otivm/docs/scenarios/SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000.md

SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000

The BALNEA Conversation

Status: Canonical Prologue Scenario Seed

Layer: OTIVM (Roman Merchant)

Purpose: Establish the universal opening scenario where the participant encounters Ostia, the six backgrounds, and the logic of economic interpretation through mixed-status conversation

Repository Path: docs/scenarios/SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000.md

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0. Design Intent

This is the one scenario every participant experiences before divergence.

The participant does not begin by selecting a class from a menu.
The participant begins by overhearing six people interpret the same uncertain opportunity.

The chosen background emerges from affinity with a way of seeing.

This scenario exists to validate:

• character selection through revealed behaviour
• Ostia as pressure field, not backdrop
• BALNEA as mixed-status social node
• rumor as first economic input
• six background perspectives
• the transition from observation to identity
• the first lesson of OTIVM: the event is less important than what it changes

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1. Canonical Identifier

Field	Value
Scenario ID	SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000
Title	The BALNEA Conversation
Token	balnea_conversation
Domain	merchant
Scenario Type	prologue / background selection
Repeatable	no for a given participant
Hidden Truth Variants	yes
Required Before	SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0001, 0002, 0003
Repository Path	docs/scenarios/SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000.md

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2. Fixed Setting

The scene occurs in or immediately around a BALNEA in Ostia.

The baths are selected because they plausibly allow mixed-status contact between actors who would not share a dinner table, household, or formal council.

Required properties:

• public enough for social display
• informal enough for overheard speech
• mixed enough for status friction
• connected enough for fresh rumor
• ordinary enough that the moment does not feel staged

Alternative adjacent nodes:

• changing room
• courtyard
• entrance steps
• oiling area
• nearby thermopolium after bathing

Primary rule: the setting must allow all six background archetypes to occupy the same social field without forcing implausible intimacy.

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3. Historical Basis

Roman baths functioned as social infrastructure as well as bathing facilities. They supported conversation, reputation display, rumor circulation, informal business, and cross-status proximity.

For OTIVM purposes, the BALNEA is the ideal opening node because:

• the noble can appear without surrendering status
• the freedman can speak without formal invitation
• the legionary can observe discipline and threat
• the failed magistrate can still perform public standing
• the camp logistician can hear practical supply talk
• the guild scribe can read the numbers behind the words

Confidence: Medium.
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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4. Variable Inciting Topic

The topic should be variable by world seed, but the default first implementation should use the forge smoke from SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0001.

Default Topic

Smoke has been seen from an industrial district of Ostia. Rumor says a bronze forge has burned.

Alternative Topics

Topic Token	Linked Scenario	Use
forge_smoke	SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0001	default first run
capua_timber_shortage	SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0002	if Capua event precedes local event
distressed_contractor	SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0003	finance-oriented opening
warehouse_infestation	future	storage / spoilage tutorial
delayed_grain_boats	future	port congestion / food price tutorial
new_tax_collector	future	PORTORIUM / legal pressure tutorial

Rule: the prologue teaches interpretation, not a single fixed plot.

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5. Dramatic Structure

Phase 1 — Observation

Participant enters the BALNEA environment.

Immediate signals:

• heat
• steam
• scraped oil
• stone floor
• wet voices
• gossip moving faster than facts
• smoke or rumor arriving before certainty

No exposition dump.

Phase 2 — Six Interpretations

Each background archetype interprets the same signal.

The participant hears not biographies, but methods.

Phase 3 — First Choice

Participant chooses the statement, person, or interpretation that feels most useful.

This selects the starting background.

Phase 4 — Consequence

The selected background determines initial parameters, resources, liabilities, and first available contacts.

The prologue ends when the participant can act.

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6. Six Background Voices

These are not final player-facing dialogue lines. They are design constraints for how each archetype reads the same event.

6.1 Former Legionary

Sees:

• route disruption
• guard failure
• movement bottleneck
• disciplined response or lack of it

Typical interpretation:

The question is not what burned. The question is which road, gate, or yard is now blocked.

Parameter emphasis:

• disciplina
• itineris_scientia
• periculum_tolerantia

Blind spot:

• assumes competence can be commanded into civilians

Scenario affinity:

• logistics shocks
• convoy trade
• shortage movement

6.2 Freedman Trader

Sees:

• goods respectable men will not touch
• quick buying windows
• underpriced salvage
• ignored customers

Typical interpretation:

Smoke makes gentlemen cautious. That is when useful things become cheap.

Parameter emphasis:

• mercatus_scientia
• negotiatio
• clientela through practical contacts

Blind spot:

• elite legal exposure

Scenario affinity:

• arbitrage
• distressed buying
• market gaps

6.3 Noble Younger Son

Sees:

• families involved
• access points
• introductions
• reputation consequences

Typical interpretation:

Before one buys timber or bronze, one learns whose name is attached to the ashes.

Parameter emphasis:

• auctoritas
• ius_accessus
• fama

Blind spot:

• underestimates operating cost and physical delay

Scenario affinity:

• partnership
• access deals
• credit with witnesses

6.4 Failed Magistrate

Sees:

• creditor movement
• legal weakness
• signatures
• delayed permits
• public vulnerability

Typical interpretation:

Fire is simple. Rebuilding is where men ruin themselves.

Parameter emphasis:

• ius_accessus
• litterae
• compromised auctoritas

Blind spot:

• underestimates how much distrust follows him

Scenario affinity:

• legal leverage
• debt pressure
• contract traps

6.5 Camp Logistician

Sees:

• missing replacement stock
• hungry labor
• cart shortages
• supply timing
• who will need what before they admit it

Typical interpretation:

If the yard is gone, count the carts, not the flames.

Parameter emphasis:

• itineris_scientia
• disciplina
• mercatus_scientia under pressure

Blind spot:

• offends prestige networks with blunt practicality

Scenario affinity:

• emergency contracts
• supply crises
• military-adjacent demand

6.6 Guild Scribe

Sees:

• accounts
• debts
• ledgers
• pledged goods
• who was overextended before the accident

Typical interpretation:

The ashes will tell less than the accounts.

Parameter emphasis:

• litterae
• negotiatio
• ius_accessus through documents

Blind spot:

• physical danger and violent enforcement

Scenario affinity:

• FAENVS
• contracts
• debt purchase
• collateral analysis

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7. Background Selection Mechanic

The participant should not initially see a stat table.

Selection options should be phrased as interpretive commitments:

Choice Style	Background
Follow the blocked routes and exposed movement	Former Legionary
Buy what fear has mispriced	Freedman Trader
Learn whose name governs the opportunity	Noble Younger Son
Find the signatures and debts beneath the event	Failed Magistrate
Count the carts, crews, and replacement stock	Camp Logistician
Read the accounts before the rumors harden	Guild Scribe

After selection, reveal:

• background title
• current resources
• obligations
• first contact
• first weakness

Raw parameters may remain hidden or appear only in advanced view.

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8. Initial Parameter Effects

The prologue selects the starting actor profile defined in docs/actors/.

Background	Primary Opening Advantage	Primary Opening Cost
Former Legionary	acts quickly under disruption	poor subtle negotiation
Freedman Trader	notices mispriced goods	low formal standing
Noble Younger Son	gains elite access	expensive obligations
Failed Magistrate	sees legal leverage	damaged trust
Camp Logistician	maps supply chain stress	low prestige
Guild Scribe	understands debt and records	avoids physical risk

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9. Prologue-Scenario Relations

rumor_signal -> six_interpretations
selected_interpretation -> background_id
background_id -> starting_parameters
background_id -> starting_resources
background_id -> first_contact
background_id -> first_blind_spot
balnea_social_density ↑ -> rumor_velocity ↑
auctoritas_visible ↑ -> speech_weight ↑
status_gap ↑ -> dialogue_friction ↑

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10. Integration With Existing Scenario Trilogy

Link to 0001 — The Bronze Forge Fire

Default implementation should use visible or rumored forge smoke.

The prologue teaches:

• the fire is less important than second-order effects
• each background sees different opportunity
• the participant’s first choice is interpretive

Link to 0002 — The Capuan Timber Yard Fire

If seeded with Capuan timber news, the prologue teaches:

• distant events matter when routes connect them
• scarcity travels through dependencies
• Ostia reacts before Capua fully explains itself

Link to 0003 — The FAENVS Offer

If seeded with distressed finance news, the prologue teaches:

• capital can move without ITER
• AVCTORITAS and documents can be more valuable than cargo
• social cost is a real parameter

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11. Ostia Dependencies

Requires substrate from CITY-OSTIA-0001:

• BALNEA as social node
• rumor velocity
• mixed-status friction
• workshop district
• legal nodes
• port-city information flow
• background-specific city readings

The prologue is the first practical test of whether Ostia functions as a pressure field.

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12. Player-Facing Tone Constraints

Do:

• show six interpretations through speech and gesture
• imply status through behaviour
• keep the event uncertain
• make choice feel like adopting a method
• let the city speak through practical details

Do not:

• display a class-selection menu first
• explain all parameters
• declare the true cause of the event
• force all six into equal-length speeches
• overuse Latin as decoration
• write theatrical fantasy banter

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13. Data Model Stub

scenario_id: SCENARIO-MERCHANT-0000
scenario_type: prologue
location_id: ostia_balnea_seed
inciting_topic: enum
available_backgrounds: [background_id]
selected_background_id
rumor_seed
known_facts[]
unknown_facts[]
first_contact_id
initial_parameter_profile
initial_resource_profile

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14. Parameters With Confidence Tags

Parameter Token	Type	Confidence	Basis
balnea_social_density	social	Medium	bath social function
rumor_velocity	information	Medium	port-city and bath setting
status_friction	social	Medium	mixed-status interaction
speech_weight	social	Low	derived from auctoritas/fama
background_affinity	actor	High	direct participant selection
first_contact_quality	social	Medium	selected background dependent
initial_information_quality	information	Medium	background dependent
opening_blind_spot	actor	High	background design rule
prologue_topic_seed	scenario	High	direct scenario state

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15. Replayability Controls

For a new participant, randomize:

• inciting topic
• order of voices
• which actor speaks first
• whether rumor is mostly true or mostly wrong
• whether elite or low-status interpretation appears most confident
• environmental pressure: crowding, heat, smoke, rain, noise

For a given participant, prologue should not repeat.

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16. Repository Use

Internal simulation substrate. Not player-facing script.

Use this document to support:

• opening scene implementation
• organic background selection
• first tutorial logic
• Ostia social-node validation
• scenario chain entry point
• future dialogue drafting

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17. Canonical Success Condition

If the participant stops asking:

“Which character has the best stats?”

and starts asking:

“Which way of seeing the city do I trust?”

then the prologue is functioning correctly.