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+# DIALOGUE-PROLOGUE-0018
+## The Marriage Contract — Canonical Draft
+### Status: Canonical Dialogue Draft
+### Layer: OTIVM (Roman Merchant)
+### Purpose: Prologue scenario teaching alliance economics, dowry capital, household strategy, inheritance positioning, reputation markets, and how marriage can function as commercial merger.
+### Repository Path: docs/scenarios/DIALOGUE-PROLOGUE-0018.md
+
+---
+
+## 0. Design Intent
+
+Two prosperous households are negotiating a marriage in Ostia.
+
+No ship sinks. No edict is posted. No riot erupts.
+
+Yet scribes are summoned, jewelers delayed, rivals gossip, dowry values reprice nearby assets, servants speculate on future masters, and merchants quietly ask what new alliance will control.
+
+Known facts are uncertain:
+
+- genuine affection or pure strategy
+- size and form of dowry
+- debts concealed by either side
+- fertility concerns hidden politely
+- inheritance disputes among siblings
+- merger of trading networks after union
+
+The participant must learn that households marry assets, names, and futures—not only people.
+
+---
+
+## 1. Scene Constraints
+
+Location: street outside a respectable domus where negotiators meet, adjoining jeweler lane and market corner in Ostia, late morning.
+
+Primary signals:
+
+- scribes entering with tablets
+- gift baskets arriving
+- jewelers suddenly busy
+- gossip clusters forming
+- servants carrying household inventories
+- rivals watching discreetly and badly
+
+Selection method: participant chooses whose interpretation to follow.
+
+---
+
+## 2. Opening Scene Draft
+
+The street smelled of wax, perfume, polished wood, and speculation.
+
+Two litters stood outside the domus door facing opposite directions like cautious ambassadors. Servants carried baskets of fruit, bolts of cloth, sealed jars, and expressions trained not to notice one another.
+
+Marcus Atilius Varro stood where he could see the doorway, the side gate, and the road.
+
+Lucius Fabius Felix arrived smiling like a man hearing coins spoken softly indoors.
+
+“No fire. No flood. No lawsuit,” Felix said. “Only romance. Terrifying.”
+
+Varro watched the servants.
+
+“Three scribes entered.”
+
+“Then romance has witnesses.”
+
+Gaius Licinius Crispus approached already offended by informality.
+
+“A contract requires more than witnesses.”
+
+Felix answered first.
+
+“Then love is doomed.”
+
+Crispus ignored him.
+
+“Which houses?”
+
+Varro said, “The Marcii and the Vettii.”
+
+Quintus Cornelius Lentulus Minor arrived fast enough to suggest interest, slow enough to deny it.
+
+“Serious names,” Lentulus said.
+
+Felix nodded.
+
+“So no one is marrying downward publicly.”
+
+Titus Varenus Secundus came from the stable side carrying a feed scoop.
+
+“Household animals doubled since sunrise,” he said. “Guests or pressure.”
+
+Varro asked, “Kitchen activity?”
+
+“High.”
+
+A quiet voice came from beside a jeweler’s apprentice.
+
+“Gold activity higher.”
+
+Publius Terentius Chresimus stood watching two sealed cases carried inside.
+
+Felix sighed.
+
+“And now affection acquires weight.”
+
+Chresimus said, “Bracelets or collateral.”
+
+Lentulus frowned.
+
+“You assume badly.”
+
+“I assume options.”
+
+A flower seller announced wedding garlands at triple price.
+
+No one challenged the claim.
+
+Felix pointed.
+
+“There. The first blessing.”
+
+Crispus folded his hands.
+
+“If terms fail, those garlands become compost.”
+
+“Then compost also rises.”
+
+A servant from the Marcii house rushed out asking for another notary.
+
+The street changed at once.
+
+Varro said, “Dispute.”
+
+Secundus said, “Or complexity.”
+
+Felix said, “Same sandals, different laces.”
+
+Lentulus looked toward the door.
+
+“Likely dowry schedule.”
+
+Chresimus nodded.
+
+“Or debt disclosure delayed until page two.”
+
+Inside, voices rose and then lowered sharply.
+
+Crispus straightened.
+
+“Poor discipline.”
+
+Felix smiled.
+
+“Excellent bargaining.”
+
+A jeweler closed his stall and ran toward the house carrying a tray covered in linen.
+
+Secundus asked, “Why jewels now?”
+
+Lentulus answered first.
+
+“Demonstration.”
+
+Felix replied, “Distraction.”
+
+Chresimus added:
+
+“Liquidity.”
+
+Varro almost smiled.
+
+“Three answers. Good sign.”
+
+A rival merchant across the street pretended to inspect olives while listening badly.
+
+Felix waved to him.
+
+“He fears combined shipping rates.”
+
+Crispus said, “That is conjecture.”
+
+“That is ears.”
+
+Varro watched the side gate.
+
+“Household steward leaving.”
+
+Secundus looked.
+
+“With inventory tablets.”
+
+Chresimus said, “Then staffing merger discussed.”
+
+Lentulus said, “Households do not merge like warehouses.”
+
+Felix stared at him.
+
+“Some warehouses are more graceful.”
+
+A young cousin emerged weeping.
+
+The crowd inhaled.
+
+Crispus said, “Failure?”
+
+Felix said, “Dowry.”
+
+Lentulus said, “Emotion.”
+
+Chresimus said, “Excluded inheritance line.”
+
+No one knew.
+
+The cousin returned inside after being handed sweet cakes.
+
+Felix nodded.
+
+“Negotiations continue.”
+
+A coppersmith hung a sign:
+
+NEW HOUSEHOLD GIFTS READY BY SUNSET
+
+Secundus pointed.
+
+“There.”
+
+“What?” Crispus asked.
+
+“The city already believes it.”
+
+Varro said, “Belief moves supply.”
+
+Inside the house, laughter sounded suddenly.
+
+Then silence.
+
+Felix grinned.
+
+“Either agreement or insult.”
+
+Chresimus listened.
+
+“Agreement. Chairs moved.”
+
+“How can you tell?” Lentulus asked.
+
+“Men stand to leave only after numbers settle.”
+
+Crispus asked, “What matters now?”
+
+Varro answered first.
+
+“Which roads their carts share.”
+
+Secundus said, “Combined staff, kitchens, storage, animals.”
+
+Lentulus said, “Names, invitations, future standing.”
+
+Felix said, “Whose rivals panic first.”
+
+Crispus said, “Terms, enforceability, guardianship clauses.”
+
+Chresimus said, “Dowry composition.”
+
+They all looked at him.
+
+“If coin, liquid power. If land, slow power. If ships, immediate fear.”
+
+The door opened.
+
+Both family stewards emerged smiling professionally.
+
+The street reacted as if hearing trumpets.
+
+The flower seller doubled prices again.
+
+Felix bowed toward him.
+
+“A natural genius.”
+
+Lentulus adjusted his cloak.
+
+“I should offer congratulations.”
+
+Felix said, “You should offer memory.”
+
+Crispus drew himself up.
+
+“I should review witnesses.”
+
+Secundus said, “I should learn whose staff loses positions.”
+
+Varro stepped toward the road.
+
+“I’ll see which carriers are hired first.”
+
+Chresimus tied his tablets.
+
+“I’ll learn what the dowry truly is.”
+
+Felix turned toward the rival merchant.
+
+“I’ll sell him fear.”
+
+He looked back once.
+
+“Six men. One marriage. None of us discussing affection.”
+
+Varro answered without turning.
+
+“We are discussing alignment.”
+
+---
+
+## 3. Choice Presentation
+
+> A marriage may have been agreed. Two houses may become one interest. Whose reading of the street do you trust?
+
+| Choice | Background |
+|---|---|
+| Follow Varro to track routes, carriers, and practical integration. | Former Legionary |
+| Follow Felix to exploit rival fear and prestige demand. | Freedman Trader |
+| Follow Lentulus to gain standing through congratulations and access. | Noble Younger Son |
+| Follow Crispus to examine terms, witnesses, and enforceability. | Failed Magistrate |
+| Follow Secundus to assess staff, kitchens, storage, and merged operations. | Camp Logistician |
+| Follow Chresimus to uncover the real dowry and balance of power. | Guild Scribe |
+
+---
+
+## 4. What This Scene Teaches
+
+- Marriage can function as alliance and merger.
+- Dowry form matters as much as dowry size.
+- Reputation changes before contracts are public.
+- Rival firms react to household unions.
+- Household integration creates winners and displaced staff.
+- Social ceremonies often conceal hard bargaining.
+
+---
+
+## 5. Canonical Success Condition
+
+If the participant stops asking:
+
+“Who marries whom?”
+
+and starts asking:
+
+“What becomes stronger if these houses join?”
+
+then this dialogue is functioning correctly.