Play Our Game! — Studio Zisha

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<<setheader "SMYRNA · NORTH-QUARTER STREETS" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §1">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/641d182a-9ca3-4be2-9e59-20c24d48c491/Merchant_Quarter_Spotter.jpg?content-type=image%2Fjpeg">> <<setoverlay "<p>Above you, a spotter. She's positioned so the sun doesn't blind her, but she can still see you. Skinny at the intersection ahead. Five behind, walking when you walk.</p>">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/aa078847-24a1-41dd-928a-2c9b004efcf2/War_Band_Vidune_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"33%","bottom":"69.5%","width":"5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"63%","bottom":"30%","width":"7%","stagger":"-0.3s","pose":"ready"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B3_B2">> <<if window._socMomentFired("B1_warm")>><<whisper "clare" "got you. i\u2019ll quiet down." "now">><</if>> <<music "Beat-Boxer" "NEXZ" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4tHKtG9xFo" "">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Rooftop watcher. Means they don't think they need to chase. Slow your breathing."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Okay."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Five. Probably means they're all here. That's a lot for me. Embarrassing for them. If we live, you can tell people you were worth a war band."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Slow down, walk like you belong here. (pointing) Fountain's to the right."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (nervous laugh) "Where are they leading us to?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Somewhere they think they can win."</div> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "don't have fun without me.">> <<settab "guild">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"👍","text":"copy","stat":"byunghoTrust","delta":10,"momentId":"B2_follow","respondImmediate":{"who":"byungho","text":"good","delayMs":1800,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"👌","text":"got it"}' '{"icon":"😏","text":"wouldn\u2019t dream of it","stat":"ishaniByunghoBond","delta":2,"momentId":"B2_playful_peer","replyTo":"byungho","respondImmediate":{"who":"byungho","text":"that\u2019s the spirit","delayMs":1600,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"don’t reply, keep playing","defer":true,"momentId":"B2_defer","replyTo":"byungho"}' >> <<advance "Keep moving" "Demo4_B3_Choice">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §1">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f606323b-590f-4d2e-b776-8bf9c3a40ca0/Merchant_Quarter_Alley_Fight.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"id":"eyvindr","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"48%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"algirdas","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e13d8399-1fc0-436b-85b3-66c839fab674/War_Band_Algirdas_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"52%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"borivoj","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/052c30fa-aef4-4467-8434-78c811d2f2f1/War_Band_Borivoj_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"55%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"thordis","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/4a3cec96-758f-45b0-ba29-01fbb2f4d37a/War_Band_Thordis_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"51.95%","bottom":"24%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"hrafnkell","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e8c93414-fe19-4c68-af23-e35d5269dc32/War_Band_Hrafnkell_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"48%","bottom":"30%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"svetomir","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/73b4a5ee-4bd3-45f5-85c9-bd6463261fba/War_Band_Svetomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"52%","bottom":"31%","width":"6%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"zlata","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"55%","bottom":"30%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"yelena","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/59699670-7ed1-48a0-bdbd-98cb783aa6fc/War_Band_Yelena_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"43.35%","bottom":"23.8%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"vidune","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/aa078847-24a1-41dd-928a-2c9b004efcf2/War_Band_Vidune_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"50%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"igor","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/348dd755-2974-49f4-923e-a95a3ed078aa/War_Band_Igor_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"53%","bottom":"24%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"tihomir","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"56%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"dragomira","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/7c92b730-b1f7-4916-b597-af12136eca6f/War_Band_Dragomira_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"39.95%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"lawrence","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/c679384e-407a-4d97-b996-c4df197c971b/Lawrence_Standing_1400s_Front_filigree.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"75%","bottom":"50%","width":"9.2%","pose":"still"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B4_LawrenceAppears">> <<setoverlay "<p>You hear something hit the rooftop. You look up.<br>The vampire from the road appears on a rooftop.</p>">> <<if window._socMomentFired("B4_chat_gallows_jeff_repair")>><<whisperafter "jeff" 1500 "hey, gallows humor's how i keep my head when it's bad. wasn't thinking about it being your first. my bad.">> <<whisperreply '{"icon": "\ud83e\udef6", "text": "s\u2019okay", "stat": "ishaniJeffBond", "delta": 1, "stat2": "ishaniJeffBond", "delta2": 1, "respondImmediate": {"who": "jeff", "text": "\ud83d\udc4d", "delayMs": 1200, "replyTo": "you"}, "momentId": "B4_whisper_jeff_repair_warm", "replyTo": "jeff", "journal": {"title": "Jeff apologized", "body": "jeff apologized for his gallows humor. waved it off. clare vouched for this guild and he meant it kind, so i\u2019m giving him the benefit of the doubt.", "tag": "[REL] chase \u00b7 B4 \u00b7 jeff-whisper-repair"}}' '{"icon": "\ud83d\udc9b", "text": "it\u2019s fine, don\u2019t worry", "stat": "ishaniJeffBond", "delta": 2, "stat2": "ishaniJeffBond", "delta2": 1, "respondImmediate": {"who": "jeff", "text": "\ud83d\udc4d", "delayMs": 1200, "replyTo": "you"}, "momentId": "B4_whisper_jeff_repair_reassure", "replyTo": "jeff", "journal": {"title": "Jeff\u2019s okay", "body": "jeff apologized for his gallows humor. told him not to worry about it. that\u2019s nice. and unexpected.", "tag": "[REL] chase \u00b7 B4 \u00b7 jeff-whisper-repair"}}' '{"icon": "\ud83d\ude02", "text": "it was pretty funny, actually", "stat": "ishaniJeffBond", "delta": 3, "stat2": "ishaniJeffBond", "delta2": 1, "respondImmediate": {"who": "jeff", "text": "\ud83d\udc4d", "delayMs": 1200, "replyTo": "you"}, "momentId": "B4_whisper_jeff_repair_funny", "replyTo": "jeff", "journal": {"title": "Jeff\u2019s okay", "body": "jeff apologized for his gallows humor. i told him it was funny. it was. that\u2019s nice, and unexpected.", "tag": "[REL] chase \u00b7 B4 \u00b7 jeff-whisper-repair"}}' '{"icon": "\u23f8", "text": "don\u2019t respond", "defer": true, "momentId": "B4_whisper_jeff_repair_defer", "replyTo": "jeff"}' >><</if>> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "hold my beer">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "😂">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"","text":"😂","stat":"ishaniByunghoBond","delta":2,"momentId":"B4_lawrence_laugh","replyTo":"guild","journal":{"title":"Laughed with the Team","body":"Lawrence dropped in from a rooftop while BH said hold my beer. We were laughing while our NPCs faced an angry vampire war band in a dead end alley. I could get used to this.","tag":"[REL] chase · B4 · lawrence-laugh"}}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"hold position","defer":true,"momentId":"B4_lawrence_silent","replyTo":"guild","journal":{"title":"Eyes up","body":"BH said hold my beer. Clare laughed. I watched.","tag":"[REL] chase · B4 · lawrence-silent"}}' >> <<soundprompt "footfall" "Sharp ceramic tile impact on the rooftop. Brief. The kind of sound that makes you look before you decide to.">> <<soundprompt "music-cue" "Legacy gives way to the Heartbeat motif as Lawrence lands — the score registers him. Per Music Architecture: the Heartbeat-plant pays off HERE (Lawrence's arrival through the end of the alley), not at the later tavern reveal. v4.12 canon shift 27 May 2026.">> <<music "Heartbeat" "2PM" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dWBzAetyXc" "">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (looking up) "Nice of you to join us."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "I was in the neighborhood. Thought I'd drop by."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (points her sword at the war band) "What's their reason this time?"</div> <<swapactor "lawrence" "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/d4dde662-fa07-4847-a818-76d804f93b5f/Lawrence_Sword_Draw_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng" "crossfade" 3000 2000>> <<soundprompt "blade" "Sword clearing scabbard. Sharp. The metal of his answer arriving before the words do.">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "Same as last time."</div> <<journalentry "Lawrence is gorgeous" "😂 don’t know bh all that well yet, but vampire saving the day made my evening. such a k-drama mafia boss entrance. love it. wonder what he did to make his vampire so.....damn pretty?" "[REL] chase · B4 · lawrence-appears">> <<sceneadvance "Lawrence drops." "Demo4_Chase_B5">>

<<setchat "pane">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · MERCHANT QUARTER" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §1">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/57f48ae7-689c-4054-8dc7-7c132dd2528a/Merchant_Quarter_Chase.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/8514aa8d-24a1-43ee-a9c1-1fe204471b84/Fang_Run_Bam_Left.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"52%","bottom":"1%","width":"19.4%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/155807fb-781a-4428-9aa1-5be8c626245f/Fortune_Running_Sword.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"61%","bottom":"1%","width":"24.6%","stagger":"-0.3s"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B1">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "ok logging in">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "logging in. who broke what this week?">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "rough day. need to run something stupid tonight.">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "bh, will killing things help?">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "got you">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "💀 i blinked and it's tuesday">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "oh good, the gang's all here. i was about to talk to myself about feudal land tenure">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"💀","text":"lmao same. in.","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":5,"momentId":"ishani_coldopen_guild_warm_solidarity","replyTo":"clare","respondImmediate":{"who":"jeff","text":"oh, we\u2019re in for an evening, huh?","delayMs":2200,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"▶","text":"starting","momentId":"ishani_coldopen_guild_neutral_ready","replyTo":"guild","respondImmediate":{"who":"jeff","text":"oh, we\u2019re in for an evening, huh?","delayMs":1800,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"🫡","text":"hey bh, hope tonight helps","stat":"ishaniByunghoBond","delta":2,"momentId":"ishani_coldopen_guild_warm_bh","replyTo":"byungho","respondImmediate":{"who":"jeff","text":"oh, we\u2019re in for an evening, huh?","delayMs":1800,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"don\u2019t post, just log in","defer":true,"momentId":"ishani_coldopen_guild_lurk","replyTo":"guild"}' >> <<settab "whisper">> <<whisper "clare" "hey, fyi, byungho is dealing with personal stuff tonight. don't take whatever he does too seriously." "now">> <<whisperreply '{"icon":"💛","text":"thanks for the heads up","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":5,"momentId":"clare_heads_up_warm","replyTo":"clare","respondDeferred":{"from":"clare","text":"btw thx for not being weird about him tonight 🙏","atPassage":"Demo4_MoStor_Arrival","replyTo":"you"}}' '{"icon":"🤔","text":"is he okay?","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":3,"momentId":"clare_heads_up_concerned","replyTo":"clare","respondImmediate":{"from":"clare","text":"yeah just tired. don\u2019t push","delayMs":1500,"replyTo":"you"}}' '{"icon":"😐","text":"k","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":-2,"momentId":"clare_heads_up_curt","replyTo":"clare"}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"do not respond right now","defer":true,"momentId":"clare_heads_up_defer","replyTo":"clare"}' >> <<artprompt "B1-establish" "Wide shot. Smyrna merchant quarter, mid-afternoon, sun angled low and warm. Narrow stone street between two-story plastered buildings; awnings stretched over spice stalls and fabric racks. Foreground mid-action: Fortune (per Story Bible §3.1 — South Asian / Indian-presenting, 5'8\", lean-but-muscular working body, age 30, warm brown skin, strong elegant facial features, long black hair worn loose past her shoulders in this scene OR styled into a braid for combat; light-tan turban / head-wrap with fabric trailing as a scarf around her neck and shoulders; lamellar/scale-coat brown leather armor with rivets and articulated shoulder pauldrons, crossed leather chest straps, belt rig with brown leather satchel and water-skin, curved Central-Asian saber sheathed at right hip, knee-high leather boots; visual anchor Fortune_Original.png) and Fang (werewolf in human form, born in Kazakh territory; presents as early-to-mid 40s, actually 240+ years old; high cheekbones, fair-to-light-brown skin, jet-black hair worn in a single thick braid, narrow eye shape with epicanthic fold, tall ~6ft, working body; Sherri-Dindal-coded vocally — visual is Central Asian working-guard; Florentine dual-blade carry — Samarkand short sword primary on right hip, curved Joseon hip-blade off-hand on left, both sheathed crossways; wolf-puppy in chest sling) both mid-stride, running TOWARD camera. Behind them, ~10–12 paces back: three figures pursuing — long coats, controlled gait, NOT panicked. Period-accurate Smyrna texture: Greek and Turkish merchants in background, baskets, brass coffee pot, hanging string of dried peppers. Bystanders not yet reacting. Style: Studio Ghibli adventure crossed with Persona 5 motion lines — sun on stone, dust kicked up by feet. Aspect 16:9." true>> <<soundprompt "ambient" "Smyrna merchant quarter mid-afternoon: footfalls running on stone (multiple — Fortune + Fang foreground, three pursuers behind in mid-distance), background market hum (Greek and Turkish merchants haggling but indistinct, brass clinking, hanging-bell wind chimes from awnings, occasional canvas flap), no shouting/alarm. Sound design rule: pursuers do NOT shout. The wrongness is the silence.">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (without turning) "Don't take the spice street."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Three vampires up ahead. Skinny, Braid, and Spikey."</div> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "on my way">> <div class="d4-choices"> <<chasechoice "aggressive" "dex" "Push the tempo. Move." "Demo4_Chase_B2_Aggressive">> <<chasechoice "tactical" "flow" "Cut left down the side street, narrower. Make them run single file." "Demo4_Chase_B2_Tactical">> <<chasechoice "trickster" "end" "Look for something to throw at them." "Demo4_Chase_B2_Trickster">> </div>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<settab "guild">> <<setlocation "merchant_quarter">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/dfc13afb-800d-4af8-a1d4-5e02a022d831/Merchant_Quarter_Aggressive_Sidestreet.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B2_Aggressive">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"40%","bottom":"36%","width":"6.5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"47%","bottom":"38%","width":"6%","stagger":"-0.2s","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"53%","bottom":"36%","width":"6.5%","stagger":"-0.4s","pose":"ready"}' >> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "...three in front. Three behind."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "That's six. Which means there are six more I can't see."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Twelve. That's Stari Krov."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Stari Krov?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Those are their colors. I haven't seen them in forty years."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (hand on her sword hilt) "This isn't a robbery. They're here for me."</div> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "uhh">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "Run. I\u2019m coming.">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"🫥","text":"bh be careful","stat":"ishaniByunghoBond","delta":2,"stat2":"lawrenceTrust","delta2":2,"momentId":"B2_Aggressive_care_for_bh","replyTo":"byungho","respondImmediate":{"who":"byungho","text":"i\u2019ll be fine","delayMs":1500,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"👀","text":"clare, what does fang know that i don\u2019t?","stat":"fangTrust","delta":3,"stat2":"ishaniClareBond","delta2":2,"momentId":"B2_Aggressive_ask_clare","replyTo":"clare","respondImmediate":{"who":"clare","text":"vampire clan that\u2019s after bh\u2019s character","delayMs":1900,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"💀","text":"did not expect to fight vampires tonight","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":2,"momentId":"B2_Aggressive_register_mirror","replyTo":"guild","respondImmediate":{"who":"jeff","text":"Oh, this will be exciting.","delayMs":1700,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"😬","text":"","defer":true,"momentId":"B2_Aggressive_grimace_defer","replyTo":"guild"}' >> <div class="d4-choices"> <<chasechoice "aggressive" "" "Engage the three in front." "Demo4_Chase_B2_Aggressive_Engage">> <<chasechoice "tactical" "" "Dive left down the side street." "Demo4_Chase_B2_Aggressive_Dive">> </div>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<settab "guild">> <<setlocation "merchant_quarter">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · MERCHANT QUARTER" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §1">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/dfc13afb-800d-4af8-a1d4-5e02a022d831/Merchant_Quarter_Aggressive_Sidestreet.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"40%","bottom":"36%","width":"6.5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"47%","bottom":"38%","width":"6%","stagger":"-0.2s","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"53%","bottom":"36%","width":"6.5%","stagger":"-0.4s","pose":"ready"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B2_Aggressive_Engage">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "...oh">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "oh that's bad">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (steps in, blade up)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (eyes on the vampires) "Hm."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "What?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "They gave ground. They're not engaging."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Why is Stari Krov after you?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Long story. They're a war band whose matriarch is pissed at me."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "I want to hear that story later."</div> <<declareintent "fang_stari_krov_story">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Sure thing, kid."</div> <<journalentry "Stari Krov" "so a whole war band's matriarch is 'pissed at' fang. there's a story there and I hope we get somewhere I can ask for it tonight, so I don't forget. clare will just tell me to wait. :-(" "[PLOT] chase · B2 · stari-krov-question">> <<whisper "clare" "fortune you good?" "now">> <<whisperreply '{"icon":"💚","text":"yeah just need to focus rn","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":10,"momentId":"B1_warm","replyTo":"clare","journal":{"title":"i think i like it here.","body":"clare was right, this guild is better than the last one. they don\u2019t take things too seriously.","tag":"[REL] chase · B1 · warm"}}' '{"icon":"⚪","text":"fine","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":5,"momentId":"B1_aware","replyTo":"clare","respondImmediate":{"from":"clare","text":"k","delayMs":2200,"replyTo":"you"},"journal":{"title":"she didn\u2019t push","body":"said i was fine. i\u2019m not, clare knows but left it so i don\u2019t have to explain myself to everyone.","tag":"[REL] chase · B1 · aware"}}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"don\u2019t reply \u2014 keep playing","defer":true,"momentId":"B1_defer","replyTo":"clare","journal":{"title":"kept my head down","body":"i missed clare\u2019s ping, was caught up in the game. nice that i didn\u2019t get harassed for not responding right away.","tag":"[REL] chase · B1 · defer"}}' >> <<advance "Keep moving" "Demo4_B3_B2">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<settab "guild">> <<setlocation "merchant_quarter">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/2bc12997-4ff4-436f-939e-c7a98783a1d8/Merchant_Quarter_Aggressive_arrival.jpg?content-type=image%2Fjpeg">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"48%","bottom":"50%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"56%","bottom":"51%","width":"5%","stagger":"-0.3s","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"51%","bottom":"45%","width":"5.7%","stagger":"-0.6s","pose":"ready"}' >> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B2_Aggressive_Dive">> <<sceneprose "You break left. Fang follows without hesitation. The three in front are still looking at where you were.">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Was that?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Vampires. Plural."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "How many?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Twelve. Probably twelve."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (quiet) "I haven't seen a war band since Novgorod."</div> <<set $arrivedB3Via = "dive">> <<advance "Keep moving" "Demo4_Chase_B3">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<settab "guild">> <<setlocation "coopers_alley">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B2_Tactical">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"38%","bottom":"48%","width":"4.5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"46%","bottom":"50%","width":"4.5%","stagger":"-0.2s","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"56%","bottom":"55%","width":"4.5%","stagger":"-0.4s","pose":"ready"}' >> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Good call. They can't all fit."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "...look at how they're standing. What do you see?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "They're not really moving. Just... standing."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "And what does that tell you?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "They want us to come to them?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (hand on her sword hilt) "They want me alive."</div> <<soundprompt "foley" "Side street: feet on wet sawdust, wood-shaving crunch, brushing past loose barrel staves (rattle of wood-on-wood). NO mallet-handle kick this version — the alley terrain is the choice, but the herding-reveal lands through positioning rather than improvisation. Footfalls slow as Fang reads what she's seeing; controlled breath; the three vampires ahead are silent.">> <<journalentry "vampires after us" "three of them, just standing there blocking the way out. not attacking, fang says they want her. are they trying to box us in? bh said he's coming. hope that's soon." "[PLOT] chase · B2 · they-want-her-alive">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"🗺️","text":"what\u2019s down the side street?","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":3,"momentId":"B2_Tactical_geography","replyTo":"clare","respondImmediate":{"who":"clare","text":"dead end, safer to defend til BH gets here","delayMs":1700,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"👀","text":"why do they want fang?","stat":"fangTrust","delta":2,"stat2":"ishaniClareBond","delta2":2,"momentId":"B2_Tactical_ask_clare","replyTo":"clare","respondImmediate":{"who":"clare","text":"she pissed them off 40 years ago","delayMs":1900,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"⚔️","text":"how do we fight a war band?","stat":"ishaniJeffBond","delta":3,"momentId":"B2_Tactical_ask_jeff","replyTo":"jeff","respondImmediate":{"who":"jeff","text":"Carefully.","delayMs":1500,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"😬","text":"","defer":true,"momentId":"B2_Tactical_grimace_defer","replyTo":"guild"}' >> <<set $arrivedB3Via = "tactical">> <<advance "Keep moving" "Demo4_Chase_B3">>

<<setheader "SMYRNA · MERCHANT QUARTER" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §1">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/c3b4d946-4c7f-4872-8611-4c48883eceb3/Merchant_Quarter_Melon.jpeg?content-type=image%2Fjpeg" "center bottom">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B2_Trickster">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (eyeing the melon stall) "...Don't laugh."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "I make no promises."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Manus motoria."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "...did you just."</div> <<set $fortuneCast -= 1>> <<set $castMelons = true>> <<sceneprose "Fortune flicked her hand at the cart, casting her spell. Three melons launched off the top of the pyramid. The vampires broke formation to dodge, no time to do anything but scatter, the pyramid coming apart behind them as the rest of the fruit hit stone.">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "You threw fruit at a war band. That'll go in the songs."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (breathless) "Did it work?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "It worked. Doesn't make it less stupid. Move."</div> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "...">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "the melons">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "did you just">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "i'll never get tired of seeing that">> <<artprompt "B2-trickster-melons" "Mid-shot. Smyrna merchant quarter. Fortune mid-stride running TOWARD camera with Fang, half-turned. Her LEFT arm is extended back over her shoulder, hand pointing at the melon stall behind her — the gesture clear and visible: index finger extended toward the pyramid, the rest of the hand mid-flick (palm rotating, fingers snapping back). She is mid-vocalization — mouth open, breath caught around a Latin word. BEHIND her: the pyramid of striped melons mid-disassembly, THREE melons launching out of the cluster on visible motion-lines toward the pursuers, the rest cascading to stone. The pursuers are BREAKING FORMATION TO DODGE — bodies twisting aside, ducking, scattering out of the melons' path; NO melon strikes a body, NO impact, NO stagger. The melons are passing THROUGH the space the formation just vacated. Stall-keeper open-mouthed. Style: cinematic, the moment of a cultivated working deployed at speed by a novice under pressure — it disrupts, it does not connect. Reference: Persona 5 Skill cut-in mid-action freeze. The casting is performed and visible — pointing finger, flick of the wrist, the spell-name on her breath. NO glow, NO particles — the magic is in the airborne objects, not in the caster. Aspect 16:9." true>> <<soundprompt "foley" "Spoken cast: Fortune's voice, single Latin word, <em>manus motoria</em>, pitched mid-stride, breath-tight. Brief sub-audible low-frequency hum (~0.3 sec) under the word as the working takes hold. NO body-impact thuds — the melons do not connect. Melons hitting stone and cart-timber as the pursuers scatter clear, percussive arrhythmic cascade. Scuffing boots and a sharp redirect of footfalls as the formation breaks to dodge. (Fortune's breath does NOT catch here — the cost is masked by adrenaline mid-chase and is deferred to the post-chase walk beat, per Magic Primer §1.3.)">> <<soundprompt "dialogue-bed" "Levantine market vendor: shouted indignation in Greek and Turkish — not scared, just outraged about his stall. The pursuers do not respond verbally — a grunt or two of effort as they twist aside. Boots scuffing and redirecting on stone as they break formation.">> <div class="d4-choices"> <<chasechoice "aggressive" "dex" "Push the tempo. Move." "Demo4_Chase_B2_Aggressive">> <<chasechoice "tactical" "flow" "Cut left down the side street, narrower. Make them run single file." "Demo4_Chase_B2_Tactical">> </div>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · NORTH-QUARTER STREETS" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §1">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e19a94f6-ac04-4082-9cb9-81eec45865d8/Merchant_Quarter_Sidestreet.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"44%","bottom":"35%","width":"4.5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"46%","bottom":"40%","width":"4.5%","stagger":"-0.2s","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"49%","bottom":"45%","width":"4.5%","stagger":"-0.4s","pose":"ready"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B3">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "...oh">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "oh that's bad">> <<artprompt "B3-pattern-reveal" "Mid-shot. A street corner ahead opens into a narrow square (small fountain, carpet sellers, a boy with a goat). Camera angle: behind Fortune and Fang's shoulders as they approach the square. In the square, just visible: MULTIPLE figures (long coats, same gait) standing motionless at the far side and at the corners of the square — they have been in position, not arriving. A SPOTTER on the rooftop above one of the carpet stalls — silhouetted, looking down. The geometry of a capture team that was never just three pursuers. Period Smyrna texture, sunlit. Style: cinematic, the moment of recognition visualized — the choreography of a capture-team made legible. Aspect 16:9." true>> <<soundprompt "ambient" "Quieter street: fountain trickle in foreground, carpet seller's voice in middle-distance, goat-bell, footfalls of Fortune and Fang slowing as they round the corner. NO shouting from pursuers — the silence of a coordinated formation.">> <<if $arrivedB3Via === "tactical">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (quiet) "You did well back there."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "I didn't do anything."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "You saw it."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Who are they?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Stari Krov."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "...what?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "War band. Twelve of them. Matriarch's been wanting a word with me for forty years."</div> <<else>> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (quiet) "There's the rest of them."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "...how do you know?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Standard formation. They've been ahead of us the whole time."</div> <</if>> <<whisper "clare" "fortune you good?" "now">> <<whisperreply '{"icon":"💚","text":"yeah just need to focus rn","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":10,"momentId":"B1_warm","replyTo":"clare","journal":{"title":"i think i like it here.","body":"clare was right, this guild is better than the last one. they don\u2019t take things too seriously.","tag":"[REL] chase · B1 · warm"}}' '{"icon":"⚪","text":"fine","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":5,"momentId":"B1_aware","replyTo":"clare","respondImmediate":{"from":"clare","text":"k","delayMs":2200,"replyTo":"you"},"journal":{"title":"she didn\u2019t push","body":"said i was fine. i\u2019m not, clare knows but left it so i don\u2019t have to explain myself to everyone.","tag":"[REL] chase · B1 · aware"}}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"don\u2019t reply \u2014 keep playing","defer":true,"momentId":"B1_defer","replyTo":"clare","journal":{"title":"kept my head down","body":"i missed clare\u2019s ping, was caught up in the game. nice that i didn\u2019t get harassed for not responding right away.","tag":"[REL] chase · B1 · defer"}}' >> <<advance "Keep moving" "Demo4_B3_B2">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §1">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f606323b-590f-4d2e-b776-8bf9c3a40ca0/Merchant_Quarter_Alley_Fight.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"id":"eyvindr","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"48%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"algirdas","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e13d8399-1fc0-436b-85b3-66c839fab674/War_Band_Algirdas_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"52%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"borivoj","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/052c30fa-aef4-4467-8434-78c811d2f2f1/War_Band_Borivoj_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"55%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"thordis","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/4a3cec96-758f-45b0-ba29-01fbb2f4d37a/War_Band_Thordis_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"51.95%","bottom":"24%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"hrafnkell","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e8c93414-fe19-4c68-af23-e35d5269dc32/War_Band_Hrafnkell_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"48%","bottom":"30%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"svetomir","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/73b4a5ee-4bd3-45f5-85c9-bd6463261fba/War_Band_Svetomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"52%","bottom":"31%","width":"6%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"zlata","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"55%","bottom":"30%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"yelena","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/59699670-7ed1-48a0-bdbd-98cb783aa6fc/War_Band_Yelena_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"43.35%","bottom":"23.8%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"vidune","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/aa078847-24a1-41dd-928a-2c9b004efcf2/War_Band_Vidune_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"50%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"igor","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/348dd755-2974-49f4-923e-a95a3ed078aa/War_Band_Igor_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"53%","bottom":"24%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"tihomir","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"56%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"dragomira","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/7c92b730-b1f7-4916-b597-af12136eca6f/War_Band_Dragomira_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"39.95%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' >> <<setoverlay "<p>You turn to face the twelve vampires.</p>">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B4_Stand">> <<music "Beat-Boxer" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4tHKtG9xFo" "">> <<soundprompt "music-cue" "Legacy's bridge thins to a single sustained string layer. The held silence inside the chase music. The moment before something arrives.">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Hold my left."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Do you think you could pick up one of those boxes? Knock one of them down?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "No. Too far for me."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (to herself, softly) "Faith manages."</div> <<guildreply '{"icon":"❤️","text":"any suggestions?","stat":"ishaniByunghoBond","delta":3,"stat2":"ishaniJeffBond","delta2":2,"momentId":"B4_chat_ask","replyTo":"guild","respondImmediate":[{"who":"jeff","text":"survive. boring answer. correct answer.","delayMs":1500,"surface":"guild"},{"who":"byungho","text":"on my way. hold til i get there.","delayMs":3200,"surface":"guild"}]}' '{"icon":"🫡","text":"i\u2019ll follow your lead.","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":5,"stat2":"fangTrust","delta2":2,"momentId":"B4_chat_follow","replyTo":"clare","respondImmediate":{"who":"clare","text":"got you.","delayMs":1500,"surface":"guild"},"journal":{"title":"Followed Clare","body":"Fang said survive. Clare\u2019s playing her. I told Clare I was with her. She had me.","tag":"[REL] chase · B4 · follow"}}' '{"icon":"\ud83d\ude2c","text":"oh gawd, we\u2019re dead.","stat":"ishaniJeffBond","delta":3,"momentId":"B4_chat_gallows_jeff_repair","replyTo":"guild","respondImmediate":[{"who":"jeff","text":"makes for a short session tonight.","delayMs":1500,"surface":"guild"},{"who":"clare","text":"Jeff.","delayMs":3000,"surface":"guild"},{"who":"jeff","text":"sorry.","delayMs":4200,"surface":"guild"},{"who":"jeff","text":"ishani, sorry. clare\u2019s fought vampires before. you\u2019ll be fine.","delayMs":6000,"surface":"guild"}]}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"hold position","defer":true,"momentId":"B4_chat_defer","replyTo":"guild","journal":{"title":"Eyes on Fang","body":"Chat was going. Eyes on Fang.","tag":"[REL] chase · B4 · defer"}}' >> <<sceneadvance "Hold position" "Demo4_Chase_B4_LawrenceAppears">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §1">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f606323b-590f-4d2e-b776-8bf9c3a40ca0/Merchant_Quarter_Alley_Fight.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"id":"eyvindr","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"48%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"algirdas","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e13d8399-1fc0-436b-85b3-66c839fab674/War_Band_Algirdas_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"52%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"borivoj","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/052c30fa-aef4-4467-8434-78c811d2f2f1/War_Band_Borivoj_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"55%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"thordis","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/4a3cec96-758f-45b0-ba29-01fbb2f4d37a/War_Band_Thordis_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"51.95%","bottom":"24%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"hrafnkell","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e8c93414-fe19-4c68-af23-e35d5269dc32/War_Band_Hrafnkell_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"48%","bottom":"30%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"svetomir","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/73b4a5ee-4bd3-45f5-85c9-bd6463261fba/War_Band_Svetomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"52%","bottom":"31%","width":"6%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"zlata","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"55%","bottom":"30%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"yelena","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/59699670-7ed1-48a0-bdbd-98cb783aa6fc/War_Band_Yelena_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"43.35%","bottom":"23.8%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"vidune","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/aa078847-24a1-41dd-928a-2c9b004efcf2/War_Band_Vidune_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"50%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"igor","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/348dd755-2974-49f4-923e-a95a3ed078aa/War_Band_Igor_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"53%","bottom":"24%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"tihomir","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"56%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"dragomira","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/7c92b730-b1f7-4916-b597-af12136eca6f/War_Band_Dragomira_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"39.95%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"lawrence","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0acd7e93-38da-4284-937a-4ac6d0f25533/Lawrence_Jump_Start2_filigree.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"45%","bottom":"70%","width":"10.5%"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B5_LawrenceDrop">> <<if $chase.aggressive >= $chase.tactical and $chase.aggressive >= $chase.trickster>> <<setchasedetail "aggressive">> <<elseif $chase.tactical >= $chase.trickster>> <<setchasedetail "tactical">> <<else>> <<setchasedetail "trickster">> <</if>> <<artprompt "B5-lawrence-drop" "KEY ART. Two-frame sequence. FRAME 1: Lawrence (per Story Bible §3.7 — Korean vampire-mage-swordsman, 1000 years old, born ~252 CE on what is now the Korean peninsula; Net's ring keeps him in early-30s presentation; physically resembles a super-buff K-drama lead — broad shoulders, lean muscle, controlled posture; pale-cool skin tone, vampire physiology with resting heart rate ~40 bpm; dark coat, dark hair; visual reference: K-drama lead aesthetic, voice/casting reference Lee Jun-Ho) on the rooftop edge, ONE silhouetted instant before dropping. The sun behind him. The spathē (Roman cavalry sword, ~30-inch blade, single-edged, drawing-from-back position) in his right hand, mid-draw, blade catching light. FRAME 2: Lawrence in the alley between Fortune-and-Fang and the war band, blade extended at the lead war-band-leader's chest height. The drop from two stories should READ as a vampire drop — landed clean, no recovery beat, body angled forward into the cut. No human survives that landing in that posture. The war-band leader's coat has been cut — a single horizontal slit across the chest of the coat, fabric just beginning to part. NO blood. The lead figure's expression: recognition, then controlled anger. Lawrence's expression: unreadable. Fang in the background mid-frame, blade still drawn but lowered, as if she's just registered who dropped. Fortune behind Fang, mid-recognition. Style: cinematic action — the spathē coat-slice is steel-precise restraint signaling reach without committing to a kill; the drop physics tell the player what Lawrence is, before anyone names it. Aspect 16:9." true>> <<soundprompt "foley" "Lawrence's drop: vertical fall, controlled — no scream, no grunt, just air-displacement and the soft thud of boots on stone. Cut sound (deferred to B5_CoatCut): spathē through wool coat — fabric tearing along clean blade line, NO flesh impact. Single percussive moment. Then: silence.">> <<music "Heartbeat" "2PM · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dWBzAetyXc" "">> <<moveactor "lawrence" "45%" "9%" 800 "ease-in" "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/3bf69f99-4395-42e6-9254-f0200617c2e2/Lawrence_Standing_Spathe__Back_filligree.png?content-type=image%2Fpng" "crossfade" 1000 800>> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (drops between you and the war band)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --svetomir">Svetomir:</span> "Lawrence."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "Svetomir."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --svetomir">Svetomir:</span> "By the right of the Hosting Clan, I am sent to renew the summons."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "By the right of the Refused, I decline."</div> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "“the right of the Refused”, is that a new drink from Tiberius?">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "bitter. with one ice cube.">> <<settab "guild">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"😭","text":"😭","replyTo":"guild"}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"hold position","defer":true,"replyTo":"guild"}' '{"icon":"🍷","text":"i\u2019ll have what she\u2019s having 😭","replyTo":"guild"}' >> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --svetomir">Svetomir:</span> "The matriarch will not hear that twice."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "She has heard it forty-one times. Once a year, since the conclave. This will be forty-two."</div> <<sceneadvance "Hold the line." "Demo4_Chase_B5_CoatCut">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §1">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f606323b-590f-4d2e-b776-8bf9c3a40ca0/Merchant_Quarter_Alley_Fight.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"id":"eyvindr","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"48%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"algirdas","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e13d8399-1fc0-436b-85b3-66c839fab674/War_Band_Algirdas_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"52%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"borivoj","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/052c30fa-aef4-4467-8434-78c811d2f2f1/War_Band_Borivoj_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"55%","bottom":"36%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"thordis","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/4a3cec96-758f-45b0-ba29-01fbb2f4d37a/War_Band_Thordis_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"51.95%","bottom":"24%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"hrafnkell","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e8c93414-fe19-4c68-af23-e35d5269dc32/War_Band_Hrafnkell_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"48%","bottom":"30%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"svetomir","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/73b4a5ee-4bd3-45f5-85c9-bd6463261fba/War_Band_Svetomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"52%","bottom":"31%","width":"6%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"zlata","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"55%","bottom":"30%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"yelena","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/59699670-7ed1-48a0-bdbd-98cb783aa6fc/War_Band_Yelena_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"43.35%","bottom":"23.8%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"vidune","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/aa078847-24a1-41dd-928a-2c9b004efcf2/War_Band_Vidune_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"50%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"igor","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/348dd755-2974-49f4-923e-a95a3ed078aa/War_Band_Igor_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"53%","bottom":"24%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"tihomir","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"56%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"dragomira","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/7c92b730-b1f7-4916-b597-af12136eca6f/War_Band_Dragomira_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"39.95%","bottom":"25%","width":"5.5%","pose":"ready-slow"}' '{"id":"lawrence","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/3bf69f99-4395-42e6-9254-f0200617c2e2/Lawrence_Standing_Spathe__Back_filligree.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"45%","bottom":"9%","width":"10.5%","pose":"ready"}' >> <<setoverlay "<p>The formation withdraws, twelve sets of footfalls receding in disciplined unison.</p>">> <<fadeoutactors 1200 "eyvindr" "algirdas" "borivoj" "thordis" "hrafnkell" "svetomir" "zlata" "yelena" "vidune" "igor" "tihomir" "dragomira">> <<swapactor "lawrence" "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/c679384e-407a-4d97-b996-c4df197c971b/Lawrence_Standing_1400s_Front_filigree.png?content-type=image%2Fpng" "crossfade" 1000 1500>> <<set $lawrenceTrust += 4>> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Chase_B6_Aftermath">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "...">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "ha ha, funny.">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "lawrence is here">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "are we acknowledging this">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "or doing the thing where we don't">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "Happy to help." 3500>> <<whisper "byungho" "fyi he's charming you. it's fine. don't fight it." "now">> <<whisperreply '{"icon":"❗","text":"bh, what??","stat":"ishaniByunghoBond","delta":-3,"momentId":"B6_pushback_bh","replyTo":"byungho","respondImmediate":[{"who":"byungho","text":"you\u2019re good, trust me.","delayMs":1400,"replyTo":"you"}]}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"don\u2019t reply \u2014 keep playing","defer":true,"momentId":"B6_pushback_defer","replyTo":"byungho"}' >> <<set $ishaniByunghoBond -= 3>> <<set $lawrenceTrust -= 3>> <<soundprompt "motif" "Heartbeat motif first deployment. Slow building pulse — single low-frequency thump, doubling, layered under Legacy's outro. The heartbeat is not Fortune's metaphorical heart — it is her actual one, the sound her body would hear if she were paying attention. Eventually this motif becomes the bridge into 2PM's Heartbeat (commissioned-track plant).">> <<heartbeat "first deployment · gaze-amplified charm-reinforcement; Fortune returns the gaze">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (turns. Smiles at you as if his whole world is centered on you in this moment.)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (hint of surprise) "You came."</div>  <div class="d4-prose --ingame-wrap"><p class="--ingame">His voice lands warm and low, the way a mug of aged boza is warm and low.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (body answers his smile before mind catches up. Shoulders soften. Breath releases. You feel yourself leaning, just slightly.)</div> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "we're doing the thing where we don't">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "that went so much better than expected">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "haven't seen Svetomir in years">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "little of both. long story">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "I want to keep that button as a trophy.">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "bh that button slice 💀 the matriarch is going to feel that one">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "petty. effective. respect">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "what can i say. flair for the dramatic">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "It's been fun watching y'all but i've been at this bar for an hour">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"💙","text":"so glad fortune didn\u2019t die","replyTo":"guild","respondImmediate":{"who":"clare","text":"same. SAME.","delayMs":1500,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"😮‍💨","text":"that was a lot","defer":true,"momentId":"B6_overwhelm","replyTo":"guild","respondImmediate":{"who":"jeff","text":"come tell me about it. literally. i\u2019m at this bar.","delayMs":1700,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"❤️","text":"thanks bh","stat":"ishaniByunghoBond","delta":3,"momentId":"B6_thanks_bh","replyTo":"byungho","respondImmediate":[{"who":"byungho","text":"anytime.","delayMs":1200,"surface":"guild"},{"who":"byungho","text":"(i was terrified)","delayMs":2800,"surface":"guild"}]}' >> <<journalentry "Lawrence's smile" "omg, his smile is .... amazing. i know he's just an NPC, but i need to screenshot that for my phone." "[REL] chase · B6 · charm-landing">> <<sceneadvance "Keep going." "Demo4_Chase_B7">>

<<setchat "pane">> <<setheader "AT THE KITCHEN TABLE" "Tuesday Night · 9:46pm" "DEMO 4 · §0">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/bc4afc86-a419-4701-8e0a-2861a833d5c3/Ishani_Facing_Left2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setoverlay "<p>The Silk Road breathes, port by port and caravan by caravan. You have been walking it since you were a child.</p><p>...and the vampire told you to meet him at Mo Stór...</p>">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Desire">> <<artprompt "kitchen-seam" "Wide kitchen shot, late Tuesday night. Woman in 30s (Ishani: South Asian, brown skin, dark hair pulled back, tired-but-focused), seated at a kitchen table, lit by laptop screen. Soft amber kitchen light layered with cool screen-glow on her face. Visible scene details: she closed her work laptop an hour ago and has been waiting for this — the beat-up second laptop sits closed on a chair behind her, the one she's done with. The one she's opening is hers. The dishwasher is mid-cycle in the background (LED visible). Potato — small white dog — is asleep on the couch in soft focus. A half-eaten bowl is pushed aside. The tea is still steaming in its mug. The animation should hold this stillness for a beat: she is finally getting to open her own laptop. Style: cinematic, warm grading, evening interiority. Reference for tone: Persona 5 cafe scenes, Ghost Town MV's domestic quietness. Aspect 16:9. Mood: late-Tuesday-night gamer-mom crossing the seam into her game. Animation note: light on her face shifts cool as the laptop screen wakes — that color shift IS the seam crossing into the game-world she is about to enter." true>> <<soundprompt "ambient" "Late-Tuesday-night domestic kitchen ambient bed: dishwasher cycling soft underwater rumble, distant traffic far away, refrigerator hum, occasional click from floorboards or appliance. ~30 seconds, seamlessly loopable. No dialog. No music. Quietly present, not intrusive — the sound of being alone after the house has gone to sleep.">> <<music "Ghost Town" "Chen & Hwe Seung · continues" "https://youtu.be/sQ72u1KqJwU?si=rZfDzcf0dtPmxf0G&t=43" "">> <<journalentry "Tuesday night, 9:46pm" "3 weeks since i logged in. last guild got toxic, screenshots with my real name, the usual. not sure i wanted to play. but the alternative tonight was email or doomscrolling past midnight, and i'm tired of who that makes me.\n\nclare swears this guild is different. i picked the mortal to see if i can trust the guild." "[REL] session 0 · why i'm here" "tonight">> <div class="d4-desire-prompt"> <p class="d4-desire-prompt-frame-journal">3 weeks since i logged in. last guild got toxic, screenshots with my real name, the usual. not sure i wanted to play. but the alternative tonight was email or doomscrolling past midnight, and i'm tired of who that makes me.</p> <p class="d4-desire-prompt-frame-journal">clare swears this guild is different. i picked the mortal to see if i can trust the guild.</p> </div> <div class="d4-prompt-divider"> <span class="d4-prompt-label">PICK THE ONE THAT IS MOST HONEST TONIGHT</span> </div> <div class="d4-choices --desire"> <div class="d4-choice"><<link "Because I want a room where the rules make sense." "Demo4_Chase_B1">><<set $playerDesire = "rules_make_sense">><<soctrack "desire_selected" "rules_make_sense">><</link>></div> <div class="d4-choice"><<link "Because I want to see if I could finish something I started." "Demo4_Chase_B1">><<set $playerDesire = "finish_something">><<soctrack "desire_selected" "finish_something">><</link>></div> <div class="d4-choice"><<link "Because I want to matter to someone tonight." "Demo4_Chase_B1">><<set $playerDesire = "matter_to_someone">><<soctrack "desire_selected" "matter_to_someone">><</link>></div> <div class="d4-choice"><<link "Because I want this to stay with me." "Demo4_Chase_B1">><<set $playerDesire = "carry">><<soctrack "desire_selected" "carry">><</link>></div> </div>

<<setchat "pane">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · FURTHEST DOCK" "Evening · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §3">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence" "marcus">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/ecf236d2-4da6-408a-9ba1-393e043e3586/Jetty.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"id":"signal","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e336e34a-360f-4a79-81c6-ccd4c4b42657/Dockworker_Signal.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"38%","bottom":"35%","width":"8.5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"id":"muscle","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/8ff7ae45-c3a2-441d-84b7-5295c0f6a8f9/Dockworking_Muscle.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"46%","bottom":"32%","width":"10%","pose":"ready"}' '{"id":"mutterer","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/38bfffe9-0d32-4fed-bfce-610f477ad368/Dockworker_Mutterer.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"54%","bottom":"33%","width":"8.5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"id":"captain","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0dc75f98-df9b-43cf-92ef-aee1218692ac/Dockworker_Captain.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"50%","bottom":"55%","width":"5%","pose":"ready"}' >> <<music "Iste mundus furibundus" "Forestella commission · continues" "" "">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Dock_Directorial">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (to Fortune) "All yours. We will watch."</div> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "alright. don't pull this one.">> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "give me something to remember.">> <<settab "guild">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"👍","text":"copy","stat":"byunghoTrust","delta":10,"momentId":"dock_directorial_chip_aggressive"}' '{"icon":"🔍","text":"sizing it up first","stat":"fangTrust","delta":2,"stat2":"lawrenceTrust","delta2":2,"momentId":"dock_directorial_chip_tactical"}' '{"icon":"✋","text":"hold on. let me try something.","stat":"byunghoTrust","delta":0,"momentId":"dock_directorial_chip_trickster"}' >> <<soundprompt "music-cue" "White Night thins to a single sustained note. Held. The room is asking you something.">> <div class="d4-choices"> <<chasechoice "aggressive" "" "Move now. Go after the one chanting." "Demo4_Dock_R1" "" "Dock_directorial_hard" "byunghoTrust" 0 "Byung-Ho wanted hard. I moved." "byunghoVector" "hard">> <<chasechoice "tactical" "" "Watch their formation. Go after the one giving direction." "Demo4_Dock_R1" "" "Dock_directorial_aware" "byunghoTrust" 0 "Byung-Ho wanted hard. I heard him. I'll see how it lands." "byunghoVector" "aware">> <<chasechoice "trickster" "" "Can you take them out without killing them?" "Demo4_Dock_R1" "" "Dock_directorial_soft" "byunghoTrust" -5 "Byung-Ho wanted hard. I asked him to slow it down." "byunghoVector" "soft">> </div>

<<soctrack "scene_enter" "Dock_TricksterR2_Cluster">> <<chemistrybeat "dock_R2_trickster_open" "stakes_climb" "The chant has advanced. Fortune is spending herself to keep this clean.">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --narrator">Chanter:</span> (the chant climbs louder, he hasn’t stopped)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --captain">Captain:</span> (if he’s still up, he knows now, she’s fighting a different fight than he planned for)</div> <<if $fortuneCast <= 1>><div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">Fortune:</span> (hands not quite steady; not much left in her for another working)</div><<else>><div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">Fortune:</span> (something left, not much, and the cost is starting to show)</div><</if>> <div class="d4-choices"> <<if $fortuneCast >= 1 and not $R1_castNet>> <<chasechoice "trickster" "manus motoria · light" "Press the chant. Manus motoria, drag a tarp over the chanter's head. Muffle the work." "Demo4_Dock_R2_CastMuffle">> <</if>> <<if $fortuneCast >= 2>> <<chasechoice "trickster" "manus motoria · heavy" "One more heavy cast. Whatever's nearest and unmoved." "Demo4_Dock_R2_CastHeavyAgain">> <</if>> <<chasechoice "tactical" "controlled" "Take his sword arm. Disarm a dockworker. Capability without escalation." "Demo4_Dock_R2_SwordArm">> <<chasechoice "tactical+trickster" "speech act" "Name him. Call the captain by his title. 'Captain.'" "Demo4_Dock_R2_Name">> <<if $fortuneCast <= 1>> <<chasechoice "tactical" "the move" "You're spent. Step back, ask Fang and Marcus to take them down clean. No kill." "Demo4_Dock_R1_TricksterStepBack">> <<else>> <<chasechoice "tactical" "back off" "Step back. Ask Fang and Marcus to finish it clean, no kill." "Demo4_Dock_R1_TricksterStepBack">> <</if>> </div>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · FURTHEST DOCK" "Evening · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §3">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence" "marcus">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/ecf236d2-4da6-408a-9ba1-393e043e3586/Jetty.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Dock_Victory">> <<silently>> <<if $trickster_stepback>> <<set _d4_action = "trickster">> <<set _d4_actors = { captain: "ash", chanter: "ash" }>> <<elseif $R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response is "lowers">> <<set _d4_action = "walked_through">> <<set _d4_actors = { captain: "walked", chanter: "ash" }>> <<elseif $R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response is "speaks">> <<set _d4_action = "walked_through">> <<set _d4_actors = { captain: "walked", chanter: "ash" }>> <<elseif $R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response is "walks">> <<set _d4_action = "walked_through">> <<set _d4_actors = { captain: "walked", chanter: "ash" }>> <<elseif $R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response is "strikes">> <<set _d4_action = "walked_through">> <<set _d4_actors = { captain: "dead", chanter: "ash" }>> <<elseif $R3_killedCaptain>> <<set _d4_action = "killed_captain">> <<set _d4_actors = { captain: "dead", chanter: "ash" }>> <<elseif $R3_standDown>> <<set _d4_action = "stood_down">> <<set _d4_actors = { captain: "alive", chanter: "ash" }>> <<elseif $R2_stepBack>> <<set _d4_action = "stepped_back">> <<set _d4_actors = { captain: "dead", chanter: "ash" }>> <<else>> <<set _d4_action = "end_chant">> <<set _d4_actors = { captain: "alive", chanter: "ash" }>> <</if>> <<set _d4_rec = window._socSetEncounterOutcome("dock", _d4_action, _d4_actors)>> <</silently>> <<if $R1_struckChanter>><<music "Beat-Boxer" "NEXZ" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4tHKtG9xFo" "">><<else>><<music "Black Swan" "BTS" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lapF4DQPKQ" "">><</if>> <<if $trickster_stepback>> <<artprompt "Dock-victory-after-ash" "Wide shot. The dock at the jetty's edge after the encounter. Late dusk turning to night. NO bodies on the boards — where four dockworkers stood there are only faint scatterings of grey ash on the planks, already starting to disperse in the harbour wind. Fang's blade is sheathed. Lawrence's spathē is in his hand at rest, but he is looking at the ash, not the water. Marcus is the 800-lb grizzly bear (per §3.9), close to Fortune. Fortune is at center, visibly spent — a thin line of blood from her nose, one hand braced on a piling, the cost of sustained casting written on her. The mood is eerie aftermath: a fight that ended without a single body, which is its own kind of wrong. The party's gaze is turning inland — toward where the sea cave waits. Style: aftermath cinematic, the cost of the night made visible. Aspect 16:9." true>> <<else>> <<artprompt "Dock-victory-after" "Wide shot. The dock at the jetty's edge after the encounter. Late dusk turning to night. Where the dockworkers stood there are only faint scatterings of grey ash on the planks (they were Death-touched — already dead — and came apart when the chant broke; NO worker bodies). IF the captain was killed at R3 ($R3_killedCaptain): his body — the one in the red coat — lies on the boards, the single real corpse of the night, because he was the only living man among them; otherwise no bodies at all. Fang's blade is sheathed. Lawrence's spathē is in his hand at rest. Marcus is the 800-lb grizzly bear (per §3.9). Fortune is at center, bloodied to a degree that depends on her Phase B choice. The mood is the after of something that cannot be unmade — ash where men stood, and at most one body that bled. The party's gaze is turning inland — toward where the sea cave waits. Style: aftermath cinematic, the cost of the night made visible. Aspect 16:9." true>> <</if>> <<soundprompt "ambient" "Aftermath dock ambient: water lapping (back to normal — the chant is over, the binding is wounded but holding), the wood-creak of the dock, the wolf-puppy in Fang's chest sling making one small sound — the work is finished by her metric. The harbor is breathing again.">> <<if (!$R3_walkThrough && !$R2_stepBack && !$R3_standDown && !$R3_killedCaptain && !$trickster_stepback) || ($R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response === "lowers")>> <div class="d4-prose"><p>Three seconds of held silence.</p></div> <</if>> <<if $trickster_stepback>> <<fadeoutactors 2000 "mutterer" "captain" "signal" "muscle">> <<soundprompt "foley" "No blade-fall. The chant stops mid-syllable as the mutterer is held. Then a sound like dry sand poured out of a hand — four times, soft, almost gentle — as what was holding them lets go. No cries. The harbor water, lapping, indifferent.">> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--narrator">The chant breaks. One by one, the four men come apart, dry, quiet, ash where each stood. No bodies.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">Fortune:</span> (not moving) "...I didn't kill them. I didn't kill any of them."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --marcus">Marcus:</span> (gentle) "There was nothing left in them to kill. Hasn't been, for a long time."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">Fortune:</span> "Then did I do right by them? Or did I hold the door shut one beat too long?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --marcus">Marcus:</span> "You held the line, then you let them go. That was the kindest way through tonight." (quieter) "Sometimes not killing and ending it are the same thing. You'll see that again."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (low) "You trusted them to finish it. That's the harder thing."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (watching Fortune wipe blood from her lip) "And she paid for the asking. Look at her."</div> <<journalentry "four piles of ash" "i've killed plenty in this game. raiders, cultists, whatever. you swing, they drop, you move on. this wasn't that. there was nothing left in the dockworkers to kill. Marcus said so and he'd know. when the chant broke they just came apart, dry and fast. four little piles of ash, then not even that.\n\ni asked Marcus if i did right by them or held them one beat too long. he said the harm was done long before me. that ending them and not-harming them were the same thing here. that i'll meet it again. i don't know what to do with that.\n\nnobody died because of me tonight. that should feel like relief. it doesn't. i don't know what it feels like yet." "[REL] dock · trickster-clean-ash" "tonight">> <<elseif $R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response === "lowers">> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--narrator">The captain walks off the dock without looking back, his man with him. Lawrence puts the chant down at the source. The chanter folds, then comes apart, ash on the boards.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (low) "He chose. I chose for the chanter. Both were right."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (quiet, to Fortune) "You bled for him. He saw it."</div> <<elseif $R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response === "speaks">> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--narrator">The captain told you what he could before the emergence. Constantinople. Three weeks. He didn't know what he was paying for.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (low) "The man who paid did not know what he was paying for. That is its own kind of failure."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (quiet) "Someone in Constantinople knew."</div> <<elseif $R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response === "walks">> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--narrator">He walks off without looking back. Two notes whistled. His man follows. You'll see him again.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (low) "He is unfinished. He will be, the next time we cross him."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (quiet) "I'll know him by the whistle. Two notes."</div> <<elseif $R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response === "strikes">> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--narrator">Lawrence said two words. <em>Not here.</em> The captain is down. The chant ran to its end, the thing in the water rose, and the party put it back down.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (after a long beat) "One hundred and fifty years. I have not said those words and meant them in a long time."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (does not speak)</div> <<elseif $R3_killedCaptain>> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--narrator">The captain in the red coat is down. He bled; he was the only one who could. The chanter came apart with the tether, ash with the rest. The thing in the water rose, and the party put it back down.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --marcus">Marcus:</span> (lowering his bulk to scent-check the body) "He came here to lose this fight. Had the chance to swing for me first, and didn't take it."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "Then someone sent him here to lose."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "The second message. The first was the war band."</div> <<elseif $R3_standDown>> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--narrator">You stood down. Lawrence, Fang, and Marcus finished it, cut the tether, and the chanter came apart with it, ash on the boards. You watched.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (to Fortune, quiet) "Stepping back is mastery, not failure. Most people never learn."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (quiet) "You'll fight beside me when it's your fight. Tonight wasn't."</div> <<elseif $R2_stepBack>> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--narrator">You stepped back at R2. Lawrence entered, finished the captain and his line. The chant ran to its end, the thing in the water rose, and they handled it.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (quiet) "The directive was mine to set. Yours to hand back. You did. That was a choice, not a failure."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (a beat) "Next time."</div> <<else>> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">Fortune:</span> (You opened the chanter's throat. The chant cut out, and whatever it'd been holding up went with it.)</div> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--narrator">He came apart. Ash on the boards. The thing in the water never finished rising. The captain held until the chant was gone, then stood his remaining men down. The dock's quiet.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (quiet) "She went for the right one."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (dry) "You noticed."</div> <</if>> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">Fortune:</span> (crouches at the dock's edge, looking at water darker than water should be)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (to Fortune) "The cave. Tonight. We do not have until tomorrow."</div> <<silently>> <<set _captainDead = ($R3_killedCaptain || $R2_stepBack || ($R3_walkThrough && $captainR3Response === "strikes"))>> <<set _quiet = "">> <<if $playerDesire is "matter_to_someone">> <<if $trickster_stepback>> <<set _quiet += "the dock is quiet. Fang's on my left, closer than she stood when we got here. Marcus stayed beside me while i caught my breath. i appreciated the quiet support.\n\n">> <<else>> <<set _quiet += "the dock is quiet. Fang's on my left, closer than she stood when we got here. Lawrence is staring at the captain like he knows him. marcus has our back.\n\n">> <</if>> <<elseif $playerDesire is "rules_make_sense">> <<if $trickster_stepback>> <<set _quiet += "the dock is quiet. where four men stood there's nothing, not bodies, ash, and then not even that. the rules here are not the rules i thought i was learning, i think.\n\n">> <<elseif _captainDead>> <<set _quiet += "the dock is quiet. the captain is down. as weird as it is, this combat makes sense.\n\n">> <<else>> <<set _quiet += "the dock is quiet. the captain understood how to lead his men.\n\n">> <</if>> <<elseif $playerDesire is "finish_something">> <<set _quiet += "the dock is quiet. we found monsters and undead on the dock and we survived.\n\n">> <<elseif $playerDesire is "carry">> <<set _quiet += "the dock is quiet. i had fun tonight, i could do this again with them.\n\n">> <<else>> <<set _quiet += "the dock is quiet. i want to learn why the war band is after lawrence and fang.\n\n">> <</if>> <<set _fangThread = "">> <<if window._socWasAnswered("fang_stari_krov_story")>> <<set _fangThread = "Fang told me about the Stari Krov debt on the walk over. she didn't have to. i'm not sure she's ever told anyone else, exactly.">> <<elseif window._socWasDeflected("fang_stari_krov_story")>> <<set _fangThread = "asked Fang about the war band at tea. she didn't want to get into it. didn't push.">> <</if>> <<if $D4_firstKill || $R3_killedCaptain>> <<set _quiet += "killing undead is so weird. they just crumble to ash.\n\n">> <<elseif $trickster_stepback>> <<set _quiet += "marcus says there was nothing left in them to kill… i'm supposed to call their crumbling into ash a mercy. maybe.\n\n">> <<elseif $R3_walkThrough || $R3_standDown>> <<set _quiet += "i didn't have to kill anybody tonight. nobody complained. that was nice.\n\n">> <</if>> <<if $playerDesire is "matter_to_someone">> <<set _quiet += "standing here with Fang, Marcus, and Lawrence, i think i found my answer about the guild.">> <<elseif $playerDesire is "rules_make_sense">> <<set _quiet += "that was satisfying.">> <<elseif $playerDesire is "finish_something">> <<set _quiet += "finishing the dock combat felt good.">> <<elseif $playerDesire is "carry">> <<set _quiet += "it's nice not to have to face team politics. bh and jeff listen to clare.">> <<else>> <<set _quiet += "so far, i like this guild. they play fair.">> <</if>> <<journalentry "the dock is quiet" _quiet "[RESOLVE] dock · victory">> <<if _fangThread !== "">> <<journalentry "what fang holds on to" _fangThread "[REL] dock · fang-war-band-thread">> <</if>> <</silently>> <<advance "Walk to the sea cave" "Demo4_End_Credits">>

<<script>> $('#ui-bar').hide(); $('.d4-chat-pane, .d4-chat-bubble, .d4-chat-drawer, .d4-chat-tooltip').remove(); (function() { var V = State.variables || {}; if (window.SOC_Playtest) window.SOC_Playtest._sessionEnded = true; if (window._socTrack) { window._socTrack('session_complete', { total_duration_ms: window.SOC_Playtest ? (Date.now() - window.SOC_Playtest.startedAt) : null, event_count: window.SOC_Playtest ? window.SOC_Playtest.eventCount : null, player_desire: V.playerDesire || '', avatar_name: V.avatarName || '', fang_trust: V.fangTrust || 0, ishani_clare_bond: V.ishaniClareBond || 0, byungho_trust: V.byunghoTrust || 0, byungho_vector: V.byunghoVector || '', lawrence_first_read: V.lawrenceFirstRead || '', moments_count: (V.momentsThatMattered || []).length, moment_ids: (V.momentsThatMattered || []) .map(function(m) { return m && m.id ? m.id : null; }) .filter(function(id) { return id !== null; }), intent_outcomes: (function() { var log = V.intentLog || {}; var out = {}; for (var tag in log) { if (!log.hasOwnProperty(tag)) continue; out[tag] = { declared: !!log[tag].declared, deflected: !!log[tag].deflected, answered: !!log[tag].answered }; } return out; })(), journal_count: (V.journalLog || []).length }); } if (window.SOC_Playtest) window.SOC_Playtest.flush(false); try { if (window._socClearProgress) window._socClearProgress(); } catch (e) {} })(); <</script>> <<silently>> <<set _recap = "session 0 was 3 weeks ago. i wrote in here: i picked the mortal to see if i could trust the guild. tonight, the question got tested.\n\n">> <<if $playerDesire is "matter_to_someone">> <<set _atoms = 0>> <<if window._socWasAnswered("fang_stari_krov_story")>> <<set _recap += "Fang gave me the shape of why the war band is after her. she didn't have to. she said: \"old debt, hers to call, mine to answer.\" that's not what you tell strangers.\n\n">> <<set _atoms++>> <<elseif window._socWasDeflected("fang_stari_krov_story")>> <<set _recap += "asked about the war band. Fang held it. she has her reasons. i'm not entitled to her ledger on night one.\n\n">> <</if>> <<if window._socMomentFired("B1_warm")>> <<set _recap += "clare pinged mid-fight to check on me. i said i needed to focus. she left it alone. nobody made it weird. that's the kind of room i picked the mortal to see if i could find.\n\n">> <<set _atoms++>> <</if>> <<if window._socMomentFired("B4_chat_gallows_jeff_repair")>> <<set _recap += "Jeff caught his own joke when it landed wrong. he said sorry. he saw me. tells me what kind of table this is.\n\n">> <<set _atoms++>> <</if>> <<if window._socMomentFired("fang_ack_reciprocate")>> <<set _recap += "Fang said i held. i told her she held with me. she nodded. she does not give that nod to people who have not earned it.\n\n">> <<set _atoms++>> <</if>> <<if window._socMomentFired("marcus_lute_witnessed")>> <<set _recap += "marcus handed tiberius his lute, his bow, his quiver — everything — on the way out. still thinking about that bow. why does he carry it if he's not going to use it. he didn't hide that i was watching. something to ask jeff about later.\n\n">> <<set _atoms++>> <</if>> <<if _atoms gte 4>> <<set _recap += "answer: yes. tonight i mattered to people. and, i let myself. came back.">> <<elseif _atoms gte 2>> <<set _recap += "answer: maybe. some moments held. some didn't. i'm curious which choices opened the ones that opened, and which closed the ones that didn't.">> <<elseif _atoms is 1>> <<set _recap += "answer: not really. one moment held. i want to know if that was the room, or if that was me. coming back to find out.">> <<else>> <<set _recap += "answer: no. the night didn't open. did my choices match what i said i wanted? not sure. i'm going to come back and try the question again.">> <</if>> <<else>> <<set _recap += "the question i picked tonight isn't quite the one i can answer yet. some threads stay open. some carry forward. i'll come back and see what they become.">> <</if>> <<journalentry "did i get what i came for" _recap "[RESOLVE] session 0 · the answer" "now">> <</silently>> <div class="ld-star-wrap"> <svg width="100" height="100" viewBox="0 0 110 110" aria-hidden="true"> <defs> <radialGradient id="ld-rg-end" cx="50%" cy="50%" r="50%"> <stop offset="0%" stop-color="#c9a84c" stop-opacity=".25"/> <stop offset="100%" stop-color="#7c3aed" stop-opacity="0"/> </radialGradient> </defs> <circle cx="55" cy="55" r="52" fill="url(#ld-rg-end)" stroke="rgba(201,168,76,.25)" stroke-width="1"/> <circle cx="55" cy="55" r="38" fill="none" stroke="rgba(201,168,76,.18)" stroke-width="1" stroke-dasharray="3 4"/> <polygon points="55,18 62,40 87,40 68,54 75,76 55,62 35,76 42,54 23,40 48,40" fill="none" stroke="rgba(201,168,76,.7)" stroke-width="1.5" stroke-linejoin="round"/> <circle cx="55" cy="55" r="3.5" fill="#c9a84c" opacity=".9"/> </svg> </div> <div class="ld-title-h1">STONE OF<br>COMMITMENT</div> <div class="ld-title-h2">VANQUISH DEATH</div> <div class="ld-title-h2">DEMO</div> <div class="soc-end-payoff"><em>Lawrence said the cave holds the first of them. Water, bound under the dock for fifty years. He did not say what it would cost to bring her up, only that it had to be tonight, and that you would go together.</em></div> <hr class="ld-divider" /> <div class="ld-tagline"><em>Thank you for playing.</em></div> <div class="soc-end-callback"> <div class="soc-end-callback-kicker">What You Came For</div> <div class="soc-end-callback-body"> <<if $playerDesire is "matter_to_someone">> <p class="soc-end-call"><em>You'd said you came because you wanted to matter to someone tonight.</em></p> <<set _mattered = 0>> <<if window._socMomentFired("fang_ack_reciprocate") or window._socWasAnswered("fang_stari_krov_story")>><<set _mattered++>><</if>> <<if window._socMomentFired("B1_warm")>><<set _mattered++>><</if>> <<if window._socMomentFired("B4_chat_gallows_jeff_repair")>><<set _mattered++>><</if>> <<if window._socMomentFired("marcus_lute_witnessed")>><<set _mattered++>><</if>> <<if _mattered gte 3>><p class="soc-end-response">You did. Not because you asked for it, but because you showed up the way they needed, and they felt it. Fang let you in. Clare made room. The table stopped being a table and became a place that knew your name.</p> <<elseif _mattered gte 1>><p class="soc-end-response">A little. One person reached you, because for one moment you let them in, and the rest of the table you kept at arm's length without meaning to. You're left wondering which choice opened the door, and which one held it shut.</p> <<else>><p class="soc-end-response">Not tonight. The table stayed a table, because you never quite let it be anything more, and the night kept the distance you brought to it. Was that the room, or was it you? You came back to find out.</p> <</if>> <<elseif $playerDesire is "rules_make_sense">> <p class="soc-end-call"><em>You'd said you came because you wanted a room where the rules make sense.</em></p> <<set _rulesRead = 0>> <<if $R1_spoke>><<set _rulesRead++>><</if>> <<if $R1_castNet>><<set _rulesRead++>><</if>> <<if $R1_castYardarm>><<set _rulesRead++>><</if>> <<if $trickster_stepback>><<set _rulesRead++>><</if>> <<if _rulesRead gte 2>><p class="soc-end-response">And you tested them. You read the fight instead of forcing it, found the rule under the rule, and used it. The room answered.</p> <<elseif _rulesRead is 1>><p class="soc-end-response">Some of it. You found one rule and used it, then muscled through the rest when reading was slower than swinging. The room half-answered. You know there was more it would have told you.</p> <<else>><p class="soc-end-response">You learned them the hard way. The room didn't hand you its rules, it made you bleed for each one. You know more now than when you walked in.</p> <</if>> <<elseif $playerDesire is "finish_something">> <p class="soc-end-call"><em>You'd said you came to see if you could finish something you started.</em></p> <<if $trickster_stepback or $R3_standDown or $R2_stepBack>><p class="soc-end-response">And you finished it, the way a thing actually gets finished, by knowing when it wasn't yours to close alone. You started it. You let the others bring it down. That counts. That's the part most people never learn.</p> <<elseif $R1_struckChanter>><p class="soc-end-response">You saw it through to the end. The chant stopped because you didn't. You finished what you started, and you felt every yard of it.</p> <<else>><p class="soc-end-response">You finished it, but you're still not sure it's done. It closed because you wouldn't stop, not because you found the clean way through. Something's unsettled in it. You'll go back to see what you missed.</p> <</if>> <<elseif $playerDesire is "carry">> <p class="soc-end-call"><em>You'd said you came because you wanted this to stay with you.</em></p> <p class="soc-end-response">It will. Whatever you did down there, ash, or blood, or the line holding without you, it's in your chest now, in a place you can't reach. You'll carry it. That's what you asked for.</p> <</if>> </div> </div> <div class="soc-end-pivot"><em>Whisper your secrets to me. I began my adventure for you.</em></div> <<socexitsurvey>> <hr class="ld-divider" /> <div class="ld-name-prompt" style="margin-top: 1.4rem;">WISHLIST MUSIC IN THIS DEMO</div>  <div class="ld-music-footer"> <span class="ld-music-dot"></span> <span class="ld-music-track"><a href="https://youtu.be/sQ72u1KqJwU?si=rZfDzcf0dtPmxf0G&t=43" target="_blank">Ghost Town</a></span> <span class="ld-music-artist">Chen & Hwe Seung · collaboration</span> </div> <div class="ld-music-footer"> <span class="ld-music-dot"></span> <span class="ld-music-track"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" target="_blank">Legacy</a></span> <span class="ld-music-artist">NEXZ</span> </div> <div class="ld-music-footer"> <span class="ld-music-dot"></span> <span class="ld-music-track"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4tHKtG9xFo" target="_blank">Beat-Boxer</a></span> <span class="ld-music-artist">NEXZ</span> </div> <div class="ld-music-footer"> <span class="ld-music-dot"></span> <span class="ld-music-track"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dWBzAetyXc" target="_blank">Heartbeat</a></span> <span class="ld-music-artist">2PM</span> </div> <div class="ld-music-footer"> <span class="ld-music-dot"></span> <span class="ld-music-track"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOVNGANwcrk" target="_blank">White Night</a></span> <span class="ld-music-artist">Forestella</span> </div> <div class="ld-music-footer"> <span class="ld-music-dot"></span> <span class="ld-music-track"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuRbPLtazM4" target="_blank">Irish Washerwoman</a></span> <span class="ld-music-artist">traditional · lute instrumental</span> </div> <div class="ld-music-footer"> <span class="ld-music-dot"></span> <span class="ld-music-track"><a href="#" target="_blank">Iste mundus furibundus</a></span> <span class="ld-music-artist">Forestella · commissioned piece (CB 24)</span> </div> <div class="ld-music-footer"> <span class="ld-music-dot"></span> <span class="ld-music-track"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lapF4DQPKQ" target="_blank">Black Swan</a></span> <span class="ld-music-artist">BTS</span> </div> <hr class="ld-divider" /> <div class="ld-name-prompt" style="margin-top: 1.4rem;">VOICE ACTOR INSPIRATIONS</div> <div class="ld-name-sub"><em>Creative references only. The performers who inspired these voices, contacted first if funded.</em></div> <div class="soc-vactor-list"> <div class="soc-vactor-row"><span class="soc-vactor-char">Lawrence</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Jun-ho" target="_blank">Lee Jun-Ho</a></div> <div class="soc-vactor-row"><span class="soc-vactor-char">Fang</span><a href="https://www.therealslimsherri.com" target="_blank">Sherri Dindal</a></div> <div class="soc-vactor-row"><span class="soc-vactor-char">Marcus</span><a href="https://linktr.ee/pat.mandziy" target="_blank">Pat Mandziy</a></div> <div class="soc-vactor-row"><span class="soc-vactor-char">Tiberius</span><a href="https://www.joshjohnsoncomedy.com/" target="_blank">Josh Johnson</a></div> </div> <hr class="ld-divider" /> <div class="ld-body" style="font-size: 0.92rem;">All music, art, and casting in this demo is wishlist material: placeholder cues, reference images, and dream-casting that signal the register, tone, and feel we hope to commission or license. The musicians, performers, and artists who inspired this game have not endorsed it. They are the first people we will contact when funding is secured, for proper licensing, fair compensation, and full credit. No copyrighted work, and no AI-generated likenesses, enter any commercial release without a signed agreement. No exceptions. We didn't build this around what we could afford. We built it around what the story deserves, and the artists who inspired it deserve the same.</div> <div class="ld-body" style="font-size: 0.88rem; margin-top: 1.2rem;">Stone of Commitment: Vanquish Death is an original work of fiction. Characters, plot, and worldbuilding © Studio Zisha 2026. The Silk Road historical setting (1402, Smyrna) is treated with the care a research-backed romantasy deserves: period-accurate clothing, weapons, mercantile geography. Errors are ours.</div> <hr class="ld-divider" /> <div class="ld-name-prompt" style="margin-top: 1.4rem;">CREATED BY</div> <div class="soc-credits-team"> <p><strong>Dani McKenzie</strong><br><span>CEO & Creative Director, Studio Zisha</span></p> </div> <div class="soc-end-sendoff"><em>Don't be afraid, just dream.</em></div> <div class="ld-begin-wrap" style="margin-top: 2rem;"> <<link "▷ REPLAY">> <<script>> try { if (window._socClearProgress) window._socClearProgress(); } catch (e) {} if (window._socTrack) window._socTrack('credits_replay', {}); try { SugarCube.Engine.restart(); } catch (e) { try { window.location.reload(); } catch (e2) {} } <</script>> <</link>> </div> <div class="ld-buildtag">Studio Zisha · Confidential Playtest Build · Demo 4 <<= setup.version>> · June 2026 · © 2026</div>

<<script>> $('#ui-bar').hide(); <</script>> <div class="ld-star-wrap"> <svg width="100" height="100" viewBox="0 0 110 110" aria-hidden="true"> <defs> <radialGradient id="ld-rg" cx="50%" cy="50%" r="50%"> <stop offset="0%" stop-color="#c9a84c" stop-opacity=".25"/> <stop offset="100%" stop-color="#7c3aed" stop-opacity="0"/> </radialGradient> </defs> <circle cx="55" cy="55" r="52" fill="url(#ld-rg)" stroke="rgba(201,168,76,.25)" stroke-width="1"/> <circle cx="55" cy="55" r="38" fill="none" stroke="rgba(201,168,76,.18)" stroke-width="1" stroke-dasharray="3 4"/> <polygon points="55,18 62,40 87,40 68,54 75,76 55,62 35,76 42,54 23,40 48,40" fill="none" stroke="rgba(201,168,76,.7)" stroke-width="1.5" stroke-linejoin="round"/> <circle cx="55" cy="55" r="3.5" fill="#c9a84c" opacity=".9"> <animate attributeName="r" values="3.5;5.5;3.5" dur="2.2s" repeatCount="indefinite"/> <animate attributeName="opacity" values=".9;.4;.9" dur="2.2s" repeatCount="indefinite"/> </circle> </svg> </div> <div class="ld-title-h1">STONE OF<br>COMMITMENT</div> <div class="ld-title-h2">VANQUISH DEATH</div> <div class="ld-title-h2">GAME DEMO</div> <div class="ld-tagline"><em>An RPG about trust. The slow burn kind.</em></div> <div class="ld-body">Stone of Commitment is a romantasy: fantasy worldbuilding with the slow-burn emotional register of a K-drama and the combat depth of a premium RPG.</div> <div class="ld-name-wrap"> <div class="ld-name-prompt">Every guard on the Silk Road carries a road name.</div> <div class="ld-name-sub"><em>Keep this one, or pick your own.</em></div> <<textbox "$avatarName" "Fortune">> </div> <div class="ld-bar-wrap"><div class="ld-bar"></div></div> <div class="ld-pct">100%</div> <div class="ld-begin-wrap"><<link "BEGIN" "Demo4_Desire">><<soctrack "loader_begin">><</link>></div> <div id="ld-notebook-mount"></div> <div class="ld-music-footer"> <span class="ld-music-dot"></span> <span class="ld-music-label">Wishlist Music</span> <span class="ld-music-track"><a href="https://youtu.be/sQ72u1KqJwU?si=rZfDzcf0dtPmxf0G&t=43" target="_blank">Ghost Town</a></span> <span class="ld-music-artist">Chen & Hwe Seung · K-pop collaboration</span> </div> <div class="ld-body" style="margin-top: 0.6rem;">The artists, actors, and musicians who inspired this game will be the first people we contact when funding is secured.</div> <hr class="ld-divider" /> <div class="ld-jump-wrap"> <span class="ld-jump-label">Jump to section <em>(playtest only)</em>:</span> <span class="ld-jump-link"><<link "§0 · Kitchen Table" "Demo4_Desire">><<soctrack "loader_jump" "section_0">><</link>></span> <span class="ld-jump-link"><<link "§1 · Chase" "Demo4_Chase_B1">><<soctrack "loader_jump" "section_1">><</link>></span> <span class="ld-jump-link"><<link "§2 · Mo Stór" "Demo4_PostChase_ToMostor">><<soctrack "loader_jump" "section_2">><</link>></span> <span class="ld-jump-link"><<link "§3 · Dock" "Demo4_Dock_Approach">><<soctrack "loader_jump" "section_3">><</link>></span> </div> <div class="ld-buildtag">Studio Zisha · Confidential Playtest Build · Demo 4 <<= setup.version>> · June 2026 · © 2026</div>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "MO STÓR · MAIN ROOM" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §2">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence" "marcus">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/8db0383c-5d4e-4d4f-85e9-61ae79e65f11/MoSto%CC%81r_Interior.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"id":"fang","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/d20ad98c-a62e-4b7a-93ab-39354b08221e/Fang_Standing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"18%","bottom":"-5%","width":"28%","front":true,"pose":"still"}' '{"id":"marcus","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/68ac80bc-446a-4f59-a558-bd3b22088e79/Marcus_Lute_playing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"42%","bottom":"28%","width":"18%","pose":"still"}' '{"id":"tiberius","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a33f6e17-b26c-4ada-9718-e3e7f651f7cb/AI-Tiberius_Standing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"58%","bottom":"-5%","width":"30%","pose":"still"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "MoStor_Arrival">> <<artprompt "MoStor-arrival" "Wide interior shot of Mo Stór's main room, late-afternoon light through high narrow windows. Period Smyrna tavern interior — heavy oak beams, low ceiling, stone floor, scattered tables, a hearth on the far wall. A bar/counter foreground-right where Tiberius (per Story Bible §3.10 — 340-year-old Irish dark elf, medium brown skin, slim build, age-undefined adult presentation that does not map cleanly to human aging, subtle non-human ear shape, calm working hands, voice/casting reference Josh Johnson) stands wiping a copper pot. Two small clay tea cups already steaming on the table closest to the hearth — cardamom-spice color, brass tray. In the back-left corner: Marcus (per Story Bible §3.9 — a literal full-grown grizzly bear, ~800 lbs, in a green embroidered period vest, full human cognition behind the bear face, seated on a sturdy low bench built to take his weight; holding a small wooden lute between his paws, mid-strum, not performing — playing for himself). The bear-playing-the-lute is canonical and not a joke about the canvas — Smyrna residents have grown used to the talking bear over the centuries he has visited, and the scene treats his presence as completely normal. Fortune and Fang enter through the doorway — Fortune (per Story Bible §3.1) is removing her turban at the threshold (Mo Stór is sanctuary, off-duty; the put-down gesture is part of her arrival). Fang has the wolf-puppy in her chest sling. The room is half-empty. Style: warm cinematic interior, the kind of cozy that a tired person comes home to. Reference: Persona 5 Leblanc cafe quietness, but Smyrna-period and Greek-tavern-coded with a grizzly bard in the corner. Aspect 16:9." true>> <<soundprompt "ambient" "Mo Stór interior bed: low hearth crackle, distant copper-on-copper from Tiberius's bar work, the wood-creak of someone shifting on a bench, Marcus's lute (single instrumental — the Irish Washerwoman jig melody, lute solo, no vocals, played slowly and quietly in self-soothing register per Music Architecture §1.4 Marcus Lute Mode Framework — the lively jig taken at a contemplative pace, the way someone hums a happy tune to themselves when they're in their own head). Outside-the-window: Smyrna harbor sounds receding into background. ~60-second loopable.">> <<soundprompt "music-cue" "Marcus's lute is the music. Diegetic — he is actually playing in the room. The tune is the Irish Washerwoman (a traditional Irish jig melody), but Marcus is in self-soothing mode and is taking it slowly, finger-picked, low and dry — not the dance-tempo most listeners would know but the same tune phrased like a private thought. Reference: traditional Irish Washerwoman jig melody on solo lute, played quietly at a private tempo. (Easter-egg credit-line for the music-architecture-fluent: the same melody underpins the Brobdingnagian Bards filk Do Virgins Taste Better — Marcus's repertoire reflects his IRL-pilot Jeff's Renn-Faire / RSC craft lineage per Game Bible §10.12. Do not surface in player-facing copy; the joke only works if discovered.)">> <<music "Irish Washerwoman" "traditional Irish jig played soft and low by Marcus" "" "">> <<dlg "tiberius" "(gestures Fortune to sit) \"A moment, your tea will be ready shortly.\"">> <<dlg "tiberius" "(hands Fang a mug of boza; turns toward Marcus) \"If you're going to play it slow, at least don't play it sad.\"">> <<dlg "fang" "(lifts her boza toward Tiberius in a silent toast.)">> <<dlg "tiberius" "He's been sulking for two hours.">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "hey, leave my bear alone">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "he's NOT sulking">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "lol">> <<dlg "fang" "He'll outlast you. He always does.">> <<dlg "marcus" "(without stopping) \"I am not sulking. I am observing. The two are different.\"">> <<dlg "tiberius" "(to Fortune, dry) \"Functionally the same; however.\"">> <<advance "Sit down for tea" "Demo4_MoStor_Tea">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "MO STÓR · DEPARTING" "Evening · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §2">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence" "marcus">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/8db0383c-5d4e-4d4f-85e9-61ae79e65f11/MoSto%CC%81r_Interior.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"id":"marcus","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/68ac80bc-446a-4f59-a558-bd3b22088e79/Marcus_Lute_playing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"42%","bottom":"28%","width":"18%","pose":"still"}' '{"id":"tiberius","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a33f6e17-b26c-4ada-9718-e3e7f651f7cb/AI-Tiberius_Standing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"58%","bottom":"-5%","width":"30%","pose":"still"}' '{"id":"fang","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/d20ad98c-a62e-4b7a-93ab-39354b08221e/Fang_Standing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"18%","bottom":"-5%","width":"28%","front":true,"pose":"still"}' '{"id":"lawrence","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/c679384e-407a-4d97-b996-c4df197c971b/Lawrence_Standing_1400s_Front_filigree.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"45%","bottom":"-5%","width":"28%","pose":"still"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "MoStor_Departure">> <<music "White Night" "Forestella · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOVNGANwcrk" "">> <<dlg "fortune" "Why me?">> <<dlg "lawrence" "Because Death's defenses are made for beings like us. You walk through what stops me. That is enough.">> <<dlg "fortune" "Why now?">> <<dlg "lawrence" "Death has Water. Death has all of them. While I look for the way through, the earthquakes continue. The famines. The empty nets.">> <<dlg "lawrence" "(pauses) \"You can refuse. But the cost runs while you decide.\"">> <<set $_chasechoiceHeaderShown = passage()>> <div class="d4-choices-header"> <span class="d4-choices-header-prompt">YOUR MOVE,</span> <span class="d4-choices-header-name">$avatarName</span> </div> <div class="d4-choices"> <div class="d4-choice --tactical"> <a href="#" onclick="(function(ev){ev.preventDefault();SugarCube.Dialog.setup('');SugarCube.Dialog.wiki('This branch unlocks in the full game. For tonight, walk to the docks with them.');SugarCube.Dialog.open();})(event); return false;"> <div class="d4-choice-meta"> <span class="d4-choice-sigil --tactical">TACTICAL</span> </div> <div class="d4-choice-prose">"Should I stay?"</div> </a> </div> <<chasechoice "aggressive" "" "\"Should I go now?\"" "Demo4_MoStor_Departure_Go">> </div>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "MO STÓR · DEPARTING" "Evening · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §2">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence" "marcus">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/8db0383c-5d4e-4d4f-85e9-61ae79e65f11/MoSto%CC%81r_Interior.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"id":"marcus","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/68ac80bc-446a-4f59-a558-bd3b22088e79/Marcus_Lute_playing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"42%","bottom":"28%","width":"18%","pose":"still"}' '{"id":"tiberius","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a33f6e17-b26c-4ada-9718-e3e7f651f7cb/AI-Tiberius_Standing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"58%","bottom":"-5%","width":"30%","pose":"still"}' '{"id":"fang","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/d20ad98c-a62e-4b7a-93ab-39354b08221e/Fang_Standing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"18%","bottom":"-5%","width":"28%","front":true,"pose":"still"}' '{"id":"lawrence","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/c679384e-407a-4d97-b996-c4df197c971b/Lawrence_Standing_1400s_Front_filigree.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"45%","bottom":"-5%","width":"28%","pose":"still"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "MoStor_Departure_Go">> <<script>> (function() { var V = State.variables; V.momentsThatMattered = V.momentsThatMattered || []; for (var i = 0; i < V.momentsThatMattered.length; i++) { if (V.momentsThatMattered[i] && V.momentsThatMattered[i].id === 'marcus_lute_witnessed') return; } V.momentsThatMattered.push({ id: 'marcus_lute_witnessed', passage: State.passage, session: 'tonight' }); })(); <</script>> <<music "White Night" "Forestella · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOVNGANwcrk" "">> <<soundprompt "ambient" "Mo Stór interior, final moments. Marcus set his lute down back at the table when Lawrence brought his news; the room has been quiet of the jig since. Tiberius's footsteps approaching the table. Outside the window: evening Smyrna sounds rising — the harbor, the calls to prayer beginning to drift up from the lower city, late-day market sounds winding down.">> <<soundprompt "foley" "Marcus's lute against the table-edge as he stands; the deliberate weight of a 1,200-year-old bear rising from a low bench. Lute-strap unbuckling. Quiver-strap. Bowstring-quiet brush. Three small sounds of gear being set down on Tiberius's bar. No words.">> <<dlg "marcus" "(lifts the lute strap over his head)">> <<dlg "tiberius" "(at the table before Marcus has finished standing. Wordless. The lute goes to Tiberius's hands. Then the quiver. Then the bow.)">> <<dlg "tiberius" "(sets all three behind his bar, the way he has set them behind his bar before. The gear stays. Marcus does not.)">> <<dlg "fortune" "I've never seen a bear shoot a bow.">> <<dlg "marcus" "And you never will.">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "oh man wait til she sees he's not just a bear">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "shh you'll spoil it">> <<dlg "lawrence" "(hands Tiberius the wooden tube without looking down.)">> <<journalentry "why does a bear have a bow?" "as we were leaving mo stór, marcus gave tiberius his lute, bow, and quiver. the lute i get if we're going into a fight. but why does he carry a bow and quiver of arrows if he's not going to use them. now i'm really curious and want to bug jeff later about this." "[REL] mostor · marcus-lute-handoff">> <<advance "Walk to the Furthest Dock" "Demo4_To_The_Dock">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · TO THE DOCK" "Evening · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §3">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence" "marcus">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/63e4a774-d693-43de-96cd-65ccbac855d7/Jetty2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors>> <<setoverlay "<p>The harbor is going gray. The water gets closer.</p>">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "To_The_Dock">> <<soundprompt "ambient" "Walking from Mo Stór toward the furthest dock. Evening Smyrna winding down — late market sounds dropping off, calls to prayer fading, the harbor air taking over. Footfalls of four people walking abreast on cobble, then planking. Gulls. The dock's wooden creak ahead.">> <<dlg "lawrence" "(to Fortune) \"You held up well in the alley. Most humans would have panicked at a war band.\"">> <<dlg "fortune" "I didn't have time to think. I just reacted the way my uncle taught me.">> <<dlg "marcus" "A war band turned away by three against twelve! Songs will undersell it for centuries.">> <<if window._socHasDeclaredIntent("fang_stari_krov_story")>> <<dlg "fang" "(to Fortune, quieter) \"You asked me a question on a roof.\"">> <<dlg "fortune" "I did.">> <<dlg "fang" "Stari Krov's matriarch and I have a debt between us. Old. Hers to call, mine to answer.">> <<dlg "marcus" "(declaiming, undeterred) \"And in time the very stones of this harbor shall remember!\"">> <<dlg "fang" "(to Fortune, lower) \"That's the shape of it. The rest you can have when we're not walking toward water.\"">> <<resolveintent "fang_stari_krov_story">> <</if>> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "uh. lawrence is REAL polite all of a sudden" 1800>> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "i'm just playing the character. he's ready to try friendship. again." 4500>> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "😏" 5500>> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "so what about fang, bh?" 8000>> <<chatpush "byungho" "now" "yeah, that too. clare, you up for that next time?" 10500>> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "yeah, with ishani here, we need to play as a team if we want this quest." 13000>> <<advance "Step onto the dock" "Demo4_Dock_Approach">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "MO STÓR · BY THE HEARTH" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §2">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence" "marcus">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/8db0383c-5d4e-4d4f-85e9-61ae79e65f11/MoSto%CC%81r_Interior.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"id":"marcus","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/68ac80bc-446a-4f59-a558-bd3b22088e79/Marcus_Lute_playing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"42%","bottom":"28%","width":"18%","pose":"still"}' '{"id":"tiberius","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a33f6e17-b26c-4ada-9718-e3e7f651f7cb/AI-Tiberius_Standing.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"58%","bottom":"-5%","width":"30%","pose":"still"}' '{"id":"fang","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/b57b823f-52f6-42ea-bc20-b46201c01894/Fang_Sitting.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"24%","bottom":"-12%","width":"27%","front":true,"pose":"still"}' '{"id":"lawrence","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/c679384e-407a-4d97-b996-c4df197c971b/Lawrence_Standing_1400s_Front_filigree.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"45%","bottom":"-5%","width":"28%","pose":"still"}' '{"id":"tapestry","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/416e167f-d7a1-47f8-86cc-e14c40c3f218/Tapestry_Water_Transparent.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"44%","bottom":"20%","width":"11%","pose":"still"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "MoStor_TapestryReveal">> <<music "White Night" "Forestella · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOVNGANwcrk" "">> <<artprompt "MoStor-tapestry-bundle" "Close-up. Lawrence's hands on the table at Mo Stór: a small wooden tube, just being uncapped. Lawrence pulling a bundle of rolled wool-and-silk out of the tube — five tapestries rolled together around a common axis, like onion layers. The outermost layer's blue-green edge visible. The tube being set aside. The bundle on the dark wood of the table, just beginning to unroll. Fortune's hands visible nearby — at her cup, not yet on the tapestry. Fang's hand flat on the table beside Fortune. Marcus's massive paw resting on his knee, no longer on the lute. Hearth light catching the silver thread in the cloth. Style: hands and ritual — the unrolling of something done many times. Aspect 16:9. The tapestry should READ as cold even in the hand-position, pale blue undertones." true>> <<soundprompt "foley" "Wooden tube uncapping — soft pop of waxed leather seal. The bundle sliding free against the wood interior, dry whisper of silk on wood. The bundle setting onto the table — heavier than five rolled cloths should sound, the weight of centuries of cooling. The unroll, slow — the silk against silk against wool, a sound the room has not heard in this iteration of Smyrna.">> <<dlg "lawrence" "(uncaps the wooden tube. Slides out a bundle of wool and silk. Five small tapestries, rolled together. He has done this many times.)">> <<dlg "lawrence" "(unrolls bundle. His coat brushes your right sleeve.)">>  <div class="d4-prose --ingame-wrap"><p class="--ingame">The warmth you felt earlier was back, sinking into your skin like a warm afternoon. It felt weird to trust a vampire, but the trust was there anyway, warm and certain and not quite yours.</p></div> <<dlg "fang" "(stares at him) \"Slow, Lawrence.\"">> <<dlg "lawrence" "(to Fortune) \"Death has captured and bound all five of the Goddess Net's children. She hid them one by one, over a hundred and fifty years. I can no longer find Water or the others from their tapestries. The world is dying because they are gone.\"">> <<advance "Hear him out." "Demo4_MoStor_TheAsk">>

<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · MO STÓR" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 4 · §2">> <<setparty "fortune" "fang" "lawrence">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/794214b6-0767-492c-b743-e972820ba7b5/MoSto%CC%81r_Entrance_afternoon.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors>> <<setoverlay "<p>The entrance to Mo Stór sits at the bottom of a long, stone street. The third step from the bottom creaks, announcing your arrival.</p>">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "Postchase_Transit">> <<soundprompt "ambient" "Smyrna harbor late-afternoon: gulls, distant water lapping at quay, cordage creak from anchored boats, market wind-down sounds (vendors calling closing prices, awnings being rolled). Footfalls on stone — Fortune and Fang walking, deliberate. ~45-second loopable bed.">> <<music "Heartbeat" "2PM · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dWBzAetyXc" "">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Have you been here before?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "No. I've heard about it though."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "The tea is good. The company is... acquired."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (looks over her shoulder) "Is he leaving us to see the Matriarch?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "No, he said he’d meet us here. He’s probably making sure they leave town."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Oh."</div> <<if $castMelons>> <<set $fortuneVIT -= 8>> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (crouches down, breathing hard and in pain)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (glancing at how you're breathing) "That cast's catching up to you."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "...I didn't feel it at the time."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "You never do, running. That's the trap of it, you can't feel what you're spending, so you spend too much. Seen it put down better casters than you. Pace it next time. There won't always be a next time to learn it in."</div> <<journalentry "the melons" "throwing melons at the vampires was fun and silly. i liked it." "[REL] postchase · cast-cost-late">> <</if>> <<if $fangTrust >= 60>> <<advance "Enter Mo Stór" "Demo4_PostChase_FangAck">> <<else>> <<advance "Enter Mo Stór" "Demo4_MoStor_Arrival">> <</if>>

<<set $avatarName = "Fortune">> <<set $playerDesire = "">> <<set $fangTrust = 50>> <<set $byunghoTrust = 50>> <<set $lawrenceTrust = 50>> <<set $ishaniClareBond = 50>> <<set $ishaniByunghoBond = 50>> <<set $ishaniJeffBond = 50>> <<set $ishaniFangBond = 50>> <<set $lawrenceFirstRead = "">> <<set $momentsThatMattered = []>> <<set $declaredIntents = {}>> <<set $intentLog = {}>> <<set $encounterOutcomes = {}>> <<set $arrivedB3Via = "">> <<set $dex = 0>><<set $flow = 0>><<set $end = 0>><<set $xp = 0>> <<set $chase = { aggressive: 0, tactical: 0, trickster: 0, detail: "" }>> <<set $heartbeatCount = 0>> <<set $tibTellCount = 0>> <<set $fortuneVIT = 100>> <<set $muttererHP = 55>> <<set $signalAlive = true>> <<set $signalInFormation = true>> <<set $muscleAlive = true>> <<set $muscleInFormation = true>> <<set $captainAlive = true>> <<set $chantBeat = 1>> <<set $chantInterruptCount = 0>> <<set $byunghoVector = "">> <<set $nonviolentLock = false>> <<set $fortuneCast = 3>> <<set $castMelons = false>> <<set $R1_castNet = false>> <<set $R1_castYardarm = false>> <<set $R1_castWater = false>> <<set $trickster_stepback = false>> <<set $R1_struckChanter = false>> <<set $R1_capitanHeld = false>> <<set $R1_baited = false>> <<set $R1_cutThrough = false>> <<set $R1_spoke = false>> <<set $R1_captainAnsweredR1 = false>> <<set $R2_pressedChanter = false>> <<set $R2_disabled = false>> <<set $R2_named = false>> <<set $R2_stepBack = false>> <<set $R3_walkThrough = false>> <<set $R3_killedCaptain = false>> <<set $R3_standDown = false>> <<set $D4_firstKill = false>> <<set $captainR3Response = "">> <<set $_sceneQueue = []>> <<set $_sceneRevealed = 0>> <<set $_sceneActors = []>> <<set $_sceneActionArc = null>> <<set $_whisperReplyPending = []>> <<set $_whisperReplyThread = null>> <<set $_whisperActiveThread = null>> <<set $_guildReplyPending = []>> <<set $pendingWhispers = []>> <<set $portraits = { fortune: "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/97faf03a-a19a-4252-b84a-191beed05a44/Fortune_Portrait.png?content-type=image%2Fpng", fang: "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/7990a0b7-154b-40c0-9a13-4770dc6b86bb/Fang_Portrait.png?content-type=image%2Fpng", lawrence: "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/c76820c6-58b5-4b3b-8a2d-291dd451c433/Lawrence_Portrait2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng", marcus: "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/82a9d763-f9e7-49e7-9270-f3508203cf91/Marcus_Portrait.png?content-type=image%2Fpng", tiberius: "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a12855a8-a83c-485c-b3b1-c1a24a1746bb/Tiberius-headshot.png?content-type=image%2Fpng" }>> <<set $npcsMet = {}>> <<set $chatRoster = [ { id: "you", name: "Ishani", handle: "fortune", status: "online" }, { id: "clare", name: "Clare", handle: "fang", status: "online" }, { id: "byungho", name: "Byung-Ho", handle: "lawrence", status: "online" }, { id: "jeff", name: "Jeff", handle: "marcus", status: "online" } ]>> <<set $chatLog = [ { kind: "day", text: "yesterday" }, { who: "you", time: "6:31 PM", text: "mo stor tomorrow?", read: true }, { who: "you", time: "6:31 PM", text: "usual time", read: true }, { who: "clare", time: "6:48 PM", text: "i'm in", read: true }, { who: "byungho", time: "7:02 PM", text: "see you there", read: true }, { who: "jeff", time: "7:14 PM", text: "marcus has a new song", read: true }, { kind: "day", text: "today" } ]>> <<set $whisperLog = []>> <<set $journalLog = []>> <<set $activeChatTab = "guild">> <<set $tabUnread = { guild: false, whisper: false, journal: false }>> <<set $chatMode = "pane">> <<set $chatModeManual = false>> <<set $chatTutorialShown = false>> <<set $whisperTutorialShown = false>> <<set $fang = 0>><<set $lawrence = 0>> <<set $journal = []>> <<set $buildScope = "DEMO4">>