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docs/scenarios/SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000.md
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docs/scenarios/SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000.md
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# SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000
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## The BALNEA Conversation
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### Status: Canonical Prologue Scenario Seed
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### Layer: OTIVM (Roman Merchant)
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### Purpose: Establish the universal opening scenario where the participant encounters Ostia, the six backgrounds, and the logic of economic interpretation through mixed-status conversation
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### Repository Path: docs/scenarios/SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000.md
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---
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## 0. Design Intent
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This is the one scenario every participant experiences before divergence.
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The participant does not begin by selecting a class from a menu.
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The participant begins by overhearing six people interpret the same uncertain opportunity.
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The chosen background emerges from affinity with a way of seeing.
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This scenario exists to validate:
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- character selection through revealed behaviour
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- Ostia as pressure field, not backdrop
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- BALNEA as mixed-status social node
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- rumor as first economic input
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- six background perspectives
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- the transition from observation to identity
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- the first lesson of OTIVM: the event is less important than what it changes
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---
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## 1. Canonical Identifier
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| Field | Value |
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|---|---|
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| Scenario ID | `SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000` |
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| Title | The BALNEA Conversation |
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| Token | `balnea_conversation` |
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| Domain | merchant |
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| Scenario Type | prologue / background selection |
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| Repeatable | no for a given participant |
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| Hidden Truth Variants | yes |
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| Required Before | `SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0001`, `0002`, `0003` |
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| Repository Path | `docs/scenarios/SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000.md` |
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---
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## 2. Fixed Setting
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The scene occurs in or immediately around a BALNEA in Ostia.
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The baths are selected because they plausibly allow mixed-status contact between actors who would not share a dinner table, household, or formal council.
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Required properties:
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- public enough for social display
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- informal enough for overheard speech
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- mixed enough for status friction
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- connected enough for fresh rumor
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- ordinary enough that the moment does not feel staged
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Alternative adjacent nodes:
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- changing room
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- courtyard
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- entrance steps
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- oiling area
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- nearby thermopolium after bathing
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Primary rule: the setting must allow all six background archetypes to occupy the same social field without forcing implausible intimacy.
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---
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## 3. Historical Basis
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Roman baths functioned as social infrastructure as well as bathing facilities. They supported conversation, reputation display, rumor circulation, informal business, and cross-status proximity.
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For OTIVM purposes, the BALNEA is the ideal opening node because:
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- the noble can appear without surrendering status
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- the freedman can speak without formal invitation
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- the legionary can observe discipline and threat
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- the failed magistrate can still perform public standing
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- the camp logistician can hear practical supply talk
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- the guild scribe can read the numbers behind the words
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Confidence: Medium.
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Basis: Roman social practice; Ostian bath archaeology strongest in later periods; structural use as analogue for the default 14 BCE epoch.
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---
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## 4. Variable Inciting Topic
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The topic should be variable by world seed, but the default first implementation should use the forge smoke from `SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0001`.
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### Default Topic
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Smoke has been seen from an industrial district of Ostia. Rumor says a bronze forge has burned.
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### Alternative Topics
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| Topic Token | Linked Scenario | Use |
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|---|---|---|
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| forge_smoke | `SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0001` | default first run |
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| capua_timber_shortage | `SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0002` | if Capua event precedes local event |
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| distressed_contractor | `SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0003` | finance-oriented opening |
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| warehouse_infestation | future | storage / spoilage tutorial |
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| delayed_grain_boats | future | port congestion / food price tutorial |
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| new_tax_collector | future | PORTORIUM / legal pressure tutorial |
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Rule: the prologue teaches interpretation, not a single fixed plot.
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---
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## 5. Dramatic Structure
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### Phase 1 — Observation
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Participant enters the BALNEA environment.
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Immediate signals:
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- heat
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- steam
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- scraped oil
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- stone floor
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- wet voices
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- gossip moving faster than facts
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- smoke or rumor arriving before certainty
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No exposition dump.
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### Phase 2 — Six Interpretations
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Each background archetype interprets the same signal.
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The participant hears not biographies, but methods.
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### Phase 3 — First Choice
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Participant chooses the statement, person, or interpretation that feels most useful.
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This selects the starting background.
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### Phase 4 — Consequence
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The selected background determines initial parameters, resources, liabilities, and first available contacts.
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The prologue ends when the participant can act.
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---
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## 6. Six Background Voices
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These are not final player-facing dialogue lines. They are design constraints for how each archetype reads the same event.
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### 6.1 Former Legionary
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Sees:
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- route disruption
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- guard failure
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- movement bottleneck
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- disciplined response or lack of it
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Typical interpretation:
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> The question is not what burned. The question is which road, gate, or yard is now blocked.
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Parameter emphasis:
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- disciplina
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- itineris_scientia
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- periculum_tolerantia
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Blind spot:
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- assumes competence can be commanded into civilians
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Scenario affinity:
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- logistics shocks
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- convoy trade
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- shortage movement
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### 6.2 Freedman Trader
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Sees:
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- goods respectable men will not touch
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- quick buying windows
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- underpriced salvage
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- ignored customers
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Typical interpretation:
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> Smoke makes gentlemen cautious. That is when useful things become cheap.
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Parameter emphasis:
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- mercatus_scientia
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- negotiatio
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- clientela through practical contacts
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Blind spot:
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- elite legal exposure
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Scenario affinity:
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- arbitrage
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- distressed buying
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- market gaps
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### 6.3 Noble Younger Son
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Sees:
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- families involved
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- access points
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- introductions
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- reputation consequences
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Typical interpretation:
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> Before one buys timber or bronze, one learns whose name is attached to the ashes.
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Parameter emphasis:
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- auctoritas
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- ius_accessus
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- fama
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Blind spot:
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- underestimates operating cost and physical delay
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Scenario affinity:
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- partnership
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- access deals
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- credit with witnesses
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### 6.4 Failed Magistrate
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Sees:
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- creditor movement
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- legal weakness
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- signatures
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- delayed permits
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- public vulnerability
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Typical interpretation:
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> Fire is simple. Rebuilding is where men ruin themselves.
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Parameter emphasis:
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- ius_accessus
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- litterae
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- compromised auctoritas
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Blind spot:
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- underestimates how much distrust follows him
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Scenario affinity:
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- legal leverage
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- debt pressure
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- contract traps
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### 6.5 Camp Logistician
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Sees:
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- missing replacement stock
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- hungry labor
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- cart shortages
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- supply timing
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- who will need what before they admit it
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Typical interpretation:
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> If the yard is gone, count the carts, not the flames.
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Parameter emphasis:
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- itineris_scientia
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- disciplina
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- mercatus_scientia under pressure
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Blind spot:
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- offends prestige networks with blunt practicality
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Scenario affinity:
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- emergency contracts
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- supply crises
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- military-adjacent demand
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### 6.6 Guild Scribe
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Sees:
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- accounts
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- debts
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- ledgers
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- pledged goods
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- who was overextended before the accident
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Typical interpretation:
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> The ashes will tell less than the accounts.
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Parameter emphasis:
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- litterae
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- negotiatio
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- ius_accessus through documents
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Blind spot:
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- physical danger and violent enforcement
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Scenario affinity:
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- FAENVS
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- contracts
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- debt purchase
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- collateral analysis
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---
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## 7. Background Selection Mechanic
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The participant should not initially see a stat table.
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Selection options should be phrased as interpretive commitments:
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| Choice Style | Background |
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| Follow the blocked routes and exposed movement | Former Legionary |
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| Buy what fear has mispriced | Freedman Trader |
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| Learn whose name governs the opportunity | Noble Younger Son |
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| Find the signatures and debts beneath the event | Failed Magistrate |
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| Count the carts, crews, and replacement stock | Camp Logistician |
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| Read the accounts before the rumors harden | Guild Scribe |
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After selection, reveal:
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- background title
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- current resources
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- obligations
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- first contact
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- first weakness
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Raw parameters may remain hidden or appear only in advanced view.
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---
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## 8. Initial Parameter Effects
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The prologue selects the starting actor profile defined in `docs/actors/`.
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| Background | Primary Opening Advantage | Primary Opening Cost |
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| Former Legionary | acts quickly under disruption | poor subtle negotiation |
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| Freedman Trader | notices mispriced goods | low formal standing |
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| Noble Younger Son | gains elite access | expensive obligations |
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| Failed Magistrate | sees legal leverage | damaged trust |
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| Camp Logistician | maps supply chain stress | low prestige |
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| Guild Scribe | understands debt and records | avoids physical risk |
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---
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## 9. Prologue-Scenario Relations
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```text
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rumor_signal -> six_interpretations
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selected_interpretation -> background_id
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background_id -> starting_parameters
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background_id -> starting_resources
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background_id -> first_contact
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background_id -> first_blind_spot
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balnea_social_density ↑ -> rumor_velocity ↑
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auctoritas_visible ↑ -> speech_weight ↑
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status_gap ↑ -> dialogue_friction ↑
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```
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---
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## 10. Integration With Existing Scenario Trilogy
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### Link to 0001 — The Bronze Forge Fire
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Default implementation should use visible or rumored forge smoke.
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The prologue teaches:
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- the fire is less important than second-order effects
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- each background sees different opportunity
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- the participant’s first choice is interpretive
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### Link to 0002 — The Capuan Timber Yard Fire
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If seeded with Capuan timber news, the prologue teaches:
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- distant events matter when routes connect them
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- scarcity travels through dependencies
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- Ostia reacts before Capua fully explains itself
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### Link to 0003 — The FAENVS Offer
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If seeded with distressed finance news, the prologue teaches:
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- capital can move without ITER
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- AVCTORITAS and documents can be more valuable than cargo
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- social cost is a real parameter
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---
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## 11. Ostia Dependencies
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Requires substrate from `CITY-OSTIA-0001`:
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- BALNEA as social node
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- rumor velocity
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- mixed-status friction
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- workshop district
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- legal nodes
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- port-city information flow
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- background-specific city readings
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The prologue is the first practical test of whether Ostia functions as a pressure field.
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---
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## 12. Player-Facing Tone Constraints
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Do:
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- show six interpretations through speech and gesture
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- imply status through behaviour
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- keep the event uncertain
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- make choice feel like adopting a method
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- let the city speak through practical details
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Do not:
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- display a class-selection menu first
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- explain all parameters
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- declare the true cause of the event
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- force all six into equal-length speeches
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- overuse Latin as decoration
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- write theatrical fantasy banter
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---
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## 13. Data Model Stub
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```text
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scenario_id: SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000
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scenario_type: prologue
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location_id: ostia_balnea_seed
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inciting_topic: enum
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available_backgrounds: [background_id]
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selected_background_id
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rumor_seed
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known_facts[]
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unknown_facts[]
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first_contact_id
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initial_parameter_profile
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initial_resource_profile
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```
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---
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## 14. Parameters With Confidence Tags
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| Parameter Token | Type | Confidence | Basis |
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| balnea_social_density | social | Medium | bath social function |
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| rumor_velocity | information | Medium | port-city and bath setting |
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| status_friction | social | Medium | mixed-status interaction |
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| speech_weight | social | Low | derived from auctoritas/fama |
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| background_affinity | actor | High | direct participant selection |
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| first_contact_quality | social | Medium | selected background dependent |
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| initial_information_quality | information | Medium | background dependent |
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| opening_blind_spot | actor | High | background design rule |
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| prologue_topic_seed | scenario | High | direct scenario state |
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---
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## 15. Replayability Controls
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For a new participant, randomize:
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- inciting topic
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- order of voices
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- which actor speaks first
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- whether rumor is mostly true or mostly wrong
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- whether elite or low-status interpretation appears most confident
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- environmental pressure: crowding, heat, smoke, rain, noise
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For a given participant, prologue should not repeat.
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---
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## 16. Repository Use
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Internal simulation substrate. Not player-facing script.
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Use this document to support:
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- opening scene implementation
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- organic background selection
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- first tutorial logic
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- Ostia social-node validation
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- scenario chain entry point
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- future dialogue drafting
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---
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## 17. Canonical Success Condition
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If the participant stops asking:
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“Which character has the best stats?”
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and starts asking:
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“Which way of seeing the city do I trust?”
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then the prologue is functioning correctly.
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Reference in New Issue
Block a user