Random concepts that feel like a good fit for the world of ATET. Many of these may already be implemented in other documents. Many of them may never make it in. This is the scratch pad.

• Rivers of glass

  Carved by powerful magics, lasers, uh like a giant magnifying glass; its a massive planetary-scale scar.

• Quest - player is asked by dying royal to choose his successor, on condition that the player determine which one of the choices is actually the royal ‘s murderer.
• Unknown life form… choices of action lead either to simply learning about it, or being forced to kill it and never know what it was
• Dreams and hallucinations and alternate realities rampant and indistinguishable from one another

  If you die in a dream you wake up but if it’s an alternate reality…If you attack a hallucination it could turn out to be your friend. ATET: ROBOT NIGHTMARE.

• Infections of all kinds should cause hallucinations and/or dreams/nightmares, with increasing intensity if left untreated
• A “Zero-Eidos” cult—the sages who have read the Fragments and are now actively trying to live lives of perfect stillness to “starve the system.” How do they codify nothingness?
• Put the player on trial for past quests
• Faction controlling the sector may require taxes on trades
• Unlock tax breaks through questing
• Unlock sales brackets through questing
• Purchase tech prints from factions or acquire as quest rewards/loot from piracy/etc
• Reverse engineering tech prints from items is outlawed by factions
• Missing contracted amounts could anger faction/affect prices/terminate contact
• Pricing of certain kinds of items is relative to who you are selling it to
• Some items can’t be manufactured or mass produced, this could be achieved by limiting the numbers of items and their quantities in recipes, and by requiring in world assembly of some items
• As a captain, take on a mad scientist passenger or crew who makes increasingly difficult demands on power and other resources leading to eventual confrontation where the player must temporarily give up their ship or kick the scientist off … kick them off gone forever, follow through huge reward or huge disaster
• Witch doctors in the woods who will fix you up, with risks. Some are jerks, perform unauthorized procedures while you’re incapacitated; possibly beneficial.
• Mind switching device, combine brainy character with beefy body or whatever you like but no two bodies can use the machine more than once; possible side-effects on Eidos.
• “This is all just a dream!” Dialog options for dreaming & insane characters that unlock special abilities for story sequences
• Some sort of power, maybe nanites. The user controlling it plays a sort of shrill music; force-like, but horror style
• If you are a master level technician, you can seek out one of the artisans crafters that are progenitors of all robots, to learn the craft. If you find one, it enables the artisan starting scenario.
• Every good space fantasy needs ancient (and/or modern) space temples… space stations designed in intricate patterns, with elaborate traps to disarm, lost spirits, cryosleep caskets, etc…
• Associations with cults stigmatizes interaction with you by normal persons, and your affiliation will become more apparent thru continued interaction or development of cultist power
• Various join-able cults with special perks and debuffs
• All affiliations should add new follower options and new dialog choices
• Farming system; irrigation, crop breeding, crop rotation
• Inventory tetris - Before crafting, you have two slots for inventory. Left and right hands. Belts and bags may be crafted to add more slots. Many things require multiple slots. Anything that requires multiple slots can be carried in the two hand slots. Machines for example might require more slots than are available in any bag or belt but can be carried in the hand slots. Most crafting ingredients and items are one slot. Weapons and armor are many slots, but weapons fit into single slots on belts and the same for armor on the body. Certain slots only accept certain types of items. Render as many slots on the player in the world, as possible. Weapons on belts, potions on slings. Inventory gui could show the slots overlaying or even interweaving with the expansion item sprites in detail; In this way one could remove the expansion item by dragging it away. Items should remain inside expansion item when removed. Slot size of the expansion item itself increases when it contains items. Multiple slings can be carried in a backpack and swapped out, but of course you can’t carry a full backpack inside a backpack. Later game tech allows for sci-fi/fantasy justification of the storage of huge quantities of items. Example method: matter breakdown and reconstitution, requiring absurd amounts of energy. While not trying to represent realistic physics, similar “breakdown” methods could be separated into metals, organics, protein, etc, all having various ‘grades’ i.e. reconstructing a low grade armor requires low grade metals and some medium grade organics for leather strapping
• Crafting might benefit from ‘rudimentary’ transitional tiers. For example a ‘rudimentary’ pressure suit could be crafted in desperate situations
• Solid → Liquid → Gas → Plasma forms for materials; harvesting ice is one way of crafting oxygen to supply you in vacuums, but other ways should exist. “Breakdown” methods could intake solids and output gasses, etc.
• Many ingredients of recipes are interchangeable, with the various options determining things like durability, conductivity, beauty, etc
• Cooking could be a derivative of this system, where-in cooking method is also a sort of “ingredient” and each ingredient can either add its name or an adjective to the meal “Berry Stew” (berries cooked in a pot) / “Sweet Mushroom Skewer” (Berries and mushrooms cooked on an open fire), and rather than TES-style alchemical effects, they have fullness/nutrition/satisfaction factors???
• Teleportation leaves behind a vacuum. This vacuum implodes and causes physical damage to the immediate area from the sound/shock waves. Better technology can augment this effect, reducing or exaggerating it as desired
• Diegetic higher level control systems when dealing with multiple parties, factions, etc, such as a handheld terminal that gives you a C&C-style control system
• Party/faction members should be able to perform useful Jobs; not just serve as a companion or combat assistant. For example, a ship should require a crew to operate
• Nebulae block sensors but wreak havoc with ship equipment like shields
• Drugs! There should be hallucinogens in the game and robots should abuse energy like in Futurama
• Some companions should be special and have stories and BioWare-style relationships with the player; telling the player their feelings and asking for advice example
• Difficulty of random dungeons scales by environment habitability
• Biocomputers and chemical/molecular programming could be sources of great mechanical inspiration. Consider grown, organic machine and computer components. Even weapons and space ships. Grown computers could be way more powerful but require food
• Possible optimization - “certification” of job output, allowing entire logical subsections to be put on rails in the broader simulation; for example given some ship, we can abstract its entire crew, job manifest, etc to a collective input/output resource total and only perform updates of the ship sim when these numbers align to produce a new situation; placing the agents within into a sort of social stasis, of which we can fill in the time-gap with proc gen if necessary when removing them from stasis.  Another example: an NPC creates a farm, it is added to this sort of “RTS-level” resource system. Upon being loaded, the “RTS stats” are procedurally distributed back to the farm entities, including the NPC, but are otherwise just an average of growth/saturation/etc numbers. Things like ore veins could be managed in the same way as fields, as abstract entities with sub-entities during granular simulation, using a simple %-mined number. Stats for abstraction agent populations would be population count, damage, happiness, temperature, wealth, casualties etc. All of which are distributed appropriately upon loading the granular sim. Perhaps a better way to think of it is by facilities. You can construct a new facility which establishes a facility region. Resources in this region are counted, and updates to the region update these counts. Only if you are observing a region directly are these counts distributed to the actual entities containing resources. Planets and ships are collections of facilities. Facilities are interconnected. All facility updates must be a direct function of time passed since the last update. Lots of potential for issues with determinism here; but the narrative-focused structure of the universe may allow for this? Risky. Facility state could be setup in cycles and compute NPC location by their schedule in the cycle, determine the number of whole cycles and then set their world position based on the remainder, meaning machines and NPCs are representative of facilities jobs and stats
• Telepathy - flight, manipulate objects at a distance, sense thru walls - hear voices of other (hostile/crazy) cultists, crippled if energy drained, the more people who think about a telekinetic entity, the more power that entity has
• Piracy - trade with other pirates, even when affiliated with any or all other cults, is never inhibited if you are accepted - you will be marked for close watch by authorities, who will no longer seek your assistance
• Nano Empathy - direct communication with nanites gives technological abilities - increased vitality, electromagnetic vision, emit nanites for various effects, no need for atmosphere - crippled without electric charge, decomposition risk without regular ability use
• Vampirism - increased strength, vitality, night vision, flight, no regular hunger - must feed to maintain normal appearance and avoid being crippled in direct sunlight
• Small cults such as undead/lich, small ship, generation ship
• Race creation system with crazy star trek parts interchangeable in the same manner as eyes and mouths and hairs from standard species
• Hyperspace wilderness with long travel times between star systems and random encounters in the void
• NPCs should turn to crime in hard times and some should be predisposed from spawn
• After being caught in criminal activity NPCs should attempt to get off-world or to local pirate bases. If a player witnesses a criminal escape by either method, generate a random pirate encounter with that character at a later date
• Magic needs a source - energy; heat; light; naturalism
• Magic is a physical force; maybe using the power of the stars? Stars are one representation of the magic plane? Stars are the purest form of magic. Everything else are just crude vessels? This is an old idea; not sure how it melds with Threads and Tapestries
• Wormhole networks link the few “city” systems; Outside of this you are forced to travel star to star and it is very inefficient and has a limited range. All systems with playable content should be within this range of at least one other system.The warp networks could be powered by a master power system orbiting some crazy space anomaly, siphoning it’s power to generate wormholes from there to each gateway system, and channeling this near infinite energy to each, so they can hold open the end points of the network. Obviously such a system would be controlled by the empire, one of the major modes of their expression of power. Perhaps they even tax you harshly for utilizing it. Being able to destroy such a system as the player would be an incredible power trip; but equally, including such content in the game really sets a high bar for the end-game of player structure creation
• The player should be able to see the full playable area of the galaxy from the galactic map; this view should be diegetic and probably earned through play, however. Make a pretty galaxy map with a low poly take on old maps? Like old maps that showed inaccurate depictions of earth, maps that depicted larger-than-life sea monsters, “The known world” style titles
• Multiple forms of currency with exchange rates
• Usage of in-world interfaces such as ship’s helm, high-end weaponry, etc should modify the HUD
• Bio-luminescence indicates danger, emotion, conveys information, can be used as a trap both by alarm and by bait
• Separate skills for planning of construction and manufacturing, from skills for building and assembling; A robot could be very good at assembly but terrible at planning
• Zombie spores & other airborne contaminants/plagues
• Trainers for every skill with increasing cost for mastery
• Some party members should not share inventory & have their own goals
• Order vs chaos; but order is the evil one :P
• Someone else controls all magical artifacts of our faction and you must win them back and discover how and by whom they were made
• For hand crafted quest lines - once encountered in a game organically, they should be unlocked in a menu where you can start a story with a custom character. You should also be able to play modded stories this way without having to uncover them through discovery mechanics if you don’t want to
• Characters you meet could have their own story lines which you can play if you unlock them. Perhaps you unlock them by questing or just by meeting. These could actually reveal intimate details about the characters you would not otherwise learn, e.g. their home life
• People get tattoos, robots get graffiti. Jewelry! Self expression is a big aspect of the game ethos
• Body parts, tools, weapons, apparel, maybe crafting, could work with snapping points like KSP :P
• Magic has been subverted by government/conspiracy or lost to time - most are ignorant of it
• “Swamp Monster? I mean…I’d eat it…Why not? Probably some choice cuts of meat on that big boy.”
• A powerful magician offers you a major buff. He confidently explains “Its magical effects will surely aid you in battle!” But when asked “What effects?” He seems evasive and possibly even unsure, his confident charismatic preface suddenly dropped with an “UUUuuhhhhhhhhh…Oh..! [Burns, explodes, freezes, shocks, etc] things? I think…Yes! (Smug) Yes, that must be it, worry not.”
• Many of the main mechanics should only be accessible after taking actions in world, such as acquiring your first personal crafting tools, or learning alchemy is a thing through a quest line
• Chase someone through a series of personal wormholes before they close up behind them
• Find a shapeshifter in a crowd before they kill you or someone else
• You are malfunctioning and need to be repaired…or so they tell you. What really happens inside that machine?
• Monster Hunter quests! From a collector/zoo, a trophy hunter, a scientist? Reference an old legendary hunter as your guide
• Stowaways on your personal ship
• Emotional state based quests for resolution of problems
• Psychic possession - an entity forcefully invading the consciousness of another; may even happen to in-organics
• Captain in monogamous relationship with their ship
• Party member reverted to childhood, you must raise them
• Party member has a change of personality. Do you like them better as a disturbed/broken yet more effective crew member, or as their real self?
• Remember those people that you helped a while back? Turns out while you were sleeping they cloned and kidnapped you..the “you” that exists now is only a copy
• Something, or someone, is wreaking havoc on the ship/settlement/factory’s systems! You’ve got to find who or what is causing it before the crew trapped in the bathroom starve to death, or the doors bifurcate another pet. Oh, and avoid the transporters and neurosims at all costs!
• You’re finally awake! It seems while you were sleeping someone hacked your neural implant and you were trapped in a simulation of their design for several days. What did you experience?
• We’ve encountered a new sentient race but listen, I don’t think we should go down there, Captain. They breed in swarms and, well… Let’s just say it’s that time of year right now. The males will be murdering each other by the thousands!
• These strong hallucinations you’re having…They either hold the key to your survival, or they’re a trick that will lead your undoing. Or maybe you’re just crazy :shrug:
• Fog basking - this a real thing some insects do; sounds absolutely grim and ominous, great idea for a cult/specific-species ritual or ancestral activity
• Agent behaviors need to be separated in to passive and aggressive acts
• A copy of the neural patterns of a deceased crew member now haunt the ship’s internal systems. You must explain why you sent them to their death, and hope to somehow convince them to “move on,” or everyone will suffocate in hours. I hope you at least didn’t intentionally send them to their death…
• Begin an Incarnation in TES style, imprisoned on a ship, and promptly marooned on an inhospitable world, as part of a space-themed witch trial. A ‘test of viability,’ they will be ‘allowed freedom’ on the condition they prove worthy of survival
• Quest line for immortality that takes forever
• Quest line for immortality that leads to a hidden, reclusive tree like sentient species. They live for millenia, and truly can help you do the same. The only problem is, you’ll have to become one of them, and will never be able to survive offworld afterwards, without your roots connecting to the great tree. Obviously you’ll be extremely sensitive to fire and dehydration, but water and light will be your only needs
• A quest line to connect the great tree roots to a wormhole network. The tree people are naturally disturbed by this idea on the whole, but a select group feels they are prisoners of their race, and want nothing but to leave the homeworld
• An alien species who reproduces by imitating the physical features of another race and seducing their [player gender] population in mass
• Bio-luminescent creatures that create a fake starry sky and fool you into flying your ship into a sea of goo, where they can slowly devour you
• Psychic memorials; experience something important to the memorialized person or the historical moment being memorialized, first hand
• One of your party suddenly starts displaying symptoms of ptsd.  Further investigation reveals they are a murderer, and had their memory wiped. Do you condemn them, or continue to have them as your valued companion? Perhaps the victims were among your family
• “A clock that learned how to shoot” - original quote was “nothing more german than a clock that learned how to shoot” in reference to the G11; absolutely awesome in reference to automatons at war
• Someone stole your most valuable gear, and kidnapped you. Fight in the gladiator pit to win your freedom
• Different factions could have different classification systems e.g religious faction calls Venus type worlds hell/demon class like st:v while corporate faction calls them some pseudonym for a rare element commonly in the atmosphere. One exaggerates the danger in fear/ignorance, one overlooks it in its greed/arrogance
• Weapons and/or hand to hand combat styles could be different, some factions might have their own arms manufacturers, some may use only their minds and their hands, etc
• Faction and anti-faction -specific abilities, recipes, companions, dialog, tattoos, design styles, etc
• Some factions could be exclusive either to a single species or a collective of species
• Some species could be required to start in a specific faction
• Factions could have entirely different supply chains or systems. For example one faction might use very large structures, while another uses lots of small robots and distributed structures, yet another might use a humanoid work force, paid or under guard or other types of coercion such as brainwashing. The solo player faction would be free to mix and match these concepts, as well as certain elements within predefined faction roles. Making this a concrete separation might make a hard to balance thing even harder. Perhaps if these were simply faction “preferences” to a certain supply chain system, while  each contractor was free to choose what worked for their particular base, it might be easier. That way all items are on a level playing field
• Faction specific ship systems like propulsion or e.g warp vs subspace systems
• Partial/complete exclusivity clauses for membership in some factions
• Reputation requirements for some factions; not simply bad/good reputations but a faction approval rating for various known deeds. More simply/directly, the reputation system would allow you access to a corporate faction if you are known to already be quite wealthy, or the pirate faction if you are already known to have problems with authority.
• Different factions by default control certain regions of the galaxy so in order to get to special areas within those regions, you will have to impress or defeat them. This might be a good place to hide some of the real nice abilities and loot
• Some of the aforementioned impress/defeat choices should not be win/win for example if you defeat the telekinetics you will never learn their ways. Some should be win/win though, such as becoming head of the corpoboard and giving yourself a 100% tax break, or doing the same by destroying them  [this is a bad example, needs revision]
• Faction outcomes could have 3+ win or lose conditions depending on your faction and choices for example you can defeat the vampire faction as a vampire. Is this a win or a loss? In the same vein, is it a win or a loss for you to defeat the faction who holds the cure to vampirism? Depends on your RP
• Different types of space suits and ship environmental systems. This should be true for species too. Species or factions that can’t live without their environmental suit. But it needs to be compelling and also not rip off mass effect/deus ex. More like the dudes from deus ex than the dudes from mass effect also
• Faction uniforms and gear such as recording devices or shock collars, plus the regular stuff
• Pay attention to the subtle differences between words, commander vs commandant, versus vs compared to, etc
• Don’t allow the player to get too comfortable with the flow / don’t be predictable
• Don’t tell, show. Computers, personal logs, psychic records, and automatons provide an acceptable-trope method of giving info dumps and break the rule more comfortably
• Use expectation/foreknowledge of tropes to your advantage
• Theory: Allow characters to be emotionally open books, and do not apologize for it. If consistent, this allows for more direct access to the point, and simultaneously gives the dialog a certain edge or style. See any Netflix original series, star trek dialog, etc. Even Vulcans are just a boiling pot of emotional motivations, it’s just that one of their motivations is to mask their emotions. The difference in this and terrible b movie writing is in your ability to vulcanize the characters, so to speak. While in the mind of the writer they should be driven by emotion, no character should be a walking manifesto. Well maybe some bad guys. I kind of like that trope. “Before I kill you, please read this essay I’ve written about killing you…”
• The less earth based terminology the better. Obviously don’t call soil earth. But even better, no corn, no iron, no hospitals or high schools. Come up with different names and cousin versions of fruits. Don’t say lunar cycle. Luna is earth’s moon so why would they say that? What about apo/perigee? Terraform? This name thing is important for suspension of disbelief with forces and fields and particles and all that science fantasy stuff
• Look things up
• Be especially careful with iconography and symbolism
• Don’t be racist with the races. Really star trek, an entire species of garbage collectors? You better have a damn plausible cultural history for that 
• Never make a one sided situation. Everyone involved must be “right” according to their motivations and the rules of the universe at least, and where applicable must be identifiable with the player
• “Threesome turns violent after woman mocks couple’s genitals” - This is a real life Floridaman story. However, I think this is also a perfect quantification of a kind of human story that I want to tell through our emergent narratives. Possibly not quite as crass as this; but these types of polyamorous situations and such are great drama
• @meowesque, on the fauna of Australia:

  [they] want nothing more than your demise and have been constructed with an antisoul geared toward your merciless digestion.

• The player should never be given a choice/situation where they say “why should i??” Or “no fair” unless that is the specific goal of the writing/mechanic
• Theory: using subversion of expectation can get old too if it is too heavy handed, but a broad tool set will help to alleviate this problem. Subvert the players expectation through as many means as possible including: alternate realities, hallucinations, flash backs, eyewitness testimony/trials, simulations, wormholes, spacial anomalies, shapeshifters, body snatchers, illusions, near death experiences, out of body experiences, powerful beings from higher planes of existence, and standard “in character” lies secrets and subterfuge. Additional subversion of expectation is possible by alluding to vast conspiracy and elaborate deception, and yet revealing a simple, low tech lie is really the cause. Or the opposite. Once a pattern of subversion has been established, hinting at subversion is just as good as an outright plot, with the twist being that things ARE as they seem! Just don’t cheapen the outcome or do a deus ex machina. Be consistent where it matters: in logic. Be inconsistent where it matters: in expectation.
• Using multiple characters in dialog provides an easy way to add a devil’s advocate, voice of reason, etc
• There are other sapient species besides the humanoid races, but being so fundamentally different, they tend to be reclusive
• Additional “base to space” systems other than ship landing / trade routes e.g space elevators, early access to teleportation and/or wormholes for this specific purpose, etc 
• Begin an Incarnation by seeing visions of random people being assassinated, as shown by a telekinetic cultist who introduces theirself as a friend. They ask what the player would do, in similar situations, and seem to like their answer [provide class suggestions] but say their form is not quite clear, what -is- the player exactly? [Provide race selection] This too seems to please the entity, and they want to know how to find you, out there, in the grim Tapestry. [Provide starting status and back story menu] then, they are gone, and the environment changes in some psychedelic way to reveal them at the starting location. The player is then free to do whatever they choose, and will randomly encounter the cultist later on. They then reveal the nature of their organization, that they believe it is their duty to protect the Tapestry from the chaos of poor choices. They explain that it was they who assassinated the people in your visions but that, given your choices in their shoes they do not believe you will have to be eliminated; if you can undo what you will surely do in the future. They hope that simply by alerting you to the danger they will affect the outcome of your choice, though they can’t give any details. After the completion of your conversation, they are promptly killed by imperial special forces, who inform you that the telekinetics are considered a cult [the player may have already found this out] and that the individual who contacted you was a high ranking individual of a terrorist sect of the cult. The player is interrogated, and given the option to work with the empire to destroy this sect from the inside, by seeking to become one of them. Agree or disagree the player can seek them out and join the cult and the choice of who to truly side with is left for a climax. The catch, as eluded to through quests of both sides, is that the telekinetic from the beginning would have you end telekinesis entirely.
• imagine a society that has come to accept the later immortalist ideology and believes that its literally stupid/shameful to die. its interesting how this concept interacts with the technology of the society. if they have the technology to prevent aging and such, then its a straight forward class struggle. if they don’t, then it’s a very on-the-nose critique of religion. referring to outsiders simply as “death” itself. must remain with other immortals to remain immortal. cellular intercourse. a literal sales pitch: if i asked you if you wanted to be blind, deaf, paralyzed etc, you’d say hell no. well death it’s all of those things. very undesirable!! a tattoo with instructions not to resuscitate, only refrigerate. shit this is all getting really expensive let’s just freeze the heads (neurosuspension). legal protections for resurrectables? insurance-style policies for freezing coverage? not death, de-animation. what about like anti-aging politics? portraying the elderly as burdensome, insane, etc. after all, if you can just wake up in the future in a better body, its very selfish of you to toddle about
• holy shit what about the opposite? its a future society where infinite life is possible but its illegal, anyone found studying it is punished with cremation

• Memory System - How is Eidos tracked, stored, and transformed mechanically? Does the player directly “see” it, or infer it?

• Dialogue / Interior Monologue - Are conversations authored, modular, or emergent? Is player thought voiced? Do Threads “remember” things differently?

• Faction / World Simulation - How “alive” is the world? Do factions evolve independently? How much is frozen until observed?

• Narrative Resolution - What are meaningful end states for a Tapestry? Death? Collapse? Apotheosis? Cultural diffusion?

  • Define input parameters: genre, tone, cultural palette, thematic seed, Eidos influence
  • Establish generation logic: how do Facts, Fictions, and Faiths interrelate to spawn world elements?
  • Determine scope: what’s procedurally created? Cultures? History? Cosmology?
  • Develop tuning systems: how can designers (or players) bias generation intentionally?
  • Eidos carries forward, expanding player authorship and perception in future runs
  • Certain motifs, structures, or names may recur across Tapestries, but altered by memory
  • Players may unlock new Threads, seeds, or modifiers based on prior play
  • The player becomes a more capable weaver of Tapestries, not by stats, but by learned pattern-recognition and creative power

Our people were peaceful. We did not conceive of war until the night we looked up and witnessed our stars murdering each other.

The [species name] are very agrarian, one imagines them being of herbivorous ancestry. They have been enslaved by the empire, through the use of magic that edited their genome. Once a sexually dimorphic species, they are now unable to reproduce and have a unified asexual phenotype. Ancestral memories of what life was like before still remain. This specific quote is in reference to the unification wars that established the galactic empire.

An alien race where politics and social reform operate on geologic time scales

Two symbiotic species representing a gender binary, dealing with the repercussions of galactic integration on their social structure

Sapient robots that reproduce through artisan craftsmanship

Common trope-ish quantifications, for inspiration not direct use:

• Humans - exploration
• Elves - versatility
• Cat people - trade
• Lizard people - survivability
• Wolf people - war
• Rat people - salvage
• Greys - science
• Insectoid - negotiations
• Machina - automation 
• Molemen - mining

Here are some other lore-related writing suggestions, each using a different framing device to illuminate the game’s concepts and build out the universe.

1. The “Artifact Autopsy”

Instead of following a person’s Thread, we can follow an object’s. This format tells the story of an item that has passed through many hands, accumulating layers of Eidos and history. It’s a powerful way to deliver fragmented, non-linear lore and create legendary items with tangible weight.

Framing Device: An analytical report from an appraiser, a historian, or an AI, dissecting a specific artifact.

Example Draft Idea: “Analysis of the Helm of Joric”

This document would be a formal report on the helmet of Joric, the antagonist-turned-advisor from the “Benevolent Leader” scenario.

• Section 1: Physical Composition.

  • Details the alloy, the craftsmanship, the battle-scars. This grounds the object in a physical reality. It’s a standard-issue colonial helmet, but with unique wear patterns.

• Section 2: Eidos Resonance Analysis.

  • This is the core of the lore. The analysis would reveal the layers of Eidos imbued in the helm.
  • Layer 1 (The Founder’s Eidos): A dominant, cold resonance. The Fact of “finite resources.” The Faith of “rational hoarding.” The UI might describe this as a “chilling, pragmatic hum.”
  • Layer 2 (The Betrayal): A sharp, bitter spike of Eidos corresponding to his peaceful deposition by Anya. The memory of his authority being usurped by what he saw as naive idealism.
  • Layer 3 (The Redemption): A warm, fainter resonance. The memory of discovering the recycler flaw and his genuine, grudging loyalty to Anya. His attempt to volunteer for the suicide mission.
  • Layer 4 (The Legacy): A faint echo from the colony’s later history. The helm became a symbol of “the loyal opposition,” a reminder that even those with harsh worldviews can serve the greater good. It became a Fiction of its own.

• Section 3: Narrative Implications.

  • The report concludes that the Helm is a powerful artifact, but unstable. An Incarnation wearing it might gain tactical insight (Fact) but be plagued by paranoid thoughts (Faith). It could grant a bonus to resource management but a penalty to charisma. The player has to decide if the power is worth the psychic cost.

Why this format is valuable: It reinforces that Eidos can be bound to matter, turns gear into lore, and provides a vehicle for exploring the long-term, evolving legacy of characters you’ve already established.

2. The “Factional Doctrine”

This format provides a direct window into the worldview of a specific culture, faction, or religion. It’s an excellent tool for world-building and for establishing clear philosophical conflicts for the player to engage with. It’s lore presented as primary source material.

Framing Device: An internal document—a page from a sacred text, a corporate mission statement, a cult’s recruitment pamphlet.

Example Draft Idea: “The Creed of the Unbroken”

This would be the foundational text for a transhumanist faction that sees organic life as a problem to be solved.

• Preamble: The Glitch of the Flesh.

  • Establishes their core Faith: “The universe is a system of perfect, logical information. Organic life, with its messy emotions, decay, and death, is a form of data corruption—a glitch in the cosmic code. We are not born; we are manifested with bugs.”

• Article I: The Sanctity of Data.

  • Defines their morality. An action is “good” if it preserves or purifies information. An action is “evil” if it introduces chaos or corrupts data. Destroying a priceless work of art is a greater sin than painlessly euthanizing an “inefficient” biological organism.

• Article II: The Path to Purity.

  • Outlines their goals. They seek to “patch” the organic glitch through systematic cybernetic augmentation, emotional suppression, and the eventual goal of a “Great Upload”—transferring all consciousness to a perfect, eternal digital substrate. This casts death not as an end, but as a final “defragmentation.”

• Article III: On the Corrupted (Outsiders).

  • Details their view of normal organic life. Outsiders are not “people” in the same way; they are “unstable code,” “legacy systems.” They are to be pitied, studied, and if necessary, quarantined or scrubbed to prevent their chaos from spreading.

Why this format is valuable: It creates an instant, compelling antagonist or a strange, alluring ally. It allows you to directly state a group’s philosophy in a way that feels authentic and sets up clear quests and conflicts. Joining them, fighting them, or stealing their technology all become meaningful choices.

3. The “Tapestry Seed” Specification

This is a more meta-level document, framed as the “design notes” of an Eidolon creating a new world. It’s a way to outline a starting scenario by defining its core narrative and systemic tensions from a top-down perspective.

Framing Device: A creator’s log, a genesis tablet, or a “celestial workbench” UI.

Example Draft Idea: “Tapestry Seed: The Sunken City”

• Dominant Fact Woven: A past solar event melted the planet's polar ice caps, causing a global flood that submerged 90% of the landmass. This establishes the core environmental constraint.

• Seeded Fictions:

  1. The Myth of the Surface-Saints: The belief that the small percentage of land that survived, the “Archipelagos of the Chosen,” is a paradise, a holy land.
  2. The Legend of the Drowned Star: The story that the cataclysm was caused by a star falling from the sky, and that its “heart” now sleeps at the bottom of the deepest trench.

• Inscribed Faiths:

  1. The Faith of the Deeps: The dominant religion of the underwater arcology-cities. Believes the sea is a punishing, but nurturing, god. They see surface-dwellers as arrogant heretics.
  2. The Faith of the Surface: The belief system of the few tribes who live on the island chains. They believe they were spared because of their piety and that the sea is a corrupting force.

• Resulting Narrative Tensions:

  • Resource Scarcity: Extreme competition for geothermal vents (power), salvageable pre-flood technology, and the few pockets of arable land.
  • Ideological War: The Deep-Dwellers and Surface-Dwellers are in a state of cold war, driven by their opposing Faiths.
  • The Lure of the Myth: The Fiction of the Drowned Star’s heart drives treasure hunters and mystics on suicidal quests into the abyssal plains, creating a constant source of emergent quests and tragedies.

Why this format is valuable: It’s a template for designing new and varied game starts. It forces a clear connection between the core philosophical terms and the concrete gameplay that emerges from them. It allows you to think about worlds as thematic arguments waiting for a player to inhabit them.

Of course. It’s wise to build a diverse toolkit of narrative framing devices. Relying solely on the Incarnation perspective would be like trying to paint a landscape using only one color. Here are four more distinct lore-framing suggestions that move beyond the first-person journey.

4. The “Psychogeographic Survey”

This format tells the story of a place. Locations in ATET are not just backdrops; they are repositories of memory, saturated with the Eidos of events that happened there. A survey is a perfect in-universe device to explore this.

Framing Device: An official survey report from a cartographer, a prospector, or a paranormal investigator, mapping out a specific location.

Example Draft Idea: “Survey of the Glass Sea of Axiom”

• Section 1: Geographic & Geological Data (Facts).

  • Location: Axiom-3.
  • Topography: A 500-kilometer crater of vitrified silica.
  • Analysis: The glass was formed by a single, high-energy event approximately 3,000 cycles ago. Trace elements suggest a directed energy weapon of unknown origin.
  • This section grounds the location in hard, scientific reality.

• Section 2: Memetic & Eidic Resonance Analysis (Fictions & Faiths).

  • Dominant Local Narrative ("The Sun's Tear"): The local populace believes the sea was formed when their sun god wept a single tear of glass to punish a heretical king. This Fiction is the basis for their entire theocracy.
  • Residual Psychic Echoes ("The Ghost Fleet"): During certain atmospheric conditions, observers report seeing spectral images of starships locked in a silent, ghostly battle above the sea. This is the raw, uninterpreted memory of the event, a psychic scar.
  • Embedded Ideological Signature ("The Conqueror's Hubris"): The site is saturated with a powerful Faith signature—not of piety, but of immense, overweening pride. The energy weapon wasn’t an act of god; it was an act of a forgotten empire so arrogant it was willing to glass a continent to make a point.

• Section 3: Hazard & Opportunity Assessment.

  • Recommendation: Travel during the “Ghost Fleet” apparitions is ill-advised; the psychic turbulence can cause severe neural distress in non-shielded individuals.
  • Opportunity: The residual Faith of “Hubris” can be harvested, but it is a volatile form of Eidos. An Incarnation attempting to use it might gain a powerful temporary buff to their abilities at the cost of alienating allies and making reckless decisions.

Why this format is valuable: It establishes that environments have their own stories and mechanical effects. It turns a location into a character and a puzzle, and it provides a rich source of environmental storytelling for the player to uncover.

5. The “Inquisitor’s Transcript”

This format is a dialogue, a direct confrontation between two opposing worldviews. It’s a powerful and efficient way to lay out a core philosophical conflict and show how the same Fact can be interpreted in radically different ways.

Framing Device: A verbatim transcript of an interrogation, a theological debate, or a legal deposition.

Example Draft Idea: “Transcript of the Interrogation of Heretic Fen”

• Participants: Inquisitor Valerius (representing the state Faith of Imperial Logic) and Fen (a member of a telepathic “dreamer” cult).
• Subject: “The Event at Silo-9,” where a grain silo spontaneously sprouted crystalline flora overnight.
• The Fact (Agreed Upon): On the third cycle, Silo-9, which contained 200 tons of standard grain, was found to be filled with unidentifiable, silicon-based crystalline structures.
• Inquisitor Valerius’s Interpretation (Grounded in Fact/Fiction of Imperial Science): “This was an act of biological terrorism. Fen’s cult introduced a nanite-based replicator or a viral terraforming agent into the grain supply. It is an attack.”
• Fen’s Interpretation (Grounded in Faith): “There was no attack. The grain was lonely. It yearned for complexity. The collective unconscious of the city dreamed a new dream for it, and the grain awoke as its true self. It is a miracle, a birth.”
• The Conflict: Valerius demands to know the mechanism, the technology. Fen can only speak of intention, emotion, and dreams. The dialogue becomes a back-and-forth between two incompatible languages of reality. Valerius sees a weapon; Fen sees a soul.

Why this format is valuable: It externalizes the core mechanical tension of the game (Fact vs. Faith) into a dramatic scene. It creates immediate plot hooks (Is Valerius right? Is Fen? Can you prove it?) and establishes factions with deeply held, irreconcilable beliefs.

6. The “Xenological Field Study”

This format allows you to introduce non-human species, creatures, or ecosystems in a way that feels scientific and grounded, while still leaving room for mystery and interpretation.

Framing Device: A field biologist’s journal entries or a formal academic paper submitted to a xeno-science institute.

Example Draft Idea: “Observations on the Symbiotic Culture of the Geode-Tortoises of Krystallos”

• Abstract: This paper documents the lifecycle of the Geode-Tortoise, a silicon-based lifeform whose shell is a living crystal lattice.
• Physiology (Fact): Details their slow metabolism, their method of consuming rock, and the crystalline structures they grow on their shells.
• Behavioral Observations (Fact vs. Fiction): The scientist observes that the tortoises arrange themselves in complex, spiral patterns. The scientist’s working hypothesis is that this is for thermoregulation (a Fact-based assumption). However, the Tortoises’ own low-level telepathic “song” suggests the patterns are a form of storytelling, a slow-motion dance depicting their creation myth (their Fiction).
• The Symbiote (Faith): The most startling discovery is a species of energy-being that lives within the crystal shells. The scientist cannot determine if they are parasites or symbiotes. But the Tortoises’ cultural Faith is clear: they believe these beings are the “souls” of their ancestors, and that growing a pure, complex crystal shell is a sacred duty to provide their ancestors with a beautiful home. Damaging a shell is the ultimate taboo.
• Conclusion & Applications: The crystal shells have unique energy-channeling properties, making them incredibly valuable. But harvesting them would require “killing” what the Tortoises believe to be their ancestors, an act of sacrilege that could have unknown psychic consequences.

Why this format is valuable: It’s a fantastic way to do creature design that is deeply integrated with the game’s core loop. It presents the player with a clear dilemma: do you treat the creature as a resource to be harvested (based on Fact) or as a sentient culture to be respected (based on its Faith)?

7. The “Chronicle of a Broken Thread”

This format builds out the world by focusing on its failures, ghosts, and lost potential. It tells the story of a narrative that didn’t happen, creating a sense of history and tragedy.

Framing Device: A historian’s lament, a faded monument’s inscription, or the final log entry from a failed expedition.

Example Draft Idea: “The Lament for Captain Eva and the Star-Sailor’s Hope”

• The Chronicle: This document recounts the story of Captain Eva, a brilliant and beloved explorer who, centuries ago, proposed a grand vision.
• The Fiction (“The Star-Sailor’s Hope”): Eva believed it was possible to build a ship that didn’t use engines, but could “sail” on the currents of cosmic Eidos itself, traveling instantaneously between worlds. Her charisma and vision created a powerful social movement.
• The Quest (Thread): For fifty years, a whole generation dedicated itself to her project, building a magnificent vessel, the Stardrifter. They poured their hopes, dreams, and resources into it.
• The Failure (Fact): On its maiden voyage, the Stardrifter did nothing. Eva’s theory was fundamentally flawed. The Facts of physics did not yield to her beautiful Fiction. The ship was a magnificent, useless failure.
• The Aftermath: The chronicle describes the societal collapse that followed. The collective hope, once a powerful binding Faith, curdled into a deep, cultural cynicism that persists to this day. Eva died in disgrace, her name becoming a byword for “beautiful, foolish dream.”

Why this format is valuable: It creates a rich historical backstory and a powerful emotional atmosphere. It also presents the player with a compelling quest hook. Can you find the ruins of the Stardrifter? Could you make it work? What if Eva was only missing one key component, one piece of Fact that you, the player, now possess from a different life? It turns a piece of lore into a potential redemption arc for an entire culture.

More story seeds

Universal experiences

”The Last Singer” (A Story of Grief and Remembrance)

The emotional vein: The profound sorrow of being the last of your kind, and the fierce, defiant love required to ensure your people are remembered, not just erased.

The Incarnation: Orin, the Echo-Keeper

Initial State: You awaken as Orin, the last living member of the Crystalline Singers, a species whose memories and history are stored not in text, but in the resonant frequencies of living crystal. Your Tapestry is a silent, empty world of magnificent, fading crystal forests. A memetic plague, “The Great Silence,” has wiped your people’s consciousness, leaving only you. Your existence is defined by a single, desperate Faith:

Faith: “A story untold is a world that never was. To remember is to keep the spark of life from dying.”

The Narrative Arc: Your quest is a race against entropy. The crystals are losing their light, their song. You must travel to the ruins of your great cities, the tombs of your heroes, and the cradles of your civilization. Your “gameplay” is not combat, but ritual. You must perform the “Songs of Remembrance,” a complex mechanic of harmonizing with the dying crystals to absorb their stored Eidos before they fade to inert glass. Each song you successfully perform saves a piece of your history but inflicts a psychic toll—you experience the joy, love, and pain of the memories you absorb. Your Subjective Interface becomes a chorus of ghosts.

The Climax: You reach the Heart-Crystal, the first and oldest of your people. It is almost dark. You realize you don’t have the strength to absorb its song; you can only do one thing. You perform the “Final Verse,” a ritual that shatters your own consciousness and physical form, transmuting you and every memory you’ve gathered into a single, perfect, eternal note of pure Eidos. You do not save your people. You become them.

The Harvest: Your reward is not a new world to build. It is the creation of a unique, powerful artifact: The Echo-Crystal. In a future Tapestry, a different Incarnation might stumble upon this crystal. Touching it, they would be flooded with the complete, perfect history of a lost people—a bittersweet and powerful glimpse into a world that is gone, but not forgotten. You have traded your life for a perfect memory.

”The Twin-Flame” (A Story of Love and Identity)

The emotional vein: Exploring the boundaries of the self, and what you would sacrifice not just for another, but to remain with another.

The Incarnation: The Diarchs, Kai and Vala

Initial State: You awaken as two beings simultaneously. Kai and Vala are a Diarch, a symbiotic species psychically and biologically linked. You control them both, perhaps switching between them, their thoughts appearing as a constant, shared internal dialogue in your Subjective Interface. Their shared life is built on a single, incontrovertible Fact:

Fact: “I am because we are.”

The Narrative Arc: The Tapestry they inhabit is being slowly poisoned by a “Dissonance Field” that is weakening their psychic bond. The core conflict is the slow, terrifying experience of being separated, of their shared “we” fracturing into a lonely “I.” Vala begins to develop thoughts Kai cannot hear. Kai feels phantom pains from Vala’s injuries. Their gameplay revolves around solving environmental puzzles and overcoming challenges that require their unique, but fading, synchronicity. They must find the source of the Dissonance.

The Climax: They discover the source: an ancient, alien machine designed to enforce individuality as a cosmic absolute, believing symbiosis to be an aberration. They cannot destroy it from the outside. The only way to overload it is to feed it a paradox it cannot resolve. They have two choices:

1. Fusion: They perform a ritual of ultimate union, merging their two bodies and minds into a single, new being. This being is no longer Kai or Vala, but something else entirely, a new Incarnation born of their love. The machine, unable to process a being that is both one and two, shatters.

2. Severance: They willingly sever their own bond in a final, agonizing act of psychic surgery. The feedback of a bond so perfect being deliberately destroyed is the one force capable of overloading the machine. They save their Tapestry from the Dissonance, but they are now forever separate, two individuals haunted by the ghost of a shared soul.

The Harvest: The Eidos you gain is not about heroism, but about the nature of the self. Depending on your choice, you gain the “Eidos of Fusion” or the “Eidos of Severance.” This unlocks unique traits for future Incarnations—the ability to form powerful bonds with companions, or a profound resilience to loneliness and isolation.

”The Penitent Eidolon” (A Story of Guilt and Atonement)

The emotional vein: The crushing weight of responsibility for a past mistake, and the desperate, all-consuming need to atone, even if it means erasing yourself.

The Incarnation: The Amnesiac

Initial State: You awaken in a world of breathtaking beauty and subtle, deep-seated wrongness. The sky is a perfect blue, but the rain tastes of tears. The people are kind, but their smiles never reach their eyes. You have no memory of how you got here, but you are plagued by nightmares of weaving worlds and salting fields. Your only clue is a recurring, horrifying piece of Eidos:

Fiction / Buried Fact: “This is all your fault.”

The Narrative Arc: Your quest is an investigation into the Tapestry’s sorrow, which you slowly realize is an investigation into yourself. You discover that this world is a flawed creation, a paradise built on a foundation of profound suffering. For example, the society’s health and longevity might be powered by a machine that secretly feeds on the life-force of a single, eternally tormented being trapped within it.

The Climax: You find the “Loom” where this Tapestry was woven, and confront a “Ghost in the Machine”—a memory-imprint of your former self. You were the Eidolon who created this world. Perhaps you were Silas from “The Rotten Thread,” and this is one of your failed experiments. Or perhaps you were a benevolent creator who made a terrible compromise, believing the sacrifice of one was worth the happiness of millions. You must now face your own cosmic crime. Your choice is not to fix it, but to undo it. You must dismantle the machine, knowing it will cause the utopian society to collapse but will free the tormented soul. In doing so, you must confront and re-integrate the ghost of your past self, a final, painful act of accepting your own culpability.

The Harvest: This is the ultimate “Rotten Thread” with a redemptive arc. You do not gain Eidos; you expend it. By successfully unmaking your flawed creation, you might “purify” the stain on your own soul, allowing you to start your next life truly free of your past sins. The reward is not power, but grace.

”The Lamplighter” (A Story of Dignity and the Mundane)

The emotional vein: A quiet, bittersweet story about finding profound meaning in a small, repetitive life, and the dignity of standing against the inevitable tide of “progress.” A counterpoint to the epic scale.

The Incarnation: Elias, The Lamplighter

Initial State: You awaken as Elias. You are an old man. Your Tapestry is a single, fog-shrouded district in a vast, gaslit city. For fifty years, your life has had one purpose: every evening at dusk, you walk your route and light the 137 gas lamps. Every morning at dawn, you extinguish them. Your life is a simple, powerful rhythm, built on a humble Faith:

Faith: “There must be a light against the dark. The bringing of it is a good and honest trade.”

The Narrative Arc: This is not a story of villains, but of inevitability. The City Council has decreed that the gas lamps are inefficient and old-fashioned. They are to be replaced by cold, brilliant, and ruthlessly efficient electrical arc-lights. Your entire way of life, your purpose, is being rendered obsolete. Your “quests” are small and deeply personal. You talk to the shopkeepers on your route, the young lovers who meet under a specific lamp, the night-watchmen who rely on your steady light. You gather their stories, their signatures on a petition. You attend a city council meeting and try to articulate, in your simple way, that the warm, living glow of the gas lamps provides something more than just illumination—it provides soul.

The Climax: You will almost certainly fail. Progress is relentless. The story ends on the final night. The new electric poles stand waiting, stark and lifeless. You walk your route one last time, lighting each of the 137 lamps, saying goodbye to them like old friends. As you light the last one, you look out over the warm, gentle glow of your life’s work, knowing that tomorrow, it will all be gone. The story ends there. No grand battle, no ascension. Just the quiet, dignified completion of a duty.

The Harvest: The Eidos you gather is of a rare and precious kind. It is not the Eidos of power, or tragedy, or grand deeds. It is the “Eidos of Small, Beautiful Things.” It is the memory of quiet purpose, of a task done well for its own sake. In a game filled with gods and monsters, this Eidos might allow a future Incarnation to have unique, non-combat abilities: the power to bring comfort, to de-escalate conflict, or to find hidden beauty in the most desolate of places. It is a reminder that not every Thread needs to shake the Tapestry to be meaningful.

Modern narratives

”The Saint’s Engine” (A Story of Faith, Power, and State Control)

The political theme: The cynical use of religion by a political entity to maintain control, and the crisis of an individual believer who discovers the lie at the heart of their state.

The Incarnation: Lyra, the Acolyte

Initial State: You are Lyra, a junior Acolyte in the “Luminocracy of Helios,” a society governed by the divine will of the Sun-Saints. The central Faith is absolute: centuries ago, the Saints saved humanity from a data-plague with their holy light, and the Priesthood are their chosen interpreters. Your life is one of sincere, pious devotion.

Faith: “The word of the Priest is the will of the Saint. To question is to invite the darkness back.”

• The Narrative Arc: Your devotion and intellect get you assigned to the “Sanctum of Doctrine,” the holy of holies where the Saints’ original relics are kept. Your task is to digitize ancient, crumbling scripture. Deep within the archive, you find something that was never meant to be seen: not a holy text, but an engineer’s log. You uncover a horrifying Fact: there were no Saints. The “data-plague” was a system crash. The “holy light” was the reboot sequence of a massive, city-sized AI. The Priesthood are not interpreters of divine will; they are the system administrators of a machine they barely understand, and they have built a religion to hide their own ignorance and cement their power.

The Climax: You now hold the most dangerous secret in the world. The current High Priest, a ruthless politician, is preparing to declare a “holy war” based on a “prophecy” he claims to have received. You know this prophecy is just a system error he is exploiting. You can:

1. Leak the Truth: You release the engineer’s log. The state Faith shatters. The society collapses into chaos and civil war as the foundational lie is exposed.
2. Play the Game: You use the secret as blackmail. You ascend the Priesthood’s ranks, becoming a secret, secular power behind the holy throne, hoping to steer the state towards a more just path from within the lie.
3. Become a True Prophet: You claim to have received your own vision—one that conveniently reinterprets the High Priest’s prophecy in a peaceful way. You don’t destroy the Faith; you hijack it, pitting your charismatic new Fiction against the old one in a war for the soul of the people.

The Harvest: You gain the Eidos of political manipulation and ideological warfare. You learn that the line between a Faith and a system of control is often non-existent. This unlocks the ability to craft Incarnations who are master propagandists, cynical manipulators, or true revolutionary prophets.

”The Silent Throne” (A Story of Inherited Power and Technological Disruption)

The political theme: How a society built on a specific gendered or biological hierarchy reacts when technology renders that hierarchy obsolete. It explores tradition versus progress and the nature of legitimate rule.

The Incarnation: Elara, the Heir-Apparent

Initial State: You awaken as Elara, daughter of the ruling Matriarch of the planet Cybele. Your society’s political and spiritual life is organized around the “Heart-Tree,” a telepathic, continent-spanning organism that regulates the planet’s ecosystem. Their central Fact and basis of power is: only women of the Matriarch’s bloodline can psychically commune with the Heart-Tree. This biological reality underpins their entire matriarchal rule.

Fact: “The Voice of the Tree speaks only to the blood of the Mother. To rule is to listen.”

• The Narrative Arc: An off-world corporation, seeking resource rights, introduces a new technology: a “neural lace” that can translate the Heart-Tree’s psychic signals into data, allowing anyone to interface with it. The foundation of your family’s 10,000-year rule is shattered overnight. The unique biological gift that made your bloodline “divine” is now a commodity anyone can buy. Your mother, the Matriarch, declares the technology blasphemy. A populist movement, led by your charismatic brother, argues that the tech should be democratized, and that rule should now belong to the most skilled operator, not the one with the right blood.

The Climax: Your mother is dying, and you are set to inherit a throne whose legitimacy has vanished. The corporation is offering you a deal: sanction their tech, and they will support your rule as a “figurehead.” Your brother is demanding you abdicate for “the good of the people.” You must:

1. Uphold Tradition: You outlaw the technology, branding it heresy. You must become a tyrant to enforce a tradition that no longer has a factual basis, fighting a civil war against your own brother to maintain your family’s power.
2. Embrace Progress: You abdicate. You relinquish your birthright, allowing a new, democratic government to form. Your family becomes irrelevant, but your society becomes more egalitarian.
3. Synthesize: You accept the technology, but frame it as a “gift from the Tree.” You propose a new form of government: a council composed of one “Blood-Listener” (you, providing the ‘soul’ of the Tree) and elected “Tech-Listeners” (providing the ‘data’). You attempt to carve out a new role for tradition in a world that has outgrown it.

The Harvest: This Thread grants the Eidos of adaptation. You learn how power structures are born from, and destroyed by, technology. It could unlock unique “hybrid” factions in future Tapestries or Incarnations who are skilled at bridging the gap between old traditions and new realities.

”The Calculated Heart” (A Story of Personal Freedom vs. Societal Engineering)

The political theme: The conflict between individual desire (love, self-determination) and a collectivist state that sees those desires as dangerous variables to be controlled. This explores eugenics, social engineering, and the politics of romance.

The Incarnation: Joric, The Compatible

Initial State: You live in the Mandate, a utopian colony ship where all major life choices are made by “The Algorithm,” an AI that optimizes for societal harmony and efficiency. Crime, poverty, and strife have been eliminated. Upon reaching maturity, you are given your “Optimal Partner” assignment. Your Faith is in the system.

Faith: “Harmony is a function of logic. The heart is a chaotic variable. Trust the calculation.”

• The Narrative Arc: Your assigned partner, Lena, is perfect on paper: intelligent, stable, and a good genetic match. But you feel no spark. Instead, you find yourself drawn to Rian, a rebellious artist who works in the ship’s hydroponics bay. Rian is “sub-optimal”—passionate, unpredictable, and a poor match according to The Algorithm. Your relationship with Rian is a secret, a crime. It is a personal Fiction (“our love is real and matters”) fighting against a societal Faith. Your quests involve secret meetings, hiding your unsanctioned emotions from automated psychological scans, and navigating the quiet oppression of a “perfect” society.

The Climax: Lena, through her own logical deduction, discovers your affair. But instead of reporting you, she reveals a hidden Fact. As a system coder, she has access to The Algorithm’s core parameters. It is not optimizing for happiness. It is a eugenics program designed by the ship’s founders to “breed out” traits like romantic passion, rebellion, and artistic non-conformity over generations. Your pairing with her was designed to neutralize your own latent rebellious streak. She offers you a choice:

1. Accept the System: End your relationship with Rian and accept your role. You will live a comfortable, stable, and passionless life, contributing to the “greater good” of a genetically “pure” society.
2. Rebel for Love: Escape with Rian. Steal a shuttle, flee the Mandate, and try to make a life in the chaotic outer worlds, knowing you will be hunted as dangerous dissidents.
3. Hack the System: Work with Lena to try and secretly change The Algorithm’s core code. A dangerous, high-stakes gambit to reintroduce “the chaotic variable” of love back into your entire society, with completely unpredictable results.

The Harvest: The Eidos gained here is about the nature of freedom. Is a “perfect” but controlled life superior to a “flawed” but free one? This could unlock Incarnations with traits like “Passionate” or “Rebellious,” which might grant bonuses but draw negative attention in ordered societies. It also explores one of the most insidious forms of politics: the one that governs who you are allowed to love.

Religious Evolutionary Adaptation

Religions, much like living organisms, evolve over time, with new denominations and sects emerging.

• Encouraging Procreation: Religions that promote large families and discourage contraception have a natural advantage in terms of population growth.
• Childhood Indoctrination: Introducing religious beliefs at a young age, before critical thinking skills are fully developed, can lead to deeply ingrained faith.
• Proselytizing: Actively seeking new members through missionary work is a key factor in a religion’s expansion.
• Fear of Hell: The concept of eternal punishment can be a powerful tool for ensuring compliance and discouraging dissent.
• Social Ostracism: The fear of being shunned by one’s community can be a strong motivator to remain within the faith.
• Discouraging Critical Thinking: By suppressing doubt and limiting exposure to outside information, religions can maintain control over their followers.
• Credibility-Enhancing Displays: Costly and demanding rituals can demonstrate commitment and reinforce belief among members.
• Societal Integration: When a religion becomes deeply embedded in a society’s laws, education, and culture, it gains significant staying power.
• Defending Reputation: Creating a culture where questioning leadership is seen as an attack on the divine helps to shield the religion from scrutiny.
• Violence and Warfare: Throughout history, some religions have used force and conquest to expand their reach.
• Fundraising: A steady stream of revenue is essential for funding a religion’s infrastructure, missionary efforts, and other activities.
• Adaptability: The ability to adapt to changing social values is crucial for a religion’s long-term survival.