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<<set $_sceneRevealTarget = "prose">> <<setchat "off" "force">> <<setheader "" "" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene `SOC_ASSETS.Caravan_First_Afternoon`>> <<music "" "" "" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/123d3974-af7c-4fc9-a8fa-b740d3ab7e47/Fang_Bam_Standing_Center2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"10%","bottom":"9%","width":"20%","id":"fang","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/34a50745-0bd1-4d9c-be09-f17e7ebb97be/Fortune_Standing_Right_Turban2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"26%","bottom":"12%","width":"17%","pose":"ready"}' >> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "A vampire, a werewolf, and a bear walk into a bar."' "g1">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Not this story again."' "g1">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "And the bear’s on the table, and the vampire’s swearing to the barkeep he took the blockade with a knife, some string, and a flag, and the werewolf —"' "g1">> <<sceneprose "Fang stops." "g1">> <<sceneprose "Not the pause of catching her breath. The other kind: the one where a tracker goes still because the ground told them something." "g1">> <<script>> (function () { var A = "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/"; var FANG_CENTER = A + "77b87e27-b364-49fa-91a1-1d8c80ca1a8b/Fang_Bam_Scent_Center.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var FANG_LEFT = A + "ef1d39ec-8a27-4285-bce2-8035da3ec093/Fang_Bam_Scent_Left2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var FANG_RIGHT = A + "b95f3e79-56da-472d-bc11-ea24d55fcd4e/Fang_Bam_Scent_Right.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var FANG_STILL = A + "d732a6c5-dc00-4710-827b-4b83e6221d7f/Fang_Bam_Scent_Still.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var MOTION = window.SOC_SWAP_PROFILES ? window.SOC_SWAP_PROFILES.motion : null; var thisPassage = State.passage; window._d4GroupRevealHooks = { _passage: thisPassage }; window._d4GroupRevealHooks["6"] = function () { if (State.passage !== thisPassage) return; if (window._d4SetActorBounce) window._d4SetActorBounce("fang", "still"); if (window._d4ActorSequence) { window._d4ActorSequence("fang", [ { pose: FANG_CENTER, dur: 700, hold: 400 }, { pose: FANG_LEFT, dur: 900, hold: 300 }, { pose: FANG_CENTER, dur: 700, hold: 300 }, { pose: FANG_RIGHT, dur: 900, hold: 300 }, { pose: FANG_STILL, dur: 1600, hold: 0 } ], MOTION, { onComplete: function () { if (State.passage !== thisPassage) return; if (window._d4SetActorBounce) window._d4SetActorBounce("fang", "ready", "4.5s"); }}); } }; })(); <</script>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Fang?"' "g1">> <<sceneprose "Her head comes up. She casts into the wind, turns, casts again — tacking, the way she does when a scent won’t hold still, working the edges of the caravan to catch where it’s coming from." "g2">> <<script>> State.variables._sceneRevealed = 5; <</script>> <<stancechoice "vd010" "ask" "What did you hear?" "VD.011.outside_smyrna.raid.ask">> <<stancechoice "vd010" "wait" "Wait" "VD.012.outside_smyrna.raid.wait">>
<<set $_sceneRevealTarget = "prose">> <<setheader "" "" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene `SOC_ASSETS.Caravan_First_Afternoon`>> <<music "" "" "" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/123d3974-af7c-4fc9-a8fa-b740d3ab7e47/Fang_Bam_Standing_Center2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"10%","bottom":"9%","width":"20%","id":"fang","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/34a50745-0bd1-4d9c-be09-f17e7ebb97be/Fortune_Standing_Right_Turban2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"26%","bottom":"12%","width":"17%","pose":"ready"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.011.outside_smyrna.raid.ask">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Fang. What did you hear?"' "g1">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Nothing. That’s the problem."' "g1">> <<sceneprose "Not now. Her hand’s already on the hilt." "g1">> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<advance "Keep still" "VD.020.outside_smyrna.raid.scent2">>
<<set $_sceneRevealTarget = "prose">> <<setheader "" "" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene `SOC_ASSETS.Caravan_First_Afternoon`>> <<music "" "" "" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/123d3974-af7c-4fc9-a8fa-b740d3ab7e47/Fang_Bam_Standing_Center2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"10%","bottom":"9%","width":"20%","id":"fang","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/34a50745-0bd1-4d9c-be09-f17e7ebb97be/Fortune_Standing_Right_Turban2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"26%","bottom":"12%","width":"17%","pose":"ready"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.012.outside_smyrna.raid.wait">> <<sceneprose "You follow her eyes to the ridgeline. You listen the way she seems to be listening. Wind. The caravan behind you. Your own pulse. Nothing that explains why she’s stopped." "g1">> <<sceneprose "Not now. Her hand’s already on the hilt." "g1">> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<advance "Keep still" "VD.020.outside_smyrna.raid.scent2">>
<<setheader "SMYRNA · NORTH-QUARTER STREETS" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/641d182a-9ca3-4be2-9e59-20c24d48c491/Merchant_Quarter_Spotter.jpg?content-type=image%2Fjpeg">> <<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" "VD.131.smyrna.chase.b3_spotter">> <<if not window._socMomentFired("clare_heads_up_warm") and not window._socMomentFired("clare_heads_up_curt") and not window._socMomentFired("clare_dontpush_ack")>> <<if window._socMomentFired("clare_heads_up_defer") or window._socMomentFired("clare_dontpush_silent") or window._socMomentFired("clare_dontpush_seen")>> <<whisper "clare" "fortune you good?" "now">> <<whisperreply '{"icon":"💚","text":"yeah just need to focus rn","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":10,"momentId":"B1_warm","replyTo":"clare","respondImmediate":{"from":"clare","text":"got you. i\u2019ll quiet down.","delayMs":1800,"replyTo":"you"}}' '{"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"}}' >> <</if>> <</if>> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <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 "minjae" "now" "don't have fun without me.">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"👍","text":"copy","stat":"minjaeTrust","delta":10,"momentId":"B2_follow","respondImmediate":{"who":"minjae","text":"good","delayMs":1800,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"👌","text":"got it"}' '{"icon":"😏","text":"wouldn\u2019t dream of it","stat":"ishaniMinjaeBond","delta":2,"momentId":"B2_playful_peer","replyTo":"minjae","respondImmediate":{"who":"minjae","text":"that\u2019s the spirit","delayMs":1600,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"don’t reply, keep playing","defer":true,"momentId":"B2_defer","replyTo":"minjae"}' >> <<advance "Keep moving" "VD.132.smyrna.chase.b3_choice">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · NORTH-QUARTER STREETS" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/80cda41e-8f4c-4004-9ca0-4bd3d9539283/Merchant_Quarter_Fountain_Square.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/aa078847-24a1-41dd-928a-2c9b004efcf2/War_Band_Vidune_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"38%","bottom":"25%","width":"12%","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/348dd755-2974-49f4-923e-a95a3ed078aa/War_Band_Igor_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"65%","bottom":"25%","width":"12%","stagger":"-0.2s","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/73b4a5ee-4bd3-45f5-85c9-bd6463261fba/War_Band_Svetomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"55%","bottom":"16%","width":"14%","stagger":"-0.4s","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":"48%","bottom":"38%","width":"11%","stagger":"-0.6s","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":"42%","bottom":"18%","width":"14%","stagger":"-0.8s","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":"70%","bottom":"24%","width":"14.4%","stagger":"-1.0s","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e8c93414-fe19-4c68-af23-e35d5269dc32/War_Band_Hrafnkell_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"80%","bottom":"18%","width":"14%","stagger":"-1.2s","pose":"ready"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.132.smyrna.chase.b3_choice">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "three on the ground, two on the roofs. i've seen worse." 800>> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "when." 1800>> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "...uhh.... in movies?" 3000>> <<chatbeat "clare" "typing" 3800>> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "Jeff" 4800>> <div class="d4-choices"> <<chasechoice "aggressive" "dex" "Charge left. Let the vampires believe they've trapped us." "VD.140.smyrna.chase.b4">> <<chasechoice "tactical" "flow" "Overturn the produce carts behind us, then dive left." "VD.140.smyrna.chase.b4">> <<chasechoice "trickster" "end" "Cut the cart bindings on our way past. Goods scatter. They have to slow down and pick a clear path." "VD.140.smyrna.chase.b4">> </div>
<<setchat "pane">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · MERCHANT GUILD HAN" "Morning · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/97d004f5-f761-40ab-8d6e-02c35970c166/TurkishHan_Courtyard_Morning.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/15e3f62c-5ecc-4a87-a33e-a12e2a9b0125/Fang_Bam_Standing_Right.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"34.5%","bottom":"2%","width":"28%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/5c3c928d-b858-42ee-be53-768800e80bd7/Fortune_Standing_Left.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"44.5%","bottom":"2.5%","width":"26%"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.105.smyrna.han_departure.leaving">> <<music "Nella Notte" "Forestella · acoustic (placeholder — Han cue TBD)" "" "">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (settling a pack strap) "The factor’s got the manifest. What’s left of it."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "He’ll deliver them to the guild. We did what we could for Berke and the rest."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "And us?"'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "We head to the tavern. Mo Stór. It’s where he told you to go."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "You know him."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "I do."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Who is he?"'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "My best friend. My worst enemy."'>> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<advance "Continue" "VD.110.smyrna.chase.b1">>
<<setchat "pane" "force">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · MERCHANT QUARTER" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<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/baf84d18-c496-48b8-b663-896026cd26b4/War_Band_Eyvindr_Jump.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"82%","bottom":"2%","width":"17%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/e9c75f31-c292-4135-b292-a32d654cf4f5/War_Band_Vidu%CC%84ne%CC%87_Jump.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"71.5%","bottom":"1%","width":"17%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/8514aa8d-24a1-43ee-a9c1-1fe204471b84/Fang_Run_Bam_Left.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"12%","bottom":"1%","width":"15.5%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/5fb9acd9-e90d-47c6-8008-76261f13ffe6/Fortune_Running_Sword.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"23.5%","bottom":"1%","width":"22%","stagger":"-0.3s"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.110.smyrna.chase.b1">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "lawrence is heading into town. brb">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "rough day. need to run something stupid tonight.">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "💀 fang and fortune are running for their lives. classic tuesday. ishani, you ready?">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "marcus is in the tavern waiting for y'all">> <<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 Min-jae, hope tonight helps","stat":"ishaniMinjaeBond","delta":2,"momentId":"ishani_coldopen_guild_warm_mj","replyTo":"minjae","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"}' >> <<whisper "clare" "hey, fyi, mj 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","thenReply":[{"icon":"","text":"👍","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":3,"momentId":"clare_dontpush_ack","replyTo":"clare"},{"icon":"⏸","text":"don\u2019t reply","defer":true,"momentId":"clare_dontpush_silent","replyTo":"clare","journal":{"title":"let it sit","body":"clare said don\u2019t push, so i didn\u2019t. left it there.","tag":"[REL] chase · B1 · dontpush-silent"}}]}}' '{"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> (ahead, through the dust) "...the spice street, I said NOT the ...."</div> <!-- §1 NEAR-MISS (not separation). The crowd-surge breaks them apart for a beat, then Fang closes back to Fortune's shoulder. Buddy-cop: Fang stays co-present through the chase (every B2 branch assumes it). Fortune's working-guard threat call-out is now answered by Fang, not lost into a void. --> <div class="d4-prose"><p>A cart lurches sideways. The crowd breaks the wrong way and you lose the line of her for a breath, then she's back at your shoulder, matching your pace.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Three. Vampires. Blond, long hair, big sword."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "I see them. Stay on me."</div> <div class="d4-choices"> <<chasechoice "aggressive" "" "Turn and face them. Together." "VD.120.smyrna.chase.b2_aggressive">> <<chasechoice "tactical" "" "Put the stall between you and them. Cover the runners." "VD.123.smyrna.chase.b2_tactical">> <<chasechoice "trickster" "" "Cut their angle before they close." "VD.124.smyrna.chase.b2_trickster">> </div> <!-- TIMER PULLED (v1.00.03, 23 Jun 2026): the <<chasetimer>> shrinking-bar was removed here. It pressures READING speed, which is a mismatch with text-heavy choices (railroaded before the player could read 3 triage-verbs). Gated on a later medium-moment (full animation OR a looping-audio track). Full design + the working macro/CSS code are preserved in SOC_Timer_CarryForward.md so we don't reinvent it. (v1.00.04, 24 Jun: the earlier "separation spine" that once carried the frantic beat was removed when the chase moved to Path A buddy-cop — Fang stays co-present. Frantic now comes from the near-miss prose + the boxed-in threat read, carried via CONTENT, not a clock.) -->
<<setchat "bubble">> <<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">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.120.smyrna.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"}' >> <!-- Relocated from B1: Min-jae/Clare guild interrupt opens the post-choice beat so it reads, instead of flashing under the choice. Texture only, never load-bearing. v1.01.16 (03 Jul): one-time guard ($chase.mjRunPushed). The pair was copy-pasted into all three sibling B2 branches; append-only chat + cross-branch Back-nav surfaced the pair twice in one playthrough. Guard makes it push once regardless of which branch(es) render or re-render. Flag lives on $chase (resets on restart via StoryInit). Identical block in all three B2 branches. --> <<if not $chase.mjRunPushed>> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "Run. I'm coming.">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "mj wait, they've got the whole quarter boxed">> <<set $chase.mjRunPushed to true>> <</if>> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "...three in front. Three behind."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "That's six. Which means there are six more I can't see."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Twelve. That's Stari Krov."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$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 "minjae" "now" "Then I'm definitely coming.">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"🫥","text":"Min-jae be careful","stat":"ishaniMinjaeBond","delta":2,"stat2":"lawrenceTrust","delta2":2,"momentId":"B2_Aggressive_care_for_mj","replyTo":"minjae","respondImmediate":{"who":"minjae","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 mj\u2019s character","delayMs":1900,"surface":"guild"}}' '{"icon":"💀","text":"what, vampires, again?","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." "VD.122.smyrna.chase.b2_aggressive_engage">> <<chasechoice "tactical" "" "Dive left down the side street." "VD.121.smyrna.chase.b2_aggressive_dive">> </div>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<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">> <<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" "VD.121.smyrna.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 $arrivedB3Via = "dive">> <<advance "Keep moving" "VD.130.smyrna.chase.b3">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setlocation "merchant_quarter">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · MERCHANT QUARTER" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/dfc13afb-800d-4af8-a1d4-5e02a022d831/Merchant_Quarter_Aggressive_Sidestreet.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"40%","bottom":"36%","width":"6.5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"47%","bottom":"38%","width":"6%","stagger":"-0.2s","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"53%","bottom":"36%","width":"6.5%","stagger":"-0.4s","pose":"ready"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.122.smyrna.chase.b2_aggressive_engage">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "...oh">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "oh that's bad">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$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">$avatarName:</span> "I want to hear that story later."</div> <<declareintent "fang_stari_krov_story">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Sure thing, kid."</div> <<journalentry "stari krov" "so a whole war band's matriarch is 'pissed at' fang. there's a story there and i hope we get somewhere i can ask for it tonight, so i don't forget. clare will just tell me to wait. :-(" "[PLOT] chase · B2 · stari-krov-question">> <<advance "Keep moving" "VD.131.smyrna.chase.b3_spotter">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setlocation "coopers_alley">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.123.smyrna.chase.b2_tactical">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0d64d678-4cf9-431c-9ea0-0bd7ea858ed8/War_Band_Tihomir_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"38%","bottom":"48%","width":"4.5%","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f6f0968f-fd83-4f39-a6a6-1af314ef46f9/War_Band_Zlata_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"46%","bottom":"50%","width":"4.5%","stagger":"-0.2s","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/a16d9c59-9994-4eb5-9aad-73ef46519923/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"56%","bottom":"55%","width":"4.5%","stagger":"-0.4s","pose":"ready"}' >> <!-- Relocated from B1: Min-jae/Clare guild interrupt opens the post-choice beat so it reads, instead of flashing under the choice. Texture only, never load-bearing. v1.01.16 (03 Jul): one-time guard ($chase.mjRunPushed). The pair was copy-pasted into all three sibling B2 branches; append-only chat + cross-branch Back-nav surfaced the pair twice in one playthrough. Guard makes it push once regardless of which branch(es) render or re-render. Flag lives on $chase (resets on restart via StoryInit). Identical block in all three B2 branches. --> <<if not $chase.mjRunPushed>> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "Run. I'm coming.">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "mj wait, they've got the whole quarter boxed">> <<set $chase.mjRunPushed to true>> <</if>> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Good call. They can't all fit."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "...look at how they're standing. What do you see?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$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? min-jae 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 MJ 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" "VD.130.smyrna.chase.b3">>
<<setheader "SMYRNA · MERCHANT QUARTER" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/995e0ba8-0456-40a8-afef-193ea1c1768c/Merchant_Quarter_Chase_Melon.png?content-type=image%2Fpng" "center bottom">> <!-- v1.01.16 (03 Jul): BACKGROUND SWAP + explicit actors. OLD image (Merchant_Quarter_Melon.jpeg) baked Fang+Fortune onto a ROOFTOP composition — read as flying, not running. NEW plate (Merchant_Quarter_Chase_Melon.png) is an EMPTY street-level stage: melon cart center-left, no characters baked in. Trickster was the only B2 branch with no <<setactors>>, so it silently INHERITED B1's actors (Fang 52% / Fortune 61%, bottom 1%) via _sceneActors persistence (setscene does not clear; only setlocation does). On the old baked plate that produced a double-render (rooftop-baked + street-level inherited); object-fit crop hid the inherited pair. On the new empty plate the inherited pair would be the only characters — but relying on B1 inheritance is fragile (breaks if B1 changes or a clearing path reaches Trickster). Declaring actors here makes the passage self-contained, matching Aggressive/Tactical. POSITION: shifted RIGHT of the cart per author direction — Fang/Fortune land between the melon cart (~25–42% from left) and the right edge. First-pass estimate (Fang 66% / Fortune 75%, bottom 1%), preserving the B1 ~9-pt gap and relative widths; nudge after playtest. Same URLs as B1. --> <<setactors '{"id":"fang","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/8514aa8d-24a1-43ee-a9c1-1fe204471b84/Fang_Run_Bam_Left.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"66%","bottom":"1%","width":"19.4%"}' '{"id":"fortune","src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/5fb9acd9-e90d-47c6-8008-76261f13ffe6/Fortune_Running_Sword.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"75%","bottom":"1%","width":"24.6%","stagger":"-0.3s"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.124.smyrna.chase.b2_trickster">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <!-- Relocated from B1: Min-jae/Clare guild interrupt opens the post-choice beat so it reads, instead of flashing under the choice. Texture only, never load-bearing. v1.01.16 (03 Jul): one-time guard ($chase.mjRunPushed). The pair was copy-pasted into all three sibling B2 branches; append-only chat + cross-branch Back-nav surfaced the pair twice in one playthrough. Guard makes it push once regardless of which branch(es) render or re-render. Flag lives on $chase (resets on restart via StoryInit). Identical block in all three B2 branches. --> <<if not $chase.mjRunPushed>> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "Run. I'm coming.">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "mj wait, they've got the whole quarter boxed">> <<set $chase.mjRunPushed to true>> <</if>> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$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 $castMelons = true>> <!-- v1.01.16 (03 Jul): OVERLAY REMOVED. The <<sceneprose>> block painted narrator description over the scene image (the caption box in the playtest screenshot). Per Style Sheet §16 (Render-Then-Name) + the deprecation ruling at §15 — timed action prose is NEVER an overlay on the art. Recast as an in-pane Fortune action line (d4-dlg + parenthetical stage direction, house format). CUT per §16 (render, don't re-narrate what the art shows): "three melons launched," "the rest of the fruit hit stone," and "the vampires broke formation to dodge" — all explicitly in the B2-trickster-melons artprompt below. The still carries the airborne melons + scattering pursuers; the action line carries only what the art can't: Fortune's gesture (the throw of the hand). The cast-WORD ("Manus motoria") is already her spoken dialogue above, so the action beat is the MOTION only, not a repeat of the word. --> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (a hard flick of the wrist at the cart, fingers snapping open)</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 "minjae" "now" "i'll never get tired of seeing that">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "that'll go in the songs." 1800>> <<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." "VD.120.smyrna.chase.b2_aggressive">> <<chasechoice "tactical" "flow" "Cut left down the side street, narrower. Make them run single file." "VD.123.smyrna.chase.b2_tactical">> </div>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · NORTH-QUARTER STREETS" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<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" "VD.130.smyrna.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>> <<advance "Keep moving" "VD.131.smyrna.chase.b3_spotter">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/b845454c-a4b2-4d48-8ba4-b38e98729742/Merchant_Quarter_Deadend.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors>> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.140.smyrna.chase.b4">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "mj, how long til you join us?">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "2 more blocks, almost there.">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "crap, oh no no no">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "We're going to head down the alley, make it harder to fight just the 2 of us.">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "got it.">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "let's get this party started">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "Watch for magic">> <<artprompt "B4-dead-end" "Wide shot from above-and-behind. A narrow Smyrna alley, ~12 feet wide, ending in a high stone wall (no door, no climbable handhold). Fortune and Fang in mid-foreground, halted, partially turned. Behind them at the alley's mouth: TWELVE figures in long coats, arranged in a containment half-moon (NOT charging — holding formation). Lead figure has hand raised, signaling 'hold.' Late-afternoon light angled long down the alley. Style: cinematic, the geometric inevitability of capture made visible. NO blood, NO drawn weapons on the war-band side yet. Aspect 16:9." true>> <<soundprompt "ambient" "Held silence. Twelve men breathing in formation. Distant market sounds far away — Smyrna continues around the alley but the alley is its own room. The wolf-puppy in Fang's chest sling makes one small sound. Fang's fingertip pressing the puppy's flank to quiet her — a tiny fabric-on-fabric brush.">> <<soundprompt "foley" "Fang's left blade drawing slowly — single sustained schick of metal-on-leather, drawn over ~2 seconds. Setting of terms.">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (looking over her shoulder) "All twelve are with us."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "I see them."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "We don't fight this. We survive it."</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> "Hold the alley. Two at a time is all that fits."</div> <<guildreply '{"icon":"👍","text":"copy","stat":"ishaniClareBond","delta":2,"momentId":"B4_ack_copy","replyTo":"clare"}' '{"icon":"👌","text":"got it","momentId":"B4_ack_gotit","replyTo":"clare"}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"don\u2019t reply \u2014 keep playing","defer":true,"momentId":"B4_ack_defer","replyTo":"clare"}' >> <<sceneadvance "Turn and face war band" "VD.141.smyrna.chase.b4_stand">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<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" "VD.142.smyrna.chase.b4_lawrence">> <<setoverlay "<p>You hear something hit the rooftop. You look up.<br>Lawrence. The one Fang called her best friend. And enemy.</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. it was funny and nice to have him joke with me.", "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 "minjae" "now" "hold my beer">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "😂">> <<guildreply '{"icon":"","text":"😂","stat":"ishaniMinjaeBond","delta":2,"momentId":"B4_lawrence_laugh","replyTo":"guild","journal":{"title":"laughed with the team","body":"min-jae said \u2019hold my beer\u2019 right as lawrence dropped off the roof. fortune and fang are backed into a dead-end alley against a whole war band. i\u2019m laughing at my kitchen table. didn\u2019t expect that.","tag":"[REL] chase · B4 · lawrence-laugh"}}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"hold position","defer":true,"momentId":"B4_lawrence_silent","replyTo":"guild","journal":{"title":"eyes up","body":"min-jae 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 "Save Tonight" "Lee Jun-Ho acoustic commission (wishlist)" "" "">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (not lowering her sword) "Twice in one week. People will talk."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "Let them talk. I have outlived every rumor that was ever told about me."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "You could have come sooner."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "I know."</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" 1800 1500>> <<soundprompt "blade" "Sword clearing scabbard. Sharp. The metal of his answer arriving before the words do.">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (a breath, almost a laugh she will not give him) "…Get down here."</div> <<sceneadvance "Lawrence drops." "VD.150.smyrna.chase.b5">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<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"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.141.smyrna.chase.b4_stand">> <<music "Legacy" "NEXZ · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVAR5URdE4" "">> <<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-prose"><p class="--narrator">You turn to face the twelve vampires.</p></div> <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":"ishaniMinjaeBond","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":"minjae","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" "VD.142.smyrna.chase.b4_lawrence">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<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" "VD.150.smyrna.chase.b5">> <<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 "Save Tonight" "Lee Jun-Ho acoustic commission · continues" "" "">> <<moveactor "lawrence" "45%" "9%" 800 "ease-in" "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/d4dde662-fa07-4847-a818-76d804f93b5f/Lawrence_Sword_Draw_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng" "crossfade" 1000 800>> <<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).">> <<set $_sceneRevealTarget = "prose">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (lands, smiling as if the war band behind him didn\u2019t matter) "There you are. I\u2019m glad you came."<div class="d4-dlg" style="font-style:italic; color: var(--text-mid);">He looks at you the way no one has looked at you, like the alley and the war band and the whole shouting world have narrowed to the single point where you are standing, and it is the best thing you have felt in longer than you want to admit. You forget he is a vampire in the warmth of his smile.</div>'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (quieter, almost to himself) "Forty-one years I have been saying no to them. You would think it gets easier to carry. It does not."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (he pauses for a moment) "And then the road turns, and there is a face that makes the weight worth\u2026"'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (something closes, gently, like a hand he did not mean to open) "But that is not your concern. Not yet."'>> <!-- GUILD BEAT (beat #1), light-interleaved. RESOLVED 25 Jun: Clare does NOT name the warmth-register (would do the player's noticing for them — §3.0.6 delayed legibility). She addresses MJ warmly/inclusively instead; surface = guild camaraderie welcoming MJ back into play, latent = Clare registering MJ is SHOWING UP again, warmth said to him with care. Jeff = craft-player register (Marcus/bear framing, theatrical staging-eye, §3.0.4). Clare's "wrecking ball" = in-world tactical hype + quiet Fang/Lawrence-pairing seed. Warning dissolved into welcome; nothing named, everything latent. PARKED (post-playthrough): the MJ-self-medication / warning-missed second cluster was CUT (the rewrite removed the register-flag it referred back to). Author plays through first, then decides whether to reinsert here or relocate to beat #2. Do NOT wire a replacement until that playthrough. --> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "huh">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "mj, it's good to have lawrence back">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "marcus would break a leg on that jump. almost wish i'd picked vampire for him.">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "fang and lawrence are a wrecking ball waiting to happen.">> <<set $lawrenceTrust -= 3>> <<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 · B5 · charm-casting">> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<sceneadvance "Continue" "VD.150b.smyrna.chase.b5_aftermath">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA \u00b7 DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon \u00b7 1402" "DEMO 5 \u00b7 \u00a71">> <<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" "VD.150b.smyrna.chase.b5_aftermath">> <<music "Save Tonight" "Lee Jun-Ho acoustic commission \u00b7 continues" "" "">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (The running catches up with you all at once. The spell you threw on the fly has left you hollow and buzzing. Your hands start shaking and you\u2019re unsure which of the things in your chest is fear and which is something else.)'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (a hand on your shoulder, steadying, her eyes still half on the vampire) "Breathe. You\u2019re still standing. That\u2019s the job."'>> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<sceneadvance "Continue" "VD.151.smyrna.chase.b5_coatcut">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<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"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.151.smyrna.chase.b5_coatcut">> <<music "Save Tonight" "Lee Jun-Ho acoustic commission · continues" "" "">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --svetomir">Svetomir:</span> "Lawrence. You know the matriarch will not accept this answer through a messenger. She will engage the other clan elders."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (silence)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (His blade moves, a single quick slice, faster than the eye registers. A sliver of silver, Svetomir's coat button, falls to the alley stones with a small chime. The coat is otherwise unmarked.)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (shifts her stance. A half-step, watching Lawrence's back.)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "They are under my mark. Leave."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --svetomir">Svetomir:</span> (quieter) "...the wolf and human, both?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "The matriarch will hear from me directly. Not through her hounds."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --svetomir">Svetomir:</span> (bows a brief acknowledgment and leads his band away.)</div> <<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/14530bc6-b05f-4239-9803-8902de1d9ac9/Lawrence_Standing_Spathe__Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng" "crossfade" 1800 1200>> <<set $lawrenceTrust += 4>> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.160.smyrna.chase.b6_withdraw">> <!-- v2.00.17 (07 Jul): guild-chat wall trimmed (author playtest catch — post-Svetomir guild became a wall of text). CUT the meta-banter overkill ("...", "ha ha funny", "lawrence is here", "are we acknowledging this" / "or doing the thing where we don't" pair). KEPT the button-as-trophy thread + Jeff's bar sign-off (below). The MJ charm-reveal chipswap timing is unaffected — it fires on an absolute 3500ms delay, not on ambient-line count. --> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "I want to keep that button as a trophy.">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "mj that button slice 💀 the matriarch is going to feel that one">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "petty. effective. respect">> <<chatpush "minjae" "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 Min-jae","stat":"ishaniMinjaeBond","delta":3,"momentId":"B6_thanks_mj","replyTo":"minjae","respondImmediate":[{"who":"minjae","text":"anytime.","delayMs":1200,"surface":"guild"},{"who":"minjae","text":"(i was terrified)","delayMs":2800,"surface":"guild"}]}' >> <<sceneadvance "Lawrence sheathes his blade." "VD.160.smyrna.chase.b6_withdraw">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5">> <<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" "VD.160.smyrna.chase.b6_withdraw">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "...">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "ha ha, funny.">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "lawrence is here">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "are we acknowledging this">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "or doing the thing where we don't">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "Happy to help." 3500>> <<whisper "minjae" "fyi he's charming you. it's fine. don't fight it." "now">> <<whisperreply '{"icon":"❗","text":"Min-jae, what??","stat":"ishaniMinjaeBond","delta":-3,"momentId":"B6_pushback_mj","replyTo":"minjae","respondImmediate":[{"who":"minjae","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":"minjae"}' >> <<set $ishaniMinjaeBond -= 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> <!-- v2.11.06 (17 Jun 2026): re-tagged from .d4-dlg (dialogue class) + inline font-style:italic override to .d4-prose > p.--ingame (the dormant in-game/charm-register narration class, now activated). This line is omniscient second-person charm-register narration, NOT dialogue; it was structurally mis-classed. Paired with the "warmth/not quite yours" line below — same register, same tell (author note there). --ingame already renders white (var(--text-body)) + left-aligned, matching dialogue/action, plus italic + violet left-border as the register marker. --> <div class="d4-dlg" style="font-style:italic; color: var(--text-mid);">His voice lands warm and low, the way a mug of aged boza is warm and low.</div> <div class="d4-dlg" style="font-style:italic; color: var(--text-mid);">The body answers his smile before the 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 "minjae" "now" "haven't seen Svetomir in years">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "little of both. long story">> <<chatpush "minjae" "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 "minjae" "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 Min-jae","stat":"ishaniMinjaeBond","delta":3,"momentId":"B6_thanks_mj","replyTo":"minjae","respondImmediate":[{"who":"minjae","text":"anytime.","delayMs":1200,"surface":"guild"},{"who":"minjae","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." "VD.170.smyrna.chase.b7">>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · DEAD-END ALLEY" "Mid-afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §1">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f606323b-590f-4d2e-b776-8bf9c3a40ca0/Merchant_Quarter_Alley_Fight.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.170.smyrna.chase.b7">> <<music "Save Tonight" "Lee Jun-Ho acoustic commission · continues" "" "">> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (to Fang, not turning) "They will be back. Not today. Not in this city."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "I know."</div> <!-- BEAT #2 — the departure charm. Lawrence turns from Fang to Fortune; the gaze-channel opens deliberately (stage-3 amplification), then closes as he goes. v2.00.21 (08 Jul): the standalone "(turns. He focuses his full attention on you.)" line folded INTO the warmth beat below — tighter, one beat instead of two. --> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (turns, a half smile softening his expression as he focuses on you) "You held a line you had no business holding, against my kind, with nothing at your back but a werewolf and your own nerve. That is not a common thing to watch."</div> <!-- Fang's tell: she does not look at Fortune; she watches Lawrence. Her blade goes to its sheath the way you put something down when you've decided not to use it yet. "Careful." is the canon-mandated witness-beat — one word. --> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (sheathes her blade, watching him — not you) "Careful."</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (to you, lighter now) "Mo Stór. Tonight. Come find out the rest."</div> <<set $lawrenceTrust -= 2>> <<journalentry "why did that feel safe" "ok that was intense. but the weird part, when he turned to me i felt safe. a stranger who watched me almost die and didn't move. why did my body do that. i don't like that i don't know why." "[REL] chase · B7 · post-vetting · unexplained safety">> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "Happy to help." 3500>> <<whisper "minjae" "fyi he's charming you. it's fine. don't fight it." "now">> <<whisperreply '{"icon":"❗","text":"Min-jae, what??","stat":"ishaniMinjaeBond","delta":-3,"momentId":"B7_pushback_mj","replyTo":"minjae","respondImmediate":[{"who":"minjae","text":"you\u2019re good, trust me.","delayMs":1400,"replyTo":"you"}]}' '{"icon":"⏸","text":"don\u2019t reply \u2014 keep playing","defer":true,"momentId":"B7_pushback_defer","replyTo":"minjae"}' >> <<set $ishaniMinjaeBond -= 3>> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> (A nod to Fang, and he goes — already tailing the war band.)</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "What was that?"</div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (small pause) "That was Lawrence keeping a promise. Later. Mo Stór first."</div> <<advance "Walk to Mo Stór" "VD.200.mostor.mostorThreshold.enter">>
<<setheader "OUTSIDE SMYRNA · CARAVAN ROAD" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5">> <<setscene `SOC_ASSETS.Caravan_Second_Afternoon`>> <<music "" "" "" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/d732a6c5-dc00-4710-827b-4b83e6221d7f/Fang_Bam_Scent_Still.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"6%","bottom":"9%","width":"20%","id":"fang","pose":"ready"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/34a50745-0bd1-4d9c-be09-f17e7ebb97be/Fortune_Standing_Right_Turban2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"22%","bottom":"12%","width":"17%","id":"fortune","pose":"ready"}' >> <<script>> (function () { var A = "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/"; var F_CENTER = A + "77b87e27-b364-49fa-91a1-1d8c80ca1a8b/Fang_Bam_Scent_Center.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var F_LEFT = A + "ef1d39ec-8a27-4285-bce2-8035da3ec093/Fang_Bam_Scent_Left2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var F_RIGHT = A + "b95f3e79-56da-472d-bc11-ea24d55fcd4e/Fang_Bam_Scent_Right.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var F_STILL = A + "d732a6c5-dc00-4710-827b-4b83e6221d7f/Fang_Bam_Scent_Still.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var O_STAND2 = A + "5dbf0091-f055-4db6-9b4a-73bb2bbfe8be/Fortune_Standing2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var O_LOOKUP = A + "f7c86e70-43d6-4910-88ea-e840980e7f8c/Fortune_Standing_Left_LookingUp.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var O_TURBAN = A + "34a50745-0bd1-4d9c-be09-f17e7ebb97be/Fortune_Standing_Right_Turban2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var M = window.SOC_SWAP_PROFILES ? window.SOC_SWAP_PROFILES.scent : null; var pg = State.passage; if (!window._d4ActorSequence) return; var BL = 6, BB = 9, UP = 5, LF = 3; window._d4ActorSequence("fang", [ { pose: F_CENTER, dur: 10, hold: 937 }, { pose: F_LEFT, dur: 10, move: { left: (BL-LF)+"%", bottom: (BB+UP)+"%", dur: 600 }, poseFirst: true, hold: 1023 }, { pose: F_CENTER, dur: 10, hold: 851 }, { pose: F_RIGHT, dur: 10, move: { left: BL+"%", bottom: BB+"%", dur: 600 }, poseFirst: true, hold: 1023 }, { pose: F_STILL, dur: 10, hold: 1367 } ], M); window._d4ActorSequence("fortune", [ { pose: O_STAND2, dur: 10, hold: 794 }, { pose: O_LOOKUP, dur: 10, hold: 1420 }, { pose: O_STAND2, dur: 10, hold: 1330 }, { pose: O_TURBAN, dur: 10, hold: 616 } ], M, { startDelay: 250 }); })(); <</script>> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.020.outside_smyrna.raid.scent2">> <<sceneprose "Fang works the wind. Three steps left, a pause, two steps back. She is reading something that you cannot sense yet and she's concerned.">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Tömür. Tell your camel drivers to close the line. Fang has spotted something."'>> <<sceneprose "The lead camel sidesteps, ears back. A camel driver catches its neck, murmurs it still. Down the line the donkeys balk, and the drivers lean into the lead-ropes to keep them moving. Every animal on the road has its head turned to the low hills.">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Keep the line moving. Don’t look at the hills."'>> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<advance "Continue" "VD.030.outside_smyrna.raid.crest">>
<<setheader "OUTSIDE SMYRNA · CARAVAN ROAD" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5">> <<setscene `SOC_ASSETS.Caravan_Close_Afternoon`>> <<music "" "" "" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/d732a6c5-dc00-4710-827b-4b83e6221d7f/Fang_Bam_Scent_Still.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"6%","bottom":"9%","width":"20%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/34a50745-0bd1-4d9c-be09-f17e7ebb97be/Fortune_Standing_Right_Turban2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"22%","bottom":"12%","width":"17%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/bdb7827b-4488-46a2-b86e-d07e94874e8c/War_Band_Vidu%CC%84ne%CC%87_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"87%","bottom":"63%","width":"12.5%","id":"vamp_vidune"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/93869383-9f4e-43dc-ba4e-2bd86d037451/War_Band_Eyvindr_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"81.5%","bottom":"67.5%","width":"12.5%","id":"vamp_eyvindr"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/348dd755-2974-49f4-923e-a95a3ed078aa/War_Band_Igor_Front.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"91%","bottom":"57.5%","width":"12.5%","id":"vamp_igor"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.030.outside_smyrna.raid.crest">> <<script>> (function () { var A = "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/"; var VID_ATTACK = A + "7ca065d8-dddc-466c-ae26-0bca0841889d/War_Band_Vidu%CC%84ne%CC%87_Attack.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var EYV_ATTACK = A + "fca70456-fe47-488f-b01f-259f098b9a18/War_Band_Eyvindr_Attack.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var IGO_ATTACK = A + "df46c9b4-4510-4e95-a2fa-e1803e7bb5e9/War_Band_Igor_Attack.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var VID_JUMP = A + "e9c75f31-c292-4135-b292-a32d654cf4f5/War_Band_Vidu%CC%84ne%CC%87_Jump.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var EYV_JUMP = A + "baf84d18-c496-48b8-b663-896026cd26b4/War_Band_Eyvindr_Jump.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var IGO_JUMP = A + "3f3d897a-4885-4f53-90de-80e2c6774847/War_Band_Igor_Jump.png?content-type=image%2Fpng"; var M = window.SOC_SWAP_PROFILES ? window.SOC_SWAP_PROFILES.motion : null; var move = window._d4MoveActorProgrammatic; var swap = window._d4SwapActorProgrammatic; if (!move || !swap) return; function drop(id, midLeft, midBottom, landLeft, landBottom, jumpSrc, attackSrc, startDelay) { setTimeout(function () { swap(id, jumpSrc, "crossfade", 200, 0, function () { move(id, midLeft, midBottom, 450, "ease-in", null, "cut", 0, 0, null); move(id, landLeft, landBottom, 400, "ease-out", attackSrc, "crossfade", 350, 450, M); }, M); }, startDelay); } drop("vamp_vidune", "58%", "40%", "46%", "13%", VID_JUMP, VID_ATTACK, 2000); drop("vamp_eyvindr", "71%", "42%", "68%", "17%", EYV_JUMP, EYV_ATTACK, 2220); drop("vamp_igor", "76%", "38%", "74%", "10%", IGO_JUMP, IGO_ATTACK, 2440); })(); <</script>> <<setchat "off" "force">> <<sceneprose "Three vampires appear high on the rocks above them. They leap down like the ground already belongs to them. Fang draws her sword.">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Stari Krov. Northern faction. Gold over burgundy — learn the colors."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">Fortune:</span> "Stari Krov?"'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Later. Let’s survive this first."'>> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<advance "Continue" "VD.045.outside_smyrna.raid.spark">>
<<setheader "OUTSIDE SMYRNA · CARAVAN ROAD" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5">> <<setscene `SOC_ASSETS.Caravan_Close_Afternoon`>> <<music "" "" "" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/7ca065d8-dddc-466c-ae26-0bca0841889d/War_Band_Vidu%CC%84ne%CC%87_Attack.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"46%","bottom":"13%","width":"12.5%","id":"vamp_vidune"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/fca70456-fe47-488f-b01f-259f098b9a18/War_Band_Eyvindr_Attack.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"68%","bottom":"17%","width":"12.5%","id":"vamp_eyvindr"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/df46c9b4-4510-4e95-a2fa-e1803e7bb5e9/War_Band_Igor_Attack.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"74%","bottom":"10%","width":"12.5%","id":"vamp_igor"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0da9304c-8ed8-4c1b-8b14-11b70de7698a/Fang_Standing_Right_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"10%","bottom":"9%","width":"20%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/34a50745-0bd1-4d9c-be09-f17e7ebb97be/Fortune_Standing_Right_Turban2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"26%","bottom":"12%","width":"17%"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.045.outside_smyrna.raid.spark">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (blocks a swipe with her kilij) "This blade isn’t biting. Leather’s too thick."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "Try their face?"'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (body-checks the blonde one back a step) "Not funny."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> (you slash at the tall one; he isn’t there anymore) "What are they doing?"'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (a step back she didn’t choose) "Cutting me out of the herd."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "...huh?"'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "It’s not a raid."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "The merchant. Keep him alive. I’ll hold these."'>> <<sceneprose "Berke, the merchant, plants himself en garde over his crate, the way a man does who has seen off a dozen bandit raids.">> <<sceneprose "You are too far to reach him.">> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<chasechoice "tactical+trickster" "flow" "Reach for the scree. Put the camel between the vampire and the merchant." "" '[{"kind":"description","html":"You cast. Grit sprays off the black-haired vampire’s flank, into the camel’s face. It bellows and shoves itself between them, all knees and teeth."},{"kind":"description","html":"The camel swings its neck; the black-haired vampire catches it, lets it throw him, and comes off the far side already moving."}]'>> <<chasechoice "protective" "flow" "Get your body between the merchant and the vampire." "" '[{"kind":"description","html":"You run. You get there. You get between them."},{"kind":"description","html":"He feints left. You shift. He’s already right, past your shoulder, gone."}]'>> <<advance "Continue" "VD.050.outside_smyrna.raid.merchant">>
<<setheader "OUTSIDE SMYRNA · CARAVAN ROAD" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/7eab7e6b-7ed9-45e4-9665-30c739164090/Caravan_Road_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<music "" "" "" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/fc92cfdf-f753-4fc7-83b6-dbde6f2a3bed/War_Band_Vidune_Back.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"22%","bottom":"49%","width":"8%","id":"vamp_vidune"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/29925949-7318-43b7-a7a8-c04107d009d8/War_Band_Eyvindr_Back.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"12.5%","bottom":"54.5%","width":"8%","id":"vamp_eyvindr"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/37fc31f2-af60-491f-b163-ac1237392cac/War_Band_Igor_Back.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"6.5%","bottom":"60%","width":"8%","id":"vamp_igor"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0da9304c-8ed8-4c1b-8b14-11b70de7698a/Fang_Standing_Right_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"10%","bottom":"9%","width":"20%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/34a50745-0bd1-4d9c-be09-f17e7ebb97be/Fortune_Standing_Right_Turban2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"26%","bottom":"12%","width":"17%"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.050.outside_smyrna.raid.merchant">> <<sceneprose "Hakan, one of the other guards, swings at the white-haired one. The vampire brushes past without looking. Hakan hits the ground, hard.">> <<sceneprose "You were not enough.">> <<sceneprose "The vampires, almost in unison, pause and back away, disappearing into the hills. Unhurried, but purposeful.">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fortune">$avatarName:</span> "They’re leaving."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "They got what they came to weigh."'>> <<sceneprose "You do not know what that means. The fight is over, you can hear it leaving the air. Nothing rushes to fill the quiet.">> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<advance "Continue" "VD.060.outside_smyrna.raid.falls">>
<<setheader "OUTSIDE SMYRNA · CARAVAN ROAD" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/7eab7e6b-7ed9-45e4-9665-30c739164090/Caravan_Road_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<music "Alone With Tears" "Forestella" "" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/1a96077e-01ae-4380-aca1-ccf1e059a328/Merchant_Dead.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"35%","bottom":"10%","width":"19.5%","pose":"still"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0882f0a2-c7d7-4fbd-9af9-7cc2cc918015/Hakan_Dead_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"22.5%","bottom":"6.5%","width":"17%","pose":"still"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0c0ca20b-0a30-4b04-ab6d-cfb12893c758/Fortune_Kneeling_Left_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"37%","bottom":"9.5%","width":"13%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0da9304c-8ed8-4c1b-8b14-11b70de7698a/Fang_Standing_Right_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"8%","bottom":"9%","width":"19%"}' >> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.060.outside_smyrna.raid.falls">> <<sceneprose "You are fast. You are not everywhere.">> <<sceneprose "Berke falls without a sound worth the name. He went down over his crate, still guarding the cargo entrusted to him, a man who was never worth killing until today.">> <<sceneprose "Two, in the space of a breath. Hakan is one of them. You worked three caravans with him. You’re not sure what you feel. You are tired, and there is the dead to bury and grieve.">> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<advance "Continue" "VD.090.outside_smyrna.raid.outcropping">>
<<setheader "OUTSIDE SMYRNA · CARAVAN ROAD" "Dusk · 1402" "DEMO 5">> <<setscene `SOC_ASSETS.Caravan_PostRaid_Dusk`>> <<music "Save Tonight" "Lee Jun-ho cover" "" "">> <<setactors '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/0da9304c-8ed8-4c1b-8b14-11b70de7698a/Fang_Standing_Right_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"8%","bottom":"9%","width":"20%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/ba5507d2-921c-4bad-8838-006f310a36df/Fortune_Standing_Right_Dusk_Turban.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"22%","bottom":"12%","width":"17%"}' '{"src":"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/6677fe84-4a03-4254-9b11-059e9e50a5b3/Lawrence_Standing_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng","left":"78%","bottom":"50%","width":"13%","id":"lawrence"}' >> <<moveactor "lawrence" "62%" "28%" 700 "ease-in" "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/c076efd3-d628-4451-a18a-3bab7f4254cb/Lawrence_Jump_Start_filigree.png?content-type=image%2Fpng" "crossfade" 300 1200>> <<moveactor "lawrence" "54%" "18.5%" 600 "ease-out" "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/6677fe84-4a03-4254-9b11-059e9e50a5b3/Lawrence_Standing_Dusk.png?content-type=image%2Fpng" "crossfade" 400 700>> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.090.outside_smyrna.raid.outcropping">> <<sceneprose "He is on the outcropping like he has been there the whole time and the light only just agreed to show him.">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (looking up) "Nice of you to join us."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "I was in the neighborhood. Thought I’d drop by."'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> (points her sword at the war band) "What’s their reason this time?"'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "Same as last time."'>> <<sceneprose "He turns to you. His voice is warm and low, like aged boza. A wry half-smile, like the two of you are already in on something.">> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<div class="d4-dlg" style="font-style:italic; color: var(--text-mid);">The warmth comes slowly. It moves into the cold place the dead left.</div>'>> <<sceneprose "dialogue" '<span class="d4-who --lawrence">Lawrence:</span> "You already know what you want. You have known for a while. Stop waiting for permission that was never required."'>> <<sceneprose "He holds your gaze like you are the first interesting thing he has seen in a very long time. Then he leaves.">> <<script>> if (window.socIsMobile && !window.socIsMobile()) { var _q = State.variables._sceneQueue || []; if (_q.length > 0) State.variables._sceneRevealed = _q.length - 1; } <</script>> <<advance "Continue" "VD.100.ishani_apartment.kitchen.reveal">>
<<setchat "pane" "force">> <<settab "guild">> <<setheader "AT THE KITCHEN TABLE" "Tuesday Night · 9:46pm" "DEMO 5 · §0">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/bc4afc86-a419-4701-8e0a-2861a833d5c3/Ishani_Facing_Left2.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors>> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.100.ishani_apartment.kitchen.reveal">> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "okay that caravan run was ROUGH. you good?">> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "she watched a man get swatted like a fly and asks if SHE'S good" 1400>> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "jeff" 2600>> <<chatpush "jeff" "now" "im just saying she held it together better than i would've" 3600>> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "the vampire that showed up at the end? don't stress about him." 5200>> <<chatpush "minjae" "now" "trust me. that's a good thing. it unlocks his whole questline. you'll see." 6600>> <<chatpush "clare" "now" "welcome to the guild btw. we're not the last one. promise." 8400>> <<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 DESIRE 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." "VD.105.smyrna.han_departure.leaving">><<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." "VD.105.smyrna.han_departure.leaving">><<set $playerDesire = "finish_something">><<soctrack "desire_selected" "finish_something">><</link>></div> <div class="d4-choice"><<link "Because I want to matter to someone tonight." "VD.105.smyrna.han_departure.leaving">><<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." "VD.105.smyrna.han_departure.leaving">><<set $playerDesire = "carry">><<soctrack "desire_selected" "carry">><</link>></div> </div> <div class="d4-rest-affordance"><<link "Rest at the Tavern">><<set $lastChapterComplete = 1>><<set $moStorEntered to true>><<soctrack "hub_rest" "ch1_kitchen">><<goto "VD.900.mostor.hub.main">><</link>></div>
<<setheader "STONE OF COMMITMENT" "Demo 5" "STUDIO ZISHA">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "VD.999.credits.end.main">> <<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, minjae_trust: V.minjaeTrust || 0, minjae_vector: V.minjaeVector || '', 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" /> <!-- v2.00.30 (08 Jul): WISHLIST MUSIC list removed from credits (author call). Each track is already surfaced in-game via its scene music banner, so the end-credits repeat was redundant. Voice-actor inspirations retained (those are NOT surfaced in-game). If a consolidated music-credits list is wanted later, it can be regenerated from the Music Architecture doc's deployment rows rather than hand-maintained here. --> <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 5 <<= setup.version>> · June 2026 · © 2026</div>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "SMYRNA · MO STÓR" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §2">> <<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" "VD.200.mostor.mostorThreshold.enter">> <<music "TOXIC" "MEOVV · continues" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F61FXiYpP0&list=RD8F61FXiYpP0&start_radio=1&pp=ygUOdG94aWMgYnkgbWVvdnagBwE%3D" "">> <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-prose"><p class="--ingame">After the alley, the quiet of the stone street lands like a held breath let go. Whatever else tonight has waiting in it, this is a place to set it down for a moment.</p></div> <div class="d4-dlg"><span class="d4-who --fang">Fang:</span> "Catch your breath. Our plans can wait for the length of a cup of tea."</div> <<journalentry "he's gorgeous" "ok i can't stop looking. vampire saving the day, such a k-drama mafia boss entrance, and that face. wonder what he did to make his vampire so.....damn pretty?" "[REL] mostor · hub · lawrence-lingering-swoon">> <<set $moStorMode to "hub">> <div class="d4-choices"> <<set $moStorEntered to true>> <<advance "Enter Mo Stór" "VD.999.credits.end.main">> </div>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "MO STÓR · MAIN ROOM" "Late afternoon · 1402" "DEMO 5 · §2">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/8db0383c-5d4e-4d4f-85e9-61ae79e65f11/MoSto%CC%81r_Interior.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<setactors '{"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" "VD.900.mostor.hub.main">> <<music "Nella Notte" "Forestella · acoustic instrumental (hub arrangement) · continues" "" "">> <<dlg "tiberius" "(readies the tea then presents a porcelain cup and saucer two-handed to Fortune, the way tea is served east of Constantinople) \"I hope this is to your liking.\"">> <<dlg "fortune" "(The smell of cardamom reaches you before the cup does. You inhale before you sip.)">> <<dlg "fortune" "(softly) \"Efharistó.\"">> <<dlg "tiberius" "(a small nod, already turning back to the bar) \"Sit as long as you like. The road keeps its own hours; it will not mind if you keep yours.\"">> <<set $moStorTeaSeen to true>> <!-- BOARD / OTHER-PLAYERS'-NOTES — PLACEHOLDER (Step 3b). The hub's systems (the message board + other players' notes) get a fresh design+build (the Demo 2/3 versions are out). For now, a placeholder marks where they live so the hub-mode flow is playable end-to-end. --> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--ingame">[Not in scope for the demo. Mo Stór will include: a quest board, a graffiti wall of comments from other players, the ability to re-spec your avatar, IAP, and other features.]</p></div> <!-- v2.00.38 (09 Jul): JOURNAL on the Hub table. Ishani's notebook, sitting where she left it. A quiet "pick up your journal" opens the two-mode scroll inline (BRIEFING default — short catch-up for time-limited players; toggle to REVIEW for the full oldest->newest arc). Diegetic-object affordance, not a UI tab. --> <div class="hub-journal-affordance"><<link "pick up your journal">><<script>> setup._socOpenHubJournal(); <</script>><</link>></div> <div id="hub-journal-mount" class="hub-journal-mount"></div> <div class="d4-choices"> <div class="d4-choice"><<link "Return to where you were">><<goto "VD.100.ishani_apartment.kitchen.reveal">><</link>></div> <div class="d4-choice"><<link "Replay earlier chapter">><<goto "VD.010.outside_smyrna.raid.road">><</link>></div> </div>
<<script>> $('#ui-bar').hide(); <</script>> <div class="ld-scene"> <div class="ld-scene-top"> <div class="ld-title-h1">STONE OF COMMITMENT</div> <div class="ld-title-h2">VANQUISH DEATH</div> <div class="ld-tagline">An RPG about trust.</div> <div class="ld-body">The slow burn kind. Romantasy, with a K-drama’s patience and a premium RPG’s teeth.</div> </div> <!-- FIRST-TIME menu block (road name + Begin). Hidden by _socShowNotebook when a save exists. The textbox + BEGIN wiring is unchanged from prior loaders. --> <div class="ld-menu ld-menu-firsttime" id="ld-menu-firsttime"> <div class="ld-name-wrap"> <div class="ld-name-head"><span class="ld-name-label">Your road name</span><span class="ld-name-hint">tap to change</span></div> <<textbox "$avatarName" "Fortune">> <div class="ld-name-prompt">Every guard on the Silk Road carries one. Keep this, or take your own.</div> </div> <div class="ld-menu-item ld-begin-wrap"><<link "Begin your journey" "VD.010.outside_smyrna.raid.road">><<soctrack "loader_begin">><</link>></div> </div> <!-- RETURNING menu mounts here (Return / New Journey / Review / Open). Populated by _socShowNotebook() when a valid save exists. --> <div id="ld-notebook-mount" class="ld-menu ld-menu-returning"></div> <!-- Lower-left: wishlist + artist promise + copyright, over the wood. --> <div class="ld-scene-foot"> <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 collaboration</span> </div> <div class="ld-body ld-promise">The artists, actors, and musicians who inspired this game will be the first people we contact when funding is secured.</div> <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" "VD.100.ishani_apartment.kitchen.reveal">><<soctrack "loader_jump" "section_0">><</link>></span> <span class="ld-jump-link"><<link "§1 · Leaving the Han" "VD.105.smyrna.han_departure.leaving">><<soctrack "loader_jump" "section_1">><</link>></span> <span class="ld-jump-link"><<link "§2 · Mo Stór" "VD.200.mostor.mostorThreshold.enter">><<soctrack "loader_jump" "section_2">><</link>></span> </div> <div class="ld-buildtag">Studio Zisha · Confidential Playtest Build · Demo 5 <<= setup.version>> · June 2026 · © 2026</div> </div> <!-- v2.00.41 (10 Jul): AI-placeholder label, lower-right (watermark position, over the dark wood past the scroll's end). Terse factual tag — the warm artist promise lives lower-left; this is just the label, no promise (that split removed the duplication). Swap/remove when real art lands. --> <div class="ld-ai-label">Art: AI placeholder</div> </div>
<<setchat "off" "force">> <<script>> $('#ui-bar').hide(); <</script>> <div class="journal-review-wrap"> <div id="journal-review-mount"></div> <div class="journal-review-back"><<link "‹ back">><<script>>SugarCube.Engine.play('LS.010_LoadScreen');<</script>><</link>></div> </div>
<<setchat "bubble">> <<setheader "ONE RING — CLASSIFIER DEMO" "Sandbox · token-free mock" "DEMO 5 · DEV">> <<setscene "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/f606323b-590f-4d2e-b776-8bf9c3a40ca0/Merchant_Quarter_Alley_Fight.png?content-type=image%2Fpng">> <<soctrack "scene_enter" "OneRing_Demo">> <div class="d4-prose"><p class="--ingame">The One Ring, offline. Type anything below — a confession, an action, an impossible demand, a hostile jab, a non-sequitur — and watch which engine it routes to. This is the token-free mock; the lexicon is a keyword heuristic, not real judgment (that arrives with the live model).</p></div> <<onering "OneRing_Demo">>
<<set $avatarName = "Fortune">> <<set $playerDesire = "">> <<set $fangTrust = 50>> <<set $minjaeTrust = 50>> <<set $lawrenceTrust = 50>> <<set $ishaniClareBond = 50>> <<set $ishaniMinjaeBond = 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: "", mjRunPushed: false, choicesMade: 0 }>> <<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 $minjaeVector = "">> <<set $nonviolentLock = false>> <<set $dockSpent = { aggressive: false, tactical: false, trickster: false, negotiation: false }>> <<set $dockPrimary = "">> <<set $vowBroken = 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 $_sceneRevealTarget = "prose">> <<set $_sceneActors = []>> <<set $_whisperReplyPending = []>> <<set $_whisperClusterQueue = []>> <<set $_lastChipAnswerTurn = 0>> <<set $_whisperReplyThread = null>> <<set $_whisperActiveThread = null>> <<set $_guildReplyPending = []>> <<set $pendingWhispers = []>> <<set $portraits = { fortune: "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/39bd93c3-7fc5-4522-a916-d0fea5ad2d66/Fortune_Portrait.png?content-type=image%2Fpng", fang: "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/69b081e46b04f75d4e5e8c7f/10c17a56-892e-48ae-97f2-1f5b95476850/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: "minjae", name: "Min-jae", handle: "lawrence", status: "online" }, { id: "jeff", name: "Jeff", handle: "marcus", status: "online" } ]>> <<set $chatLog = [ { kind: "day", text: "yesterday" }, { who: "jeff", time: "6:31 PM", text: "Mo Stór tomorrow?", read: true }, { who: "jeff", time: "6:31 PM", text: "usual time", read: true }, { who: "clare", time: "6:48 PM", text: "i'm in", read: true }, { who: "minjae", 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 $tableSurfaces = { guild: true, whisper: false, journal: false, roster: false }>> <<set $partyJoined = { you: true, clare: true, jeff: false, minjae: false }>> <<set $chatMode = "pane">> <<set $chatModeManual = false>> <<set $chatTutorialShown = false>> <<set $whisperTutorialShown = false>> <<set $fang = 0>><<set $lawrence = 0>> <<set $journal = []>> <<set $buildScope = "DEMO4">>