||
# Sova Transit District
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Station District
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Station:** [Station Sova](station-sova.md)
|
||||
**System:** [Krenn System](krenn-system.md)
|
||||
**District Age:** ~40 years (most recent major retrofit)
|
||||
**Population:** ~800 (workers + residents)
|
||||
**Construction:** Prefab-modular base with layered retrofits
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
Sova Transit District is a freight logistics district on Station Sova — the v0.1 vertical slice setting. This is where the game happens. Everything the player sees, everyone they meet, every routine they observe exists within this 40-year-old retrofitted freight hub and its worker amenities.
|
||||
|
||||
**The District's Character:** Quotidian-with-undertow.
|
||||
|
||||
Comfortable enough to be complacent. Tight enough that an extra income source is tempting. People work here, drink here, live here. Routines are predictable. Faces are familiar. And beneath that predictability, a smuggling operation runs smoothly because the community has collectively decided not to notice.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Physical Layout
|
||||
|
||||
**Size:** ~800 meters circumferential span (Ring 1 section), 3 vertical levels
|
||||
|
||||
**Construction History:**
|
||||
1. **Original (140 years ago):** Freight bay with basic cargo handling
|
||||
2. **First retrofit (~80 years ago):** Interior partitions created office spaces, break rooms
|
||||
3. **Second retrofit (~40 years ago):** Worker amenities added (bar, residential pods), logistics hub expanded
|
||||
4. **Ongoing maintenance:** Continuous patching, creating architectural complexity
|
||||
|
||||
**Spatial Structure:**
|
||||
- **Level 1 (lowest):** Freight bay floor, cargo handling, span gate access, logistics hub ([The Terminal](../locations/krenn-system/the-terminal.md))
|
||||
- **Level 2 (middle):** Worker amenities (bar, food vendors, small retail), residential pods
|
||||
- **Level 3 (highest):** Observation gallery (overlooks freight bay), administrative offices, Commission kiosk (unmanned most of the time)
|
||||
|
||||
**Between the Levels:** Maintenance corridors, service hatches, spaces between old and new construction. This is where the smuggling infrastructure lives. [Corridor B-7](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md) is the primary off-books route.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Three Social Sites (v0.1 Content Templates)
|
||||
|
||||
The district contains three **social sites** — clusters of NPCs who regularly interact within connected physical spaces. These are the atomic units of v0.1 content.
|
||||
|
||||
### 1. The Terminal (Logistics Hub)
|
||||
**Type:** Workplace
|
||||
**NPCs:** 5 ([Voss](../npcs/voss.md), [Kael Davan](../npcs/kael-davan.md), [Resha](../npcs/resha.md), [Torek Lintar](../npcs/torek-lintar.md), [Drin](../npcs/drin.md))
|
||||
**Function:** Cargo sorting, scheduling, inspection, paperwork
|
||||
**Hours:** 24-hour operation, three 8-hour shifts
|
||||
**[Full profile ->](../locations/krenn-system/the-terminal.md)**
|
||||
|
||||
### 2. The Last Shift (Bar)
|
||||
**Type:** Social Venue
|
||||
**NPCs:** 6 ([Lera Sessik](../npcs/lera-sessik.md), [Harek](../npcs/harek.md), [Maret Korr](../npcs/maret-korr.md), [Sera Venn](../npcs/sera-venn.md), [Sess](../npcs/sess.md), [Olin](../npcs/olin.md))
|
||||
**Function:** After-shift drinks, social hub, information exchange
|
||||
**Hours:** 14:00 - 02:00 station time
|
||||
**Informal Name:** "Lera's" (used by regulars)
|
||||
**[Full profile ->](../locations/krenn-system/the-last-shift.md)**
|
||||
|
||||
### 3. Smuggling Spaces (The Ring's Infrastructure)
|
||||
**Type:** Criminal operation / repurposed infrastructure
|
||||
**NPCs:** 5 ([Devra](../npcs/devra.md), [Renn](../npcs/renn.md), [Pell](../npcs/pell.md), [Sabel](../npcs/sabel.md), [Tav](../npcs/tav.md))
|
||||
**Function:** Contraband transfer, off-books meetings, dead drops
|
||||
**Locations:** [Maintenance Corridor B-7](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md), back room at The Last Shift, storage area in logistics hub
|
||||
**[Full profile ->](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md)**
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Economy & Employment
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary Employers:**
|
||||
- Sova Logistics Consortium (freight handling, scheduling, inspection)
|
||||
- Station Services (maintenance, hospitality, retail)
|
||||
- Self-employed (bar owners, food vendors, small operators)
|
||||
|
||||
**Wage Reality:** Standard logistics salary: 2,400 credits/month. Station living costs: ~2,200 credits/month (housing pod, food, necessities). This leaves 200 credits margin — enough to survive, not enough to thrive.
|
||||
|
||||
**Economic Pressure Mechanisms:**
|
||||
- Medical expenses (lattice maintenance, injury treatment)
|
||||
- Family support (children, aging parents)
|
||||
- Lattice upgrades (professional capability enhancement)
|
||||
- Emergency reserves (job loss, station emergency)
|
||||
|
||||
**The Grey Economy:** Smuggling provides supplemental income that transforms "barely comfortable" into "secure." A ring member might make an extra 400-800 credits/month — enough to cover lattice upgrades, save for family, or simply breathe easier.
|
||||
|
||||
This is why the community tolerates the ring: everyone benefits indirectly. The bar profits from smugglers buying drinks. Maintenance workers get tips for "noticing things late." Even flat NPCs who aren't involved benefit from the economic activity.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Daily Rhythms
|
||||
|
||||
**Shift Schedule:**
|
||||
- **Morning (06:00-14:00):** Day shift, highest freight volume, gate cycles every 4-6 minutes
|
||||
- **Afternoon (14:00-22:00):** Swing shift, moderate volume, bar opens, social activity peaks
|
||||
- **Night (22:00-06:00):** Night shift, lowest volume, gate cycles every 12-15 minutes, smuggling window
|
||||
|
||||
**Shift Transition (13:45-14:15):** The corridor between the logistics hub and bar district becomes a chokepoint. Everyone heading from work to drinks passes through the same 40 meters. This is where the smuggler notices patterns and the detective observes routines.
|
||||
|
||||
**The Week Cycle:**
|
||||
- **5-day work cycle + 2-day rest** (station standard)
|
||||
- Day 1-4: Normal operations
|
||||
- Day 5 (end-of-cycle): Higher bar attendance, card games, social peak
|
||||
- Rest days: Quieter district, skeleton crew at logistics hub, bar closed Day 1 morning
|
||||
|
||||
**Seasonal Rhythms:** None. Station life has no seasons. This creates psychological monotony that smuggling occasionally interrupts.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Institutional Presence
|
||||
|
||||
**Lattice Commission:**
|
||||
- **Permanent Presence:** None. Commission kiosk on Level 3 (unmanned, for compliance reporting).
|
||||
- **Liaison Rotation:** 3-6 month assignments. Most recent liaison rotated out 3 months ago; replacement delayed.
|
||||
- **Inspection Schedule:** Quarterly lattice compliance sweeps (announced 2 weeks in advance).
|
||||
|
||||
**This gap — the 3-month window without a Commission presence — is when the smuggling operation escalates. The detective's arrival represents an unscheduled enforcement action, triggered by something flagged at system level.**
|
||||
|
||||
**Station Security:**
|
||||
- **Patrol Presence:** 2 officers on-duty per shift, primarily concerned with accidents and violence
|
||||
- **Authority Limit:** Security handles safety; Commission handles contraband. Security officers know this distinction and generally look away from grey-market activity that doesn't threaten station safety.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Meridian Coverage & Information Infrastructure
|
||||
|
||||
**Coverage Map:**
|
||||
- **Logistics Hub:** Comprehensive (real-time tracking, manifest systems, surveillance)
|
||||
- **Bar District:** Strong (standard social monitoring, Meridian feeds)
|
||||
- **Residential Pods:** Standard (personal lattice connectivity)
|
||||
- **Maintenance Corridors:** Degraded (older infrastructure, dead spots)
|
||||
- **Between-Wall Spaces:** Minimal or absent (off-map, no official coverage)
|
||||
|
||||
**Dead Spots:** Corridor B-7 and the storage area behind the logistics hub main floor are known Meridian gaps. The ring uses these for off-channel communication. NPCs who need to discuss something sensitive go for a walk to the "quiet spots."
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Atmosphere & Sensory Details
|
||||
|
||||
**Sound:**
|
||||
- **Omnipresent:** Span gate hum (bass-frequency vibration, pitch rises with transit volume)
|
||||
- **Logistics Hub:** Cargo machinery, scanner beeps, conveyor belts, shouted instructions
|
||||
- **Bar District:** Conversation murmur, glass on surfaces, Meridian music feeds
|
||||
- **Corridors:** Ventilation hum, footsteps on metal grating, echoes
|
||||
- **Night:** Gate hum drops to low throb, ventilation dominates, occasional distant voices
|
||||
|
||||
**Smell:**
|
||||
- **Logistics Hub:** Industrial lubricant, recycled air, occasionally cargo scent (organic shipments)
|
||||
- **Bar District:** Cooking (protein paste, vegetables, synthetic spices), alcohol, crowd scent
|
||||
- **Corridors:** Recycled air with metallic undertone, faint industrial chemicals
|
||||
- **Morning:** Ozone scent post-gate-transit (fades quickly)
|
||||
|
||||
**Lighting:**
|
||||
- **Logistics Hub:** Bright industrial white (functional, slightly harsh)
|
||||
- **Bar District:** Warm amber (cheaper fixtures, comfortable)
|
||||
- **Corridors:** Dim utilitarian (spaced fixtures, shadows between lights)
|
||||
- **Maintenance Areas:** Emergency red or no light (bring portable lights)
|
||||
|
||||
**Visual Texture:**
|
||||
- Bilingual signage (Concordat Standard + Krenn vernacular)
|
||||
- Hand-lettered informal signs ("Lera's," shift schedules, lost-and-found notices)
|
||||
- Wear patterns (scuffed floors, patched walls, graffiti in maintenance areas)
|
||||
- Personal touches (locker decorations, shift-end artwork, stickers)
|
||||
|
||||
**Local Complaint:** "The ventilation in Sector 3 has been unreliable for months. Station maintenance says it's on the list." — Universal safe topic. If an NPC is complaining about ventilation, they're NOT talking about something else.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## NPCs & Social Structure
|
||||
|
||||
**Total NPCs in District:** 17 (15 standard + 2 FRIEND-tier)
|
||||
|
||||
**Population Distribution (D-029 Entanglement Ratio: 30/50/20):**
|
||||
- **Flat NPCs (3, ~18%):** [Drin](../npcs/drin.md), [Sess](../npcs/sess.md), [Olin](../npcs/olin.md) — routines, greetings, atmosphere
|
||||
- **Triangle NPCs, Mundane (7, ~41%):** [Voss](../npcs/voss.md), [Maret Korr](../npcs/maret-korr.md), [Torek Lintar](../npcs/torek-lintar.md), [Lera Sessik](../npcs/lera-sessik.md), [Harek](../npcs/harek.md), [Resha](../npcs/resha.md), [Sera Venn](../npcs/sera-venn.md)
|
||||
- **Triangle NPCs, Entangled (7, ~41%):** [Kael Davan](../npcs/kael-davan.md), [Devra](../npcs/devra.md), [Renn](../npcs/renn.md), [Pell](../npcs/pell.md), [Sabel](../npcs/sabel.md), [Tav](../npcs/tav.md), [Hael](../npcs/hael.md) (referenced)
|
||||
|
||||
**The Five Triangles:** See [NPC Index](../npcs/index.md) for full triangle diagram.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## The Smuggling Operation ("The Ring")
|
||||
|
||||
**Structure:** Informal network, no official name. NPCs refer to it obliquely ("the arrangement," "the side work," "helping out").
|
||||
|
||||
**What They Move:** [Unlicensed lattice components](../contraband/lattice-components.md) (primary), [medical-grade neural replacements](../contraband/medical-grade-replacements.md), [Severance counter-surveillance tech](../contraband/severance-equipment.md)
|
||||
|
||||
**How It Works:**
|
||||
1. Contraband arrives in legitimate freight shipments (mixed with legal cargo)
|
||||
2. [Torek Lintar](../npcs/torek-lintar.md) (compromised inspector) looks away during inspection
|
||||
3. [Kael Davan](../npcs/kael-davan.md) and others route flagged containers to holding area
|
||||
4. [Renn](../npcs/renn.md) (courier) transfers contraband to [Corridor B-7](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md)
|
||||
5. [Devra](../npcs/devra.md) coordinates off-station contact ([Sabel](../npcs/sabel.md))
|
||||
6. Product distributed through informal networks
|
||||
|
||||
**Operational Timing:** Night shifts (lowest oversight), shift transitions (confusion/distraction), post-inspection windows (2-3 days after scheduled Commission sweep)
|
||||
|
||||
**Community Role:** The ring is the district's economic immune system. People who don't participate directly still benefit: bars profit, families get lattice upgrades they couldn't afford, medical needs get met. This creates collective investment in not noticing.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## v0.1 Narrative Stakes
|
||||
|
||||
**The Smuggler's Stakes:**
|
||||
- **Home:** This is their community, their livelihood, their daily life
|
||||
- **Relationships:** Everyone here is a colleague, friend, or known quantity
|
||||
- **Risk:** The detective threatens to dismantle the social fabric that keeps them secure
|
||||
|
||||
**The Detective's Stakes:**
|
||||
- **Assignment:** Institutional mandate to investigate manifest discrepancies
|
||||
- **Authority:** Commission jurisdiction, but local resistance
|
||||
- **Isolation:** No social network, no institutional backup in-district, operating alone in hostile social terrain
|
||||
|
||||
**The Convergence:** Both characters are following the same threads (manifest discrepancies, NPC behavioral changes, Corridor B-7) from opposite sides. The smuggler knows what's happening and must protect it. The detective suspects something and must discover it. They're heading toward the same revelation from opposite directions.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge Graph Flags (FactIds):**
|
||||
- `location.sova_transit_layout` (KnowsOf: detective has map, smuggler knows shortcuts)
|
||||
- `location.corridor_b7_restricted` (KnowsDetails: smuggler knows access, detective discovers through investigation)
|
||||
- `contraband.ring_exists` (Smuggler: KnowsDetails from background, Detective: Suspects -> KnowsOf -> KnowsDetails through gameplay)
|
||||
|
||||
**Perception Differences:**
|
||||
- **Smuggler:** Sees home, notices routine deviations as threats, identifies NPCs by first name and relationship
|
||||
- **Detective:** Sees crime scene, notices patterns as evidence, identifies NPCs by role and case file data
|
||||
|
||||
**Monologue Triggers:** 60+ location-specific triggers across three social sites, filtered by character
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Worldbuilding Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Why Sova Transit Works:**
|
||||
- **Economically grounded:** The financial pressure is specific and relatable
|
||||
- **Socially coherent:** 800 people, everyone knows everyone, patterns are visible
|
||||
- **Architecturally complex:** Layered construction provides hiding places
|
||||
- **Institutionally thin:** Enforcement gaps make smuggling viable
|
||||
- **Morally ambiguous:** The ring serves real needs, not just greed
|
||||
|
||||
**The Honest Truth:** If Sova Transit District feels real — if the player can imagine working here, drinking here, living here — then the smuggling operation becomes a moral dilemma instead of a simple crime. That's the game.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Krenn System](krenn-system.md) — Star system profile
|
||||
- [Station Sova](station-sova.md) — Station profile
|
||||
- [NPC Index](../npcs/index.md) — Full character roster
|
||||
- D-036: Sova Transit District as v0.1 setting
|
||||
- D-027: Vertical slice definition
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical — v0.1 playable setting
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-11
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
|
||||
# Station Sova
|
||||
|
||||
**Type:** Space Station
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**System:** [Krenn System](krenn-system.md)
|
||||
**Classification:** Logistics Hub
|
||||
**Population:** ~12,000
|
||||
**Construction Era:** Mid-settlement (~140 years ago)
|
||||
**Operational Age:** ~140 years, with continuous retrofitting
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Overview
|
||||
|
||||
Station Sova is a freight logistics hub in the Krenn System, positioned gate-adjacent for optimal cargo transfer. It's not a destination — it's infrastructure. People live on Sova because the work is here, not because they chose the station.
|
||||
|
||||
Sova is the kind of place that looks the same every day: predictable shifts, predictable routines, predictable problems. The extraordinary thing about Sova is how much can happen beneath that predictability.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Physical Structure
|
||||
|
||||
**Construction Type:** Modular prefab base (original core ~140 years old) + layered retrofits (most recent ~40 years ago)
|
||||
|
||||
The station shows its age. The original core is solid but utilitarian — industrial prefab modules designed for function, not comfort. Successive generations added capacity through retrofitting: new sections bolted onto old, interior partitions creating rooms within older bays, maintenance corridors that don't quite align between construction eras.
|
||||
|
||||
This layered construction creates architectural secrets: spaces between wall layers, service corridors no longer on official schematics, dead zones where old and new construction meet imperfectly. These gaps are where smuggling infrastructure lives.
|
||||
|
||||
**Layout:**
|
||||
- **Core Spindle:** Original construction, central spine with radial arms
|
||||
- **Freight Bays:** Ring 1 (outermost), gate-adjacent, high-traffic
|
||||
- **Residential/Commercial:** Ring 2 (middle), mixed-use districts
|
||||
- **Operations/Services:** Ring 3 (innermost), administration and maintenance
|
||||
|
||||
[Sova Transit District](sova-transit-district.md) occupies a section of Ring 1 — freight bay retrofitted for logistics operations + worker amenities.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Population & Demographics
|
||||
|
||||
**Total Population:** ~12,000
|
||||
|
||||
**Breakdown:**
|
||||
- Logistics workers (freight handlers, dock inspectors, schedulers): ~4,000
|
||||
- Service sector (bars, food, maintenance, retail): ~3,000
|
||||
- Station operations (administration, security, technical): ~2,000
|
||||
- Residential (families, retired workers, dependents): ~2,500
|
||||
- Transient (short-term contractors, travelers): ~500
|
||||
|
||||
**Cultural Composition:** Predominantly Krenn System culture (working-class pragmatic, first-name-primary, reserved). Small populations from connected systems, identifiable by naming patterns and accent.
|
||||
|
||||
**Turnover:** Low. People come to Sova for steady work and stay because moving costs money. Multi-generational families are common.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Economy
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary Function:** Freight logistics — cargo transferred between span gates, sorted, repackaged, forwarded
|
||||
|
||||
**Economic Model:** The station is profitable but not prosperous. Wages are steady, cost of living is slightly above wage level, creating permanent mild squeeze. Most households are one unexpected expense away from financial stress.
|
||||
|
||||
This economic reality drives three social patterns:
|
||||
1. **Informal labor solidarity** — workers cover for each other because everyone knows the squeeze
|
||||
2. **Grey-market tolerance** — small-scale smuggling is community immune system, not crime
|
||||
3. **Risk-averse pragmatism** — people make calculated risks (like smuggling) but avoid reckless ones (like violence)
|
||||
|
||||
**Economic Drivers:**
|
||||
- Gate transit fees (Concord Assembly revenue, station sees fraction)
|
||||
- Freight handling contracts (Syndic supply chains)
|
||||
- Service sector (bars, food, entertainment for workers)
|
||||
- Station maintenance contracts (ongoing retrofitting)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Governance & Security
|
||||
|
||||
**Station Administrator:** Appointed by Krenn System Authority (Concord Assembly jurisdiction)
|
||||
**Security:** Sova Station Security (local force, ~150 officers, primarily concerned with safety/accidents, not criminal investigation)
|
||||
**Commission Presence:** Rotating liaisons (3-6 month assignments), no permanent office. Most recent liaison rotated out 3 months ago; replacement delayed.
|
||||
|
||||
**Law Enforcement Gaps:**
|
||||
This is critical for v0.1 narrative: Sova has *security* (prevent accidents, respond to violence) but minimal *law enforcement* (investigate contraband). The Commission sends liaisons for lattice compliance inspections, but those visits are scheduled and infrequent.
|
||||
|
||||
The detective's arrival in [Sova Transit District](sova-transit-district.md) represents an unusual enforcement presence — something has flagged the district for investigation, and institutional attention is now focused where it usually isn't.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Districts
|
||||
|
||||
Station Sova has 7 named districts. Only **Sova Transit District** is developed for v0.1.
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Sova Transit District** — Freight logistics, worker amenities, bar district ([full profile](sova-transit-district.md))
|
||||
2. **Central Spindle District** — Administration, station operations
|
||||
3. **Residential Radial A** — Long-term housing, schools, medical
|
||||
4. **Residential Radial B** — Short-term housing, transient workers
|
||||
5. **Commercial Ring** — Retail, entertainment, higher-end services
|
||||
6. **Industrial Annex** — Repair bays, fabrication, heavy maintenance
|
||||
7. **Docking Approach** — Gate-adjacent, short-term berths, passenger processing
|
||||
|
||||
**Transit Connections:** Internal tram system connects all districts. Transit District <-> Central Spindle is 8 minutes. District <-> Residential A/B is 5 minutes.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Infrastructure
|
||||
|
||||
**Meridian Coverage:**
|
||||
- **High-traffic areas (freight bays, commercial, admin):** Comprehensive, real-time
|
||||
- **Residential areas:** Standard, slight lag
|
||||
- **Older sections (maintenance corridors, between-wall spaces):** Degraded or absent
|
||||
|
||||
This coverage gradient is load-bearing for smuggling: off-Meridian coordination happens in the gaps.
|
||||
|
||||
**Span Gate Access:**
|
||||
- Sova Station <-> Krenn Prime Surface Depot (primary freight route)
|
||||
- Sova Station <-> Orbital Manufacturing Platform 3 (component transfer)
|
||||
- Gate cycles every 4-6 minutes during peak shifts, every 12-15 minutes off-peak
|
||||
|
||||
**Power & Life Support:**
|
||||
- Fusion reactors (original core), reliable but aging
|
||||
- Atmosphere recycling (continuous, noticeable ventilation hum)
|
||||
- Gravity (spin gravity in rings, microgravity in core — most social life happens in Ring 2 at 0.7g)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Atmosphere & Sensory Details
|
||||
|
||||
**Sound:**
|
||||
- Span gate hum (omnipresent, pitch varies with transit volume)
|
||||
- Ventilation systems (white noise, occasional rattle)
|
||||
- Cargo machinery in freight districts (clanking, scanner beeps, conveyor hum)
|
||||
- Foot traffic (metal grating, echoes in corridors)
|
||||
|
||||
**Smell:**
|
||||
- Recycled air (faint metallic undertone)
|
||||
- Industrial lubricant (near freight bays)
|
||||
- Cooking (residential and bar districts)
|
||||
- Ozone (post-gate-transit, fades quickly)
|
||||
|
||||
**Lighting:**
|
||||
- Functional industrial fixtures (bright in work areas, dim in corridors)
|
||||
- Mixed color temperatures (newer sections: cool white, older sections: warm amber from aging fixtures)
|
||||
- Emergency lighting in maintenance corridors (low red)
|
||||
|
||||
**Temperature:** Climate-controlled, comfortable. Older sections run slightly cooler (aging environmental systems). Workers dress in layers.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Key Locations (v0.1 Scope)
|
||||
|
||||
See [Sova Transit District](sova-transit-district.md) for full v0.1 location details:
|
||||
- [The Terminal](../locations/krenn-system/the-terminal.md) (logistics hub)
|
||||
- [The Last Shift](../locations/krenn-system/the-last-shift.md) (bar)
|
||||
- [Maintenance Corridor B-7](../locations/krenn-system/maintenance-corridors.md) (smuggling space)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Worldbuilding Notes
|
||||
|
||||
**Why Sova Works:**
|
||||
- **Scale:** 12k population is large enough to feel like a community, small enough that patterns are noticeable
|
||||
- **Economic pressure:** Generates rational motivation for smuggling without desperation
|
||||
- **Institutional thinness:** Security exists, enforcement is intermittent — creates operational space
|
||||
- **Architectural complexity:** Layered construction provides physical infrastructure for hidden activity
|
||||
- **Cultural cohesion:** Turnover is low, social networks are established, outsiders are visible
|
||||
|
||||
**The Sova Feeling:** "We all know each other. We all know what goes on. We all benefit just enough not to make trouble."
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Mechanical Integration
|
||||
|
||||
**Knowledge Graph Flags:**
|
||||
- `location.sova_station` (KnowsOf: both characters know they're on Sova)
|
||||
- `location.sova_layout` (KnowsDetails: smuggler knows routes, detective has station map)
|
||||
- `system.security_presence` (KnowsDetails: smuggler knows security patterns, detective knows enforcement gaps)
|
||||
|
||||
**v0.1 Scope Limitation:** The player never leaves Sova Transit District. Other districts are referenced in dialogue/monologue but not traversable.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Cross-References:**
|
||||
- [Krenn System](krenn-system.md) — Star system profile
|
||||
- [Sova Transit District](sova-transit-district.md) — v0.1 playable district
|
||||
- D-036: Sova as v0.1 setting
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**Status:** Canonical
|
||||
**Created:** 2026-02-11
|
||||
**Updated:** 2026-02-12
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user