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BOOK CANON — Starborne: Eclipse of the New Gods (Vol. 1)

Authoritative lore source. Game adapts to THIS. Extracted from the InDesign draft
(fragments only — full manuscript needs an export; see "Workflow" below).
Raw mined fragments: design/book-fragments.txt.

Canon facts (locked)

Widower. Ritual smith: works black-iron nails, blood, ash, heartwood, water, counting.

Mantra: "offer it a hammer and a nail and a voice that will not be used to beg."

his hands, life heavy in his arms."* He lifts the infant Lyra from that moment.

crew/acolytes; opens the Veil with **knife + five drops of blood + chalk/ash + a lens + a

ledger (draws a square with a line through it** as his sigil). Excises names, not faces.

The world & the threat

twelve, three, nine, eleven recur and matter).

veined like a still ocean (= the black glass / Tear). Roots pulse with veins; a Root waits**.

bind shrine bell-ropes in hair and salt, then **"teach a square of stone the value of

discipline" — i.e., carve sigils and take** the village (fires still burning, doors open, no

tracks, no voices). This is the game's "takings"/dungeon openings.

village lies west of it).

Vols 2–4 cast & bosses (propagated from GAME1-ALIGNMENT §C2 / MACRO-PLAN; reconcile as chapters lock)

The dragon/Order/Veil-as-purgatory macro is AUTHORITATIVE. Dragons = post-human intelligences in human form
(livestock-keepers, not fire-spectacle); the Veil = a purgatory where souls are weighed; the "gods" = the
starving devoured-divinity remnant on the far side. New named figures now live in NPCS.md / ENEMIES.md:
- Vol.2 — Veliana of the Copper Choir (Dragon-kin handler, Harmony) · the Coppersmith's Patron
(a Dragon's human agent, D4 boss) · the Keeper of the Hold (a lesser Dragon, D5 boss) · **Veyr the
Captive Son (son of one of the Twelve; his blood tears the Veil) · the Quiet Hand** (Gael's Order
handler, speaks for the Dragons) · Archimagister Alex — Veil-tear phase (D6 boss).
- Vol.3 — the Corruption Leviathan (the dense red air given a body, D7) · the Gatekeeper (a fair,
pitiless weigher of souls at the Veil's edge, D8) · the Trial / the Starving Gods (the far-side ordeal
that kills Lyra, D9) · the Compass-Maker, Drowned Marda (purgatory NPCs) · Aurelia (returns as a
far-side vision).
- Vol.4 — the Corruption-Lord (last knot of the dark, D10) · Good Alex / Evil Alex (the split,
D11) · Evil Alex (detonates and flees into the Veil — the Game-2 hook, D12 finale).

Game ↔ Book reconciliation (apply across all design files)

Cast-propagation log (additive)

Scale-Sworn Zealot, Hatchling Wyrm, Ledger-Drake) and §F Veil-purgatory horrors (Tear-Avatar #49, Warlord

Sorcerer / Evil Alex finale #50, Censer-Bearer, Weighing-Shade, Famished God-Spawn, Angel-Ash Revenant, Concord

Sentinel). These populate the D4–D12 trash/elite tiers under the dragon/Order/Veil-purgatory macro and resolve

the long-dangling #49–#50 Alex finale references. NPCS.md grew with the "EXPANDED CAST 2026-06-24" section

(12 NPCs across Harmony→the Veil's Mouth). All additive; no canon overwritten. Cael reconciled as a lesser

hostage beside the canonical captive son Veyr (not a second captive son).

holy smith-materials turned hostile (Heartwood Weeper #141), the Black Glass instruments that invert the light=weapon

rule (Lens-Keeper #142), the sunless-country light-eater (the Snuffed #143, Vol.5 seed), the Between's lying distances

as a traversal foe (the Long Mile #144), the blood-bias temptation that pays-then-takes (the Blood-Flatterer #145,

Vol.8 seed), the square-with-a-line audit-mark as a summoner (the Painted Summons #146), the takings' paperwork given

flight (Writ-Swarm #147), the rest/save-point predator (the Vigil-Breaker #148), the Trial-attendant that scales to the

player's own gear (the Weighing-Twin #149, D9), and the residue of Lyra's heart-stop death (the Heart-Stop Echo #150,

D9). NPCS.md gained the paired "The Sacred Craft & the Ward's Margin" cast (Grove-Warden Aelith, Lens-Reader Orsel,

Wick-Keeper Dunmar, the Compass-Maker [x-list], Penitent Vael, Door-Smear Tamsin, Archivist Sela-Mae [x-list],

Watch-Mother Greta, Tally-Widow Maron [expanded], Aurelia as the Far-Side steadying voice). BUILDINGS.md gained 2

sacred-craft landmarks (#21 Heartwood Grove-Hall, #22 Shutter-Gallery of the Black Glass). All additive; reconciled to

MACRO-PLAN.md (light-as-law, blood-bias, the Between, Lyra's death) and GAME1-ALIGNMENT.md (D6/D8/D9). No canon

overwritten.

(#151–#160)**, mining still-unmined macro canon: the eclipse/perigee clock as an in-fight DPS-check that reddens the

moon (Red-Quarter Herald #151, the connective spine), the auditors' quarantine as a shrinking seal over a town taken on

the page (the Cordon #152, Vol.1 E2), Evil Alex's "balance to zero" gospel as an immune-to-force counting-puzzle husk

(the Zeroed #153, Vol.7), the bloodline-audit as an anti-carry targeter (the Bloodline-Assessor #154, Vol.7), the lone

human atrocity faction as an all-mundane soldier with no umbral tell (the Unmanaged #155 — a NEW, non-Ministry,

non-Dragon human enemy faction, Vol.6: people as monstrous as their masters), the wards-fail-by-three canon as a ritual

knock-timer (the Third Knock #156), the world's Ânimus draining toward the wound as a directional pull-hazard (the

Drain-Current #157, Vol.10), the devoured-divinity remnant as an anti-farm meaning-eater (the Starving God-Fragment

#158, Vol.8), the nameless-dog psychopomp counterfeited as a lure (the False Marker #159), and the final reckoning's

arithmetic as a sacrifice-gated foe that force only feeds (the Last Sum #160, Vols 11–12: the one thing the ledger

cannot drain is a freely given life). NPCS.md gained the paired **"The Perigee Clock, the Red Quarantine & the

Balance-to-Zero"** cast (Perigee-Reader Oren, Cordon-Runner Wsevold, Reckoner Doval, Hedge-Genealogist Marn, the

Disarmed Captain [a human face to the new atrocity faction], Threshold-Wright Bede, the Anchorite of the Mouth, the

Unfed Pilgrim, the Houndless, the One Who Gave). Also reconciled a propagation spelling: Jarl Hmakon Iversen

(GAME1-ALIGNMENT) = Jarl Hakon Iversen (NPCS) — one CORE character (Balkan's father); treat the spellings as aliases.

All additive; reconciled to MACRO-PLAN.md (perigee/eclipse clock, red moon, balance-to-zero, bloodline-audit, the human

atrocity, wards-fail-by-three, the draining, the starving gods, the psychopomp, the freely-given price) and

GAME1-ALIGNMENT.md. No canon overwritten. Recommend git/backup for design/.

(#171–#180), mining still-unmined canon with ten mechanically-distinct foes: the takings' tax on violence** as a

reflect-foe (the Levy-Twin #171), the personal light-economy thief that burns your lantern fuel (the Wick-Thief #172),

the un-wept-grief predator that feeds on every nearby death (the Unmourned #173, an anti-kill foe), the nail-bound

ritual prisoner you must un-pin in counted order (the Pinned Penitent #174, canon blood/nail/count magic as a puzzle-foe),

the counting-magic ledger-geist that splits on even hits (the Divisor #175, a parity-foe), the Veil-purgatory **lure

that wears an ally's face (the Familiar Face #176, checked by shadow + the bound bell), the blood-debt** guardian only

vulnerable while you bleed (the Open Vein #177, canon "magic paid in blood freely given"), the funeral Procession that

wipes if interrupted but ignores the dim and silent (#178, a don't-touch convoy with an optional soul-rescue), the

Ministry's "everything is filed against you" as a delayed self-mirror (the Echo-Sworn #179), and the Gatekeeper's

enforcer who weighs you mid-fight (Maelis, the Weigher's Hand #180, a dynamic-encumbrance boss-minion, GAME1-ALIGNMENT

D8 — sets up the Gatekeeper boss). NPCS.md gained the paired "The Tax, the Nail & the Weigher's Hand" cast (Tithe-Reader

Calder, Lamp-Keeper Iona, Mourner Sela, Nail-Wright Doram, Reckoner Vesh, Shade-Verifier Orin, Blood-Priest Hagar,

Road-Warden Esmé, Sparring-Master Tuld, Soul-Weigher Maddra). ENEMIES roster now contiguous #1–#180, no gaps. All

additive; reconciled to MACRO-PLAN.md / GAME1-ALIGNMENT.md. No canon overwritten. **Recommend git/backup for design/ — the

tail-truncation incident recurred again this batch and was repaired by direct append.**

mining a still-unmined canon angle with a distinct mechanic and none duplicating the prior 180: the **Silent Choir's

vow of silence as a sound-economy stalker (the Hush-Warden #181); the Blood of the Twelve** braiding two lives into

one cord as a shared-life pair you must kill in the same beat (the Indivisible #182); the **takings come even for your

hands as a kit-denial auditor that confiscates an ability (the Confiscator #183); the dense dark that crawls outward**

as a spreading-floor zone-creep (the Spreading Stain #184); the Veil-things only the lost see as a gaze-frozen ambusher

that moves only unobserved (the Unwatched #185); the counting magic turned to sentence as a doom-countdown verdict

(the Verdict #186); the double-entry books that enter every kindness against you as an anti-sustain geist (the

Leech-Ledger #187); the perigee red-moon madness as an input-inversion field (the Reeling #188); the **small skimming

hands of the takings as a loot-thief you chase to recover gold/ore (the Skimming-Clerk #189); and the ledger of every

act recorded against you, read back at the Veil's edge** as a Far-Side boss-minion whose judgment scales to your dungeon

kill-count (the Reckoning #190, GAME1-ALIGNMENT D8–D9). Each is paired with a living teacher/foil in NPCS.md (Vow-Brother

Anselm, the Bloodbinder Twins, Unwrit Clerk Pell, Hazewright Bly, Watcher Idris, Stay-Reader Junia, Surgeon Marrek,

Moon-Touched Vela, Road-Factor Quill, Tally-Confessor Brun). ENEMIES roster now contiguous #1–#190, no gaps. Additive;

reconciled to MACRO-PLAN.md / GAME1-ALIGNMENT.md. No canon overwritten.

still-unmined mechanic and none duplicating the prior 190: the takings' flat unmerciful duty as a damage-cap wall that

wastes your burst (the Fixed Levy #191); the canon counting magic turned to a seal as an exact-count kill-lock that

resets on overshoot (the Exact Tally #192); the Veil-things that hate the light taken to their one exception — a thing

that feeds on your lantern and must be fought lightless, the bestiary's first deliberate warm/cold INVERSION (the

Glare-Fed #193); the registry that never lets a filed name leave the books as a revive-anchor husk you must un-file at

its grave-ledger (the Re-Filed #194); the debt made iron as a movement-tether that shrinks the floor under you (the

Debt-Shackle #195); the accounts-houses whose cruelty was the deferral as a deferred-damage geist that banks your blows

until you break off (the Deferred Payment #196); the Veil that lends its powers and the bailiffs that collect as a

Veil-Medal thief that repossesses a traversal unlock and locks the way forward (the Repossessor #197, GAME1-ALIGNMENT Medal

economy); the Ministry's knowledge armoured in its own binding as a rotating-weakpoint tome (the Unbound Page #198); the

clear Veil-things you know only by what they disturb as an unseen-until-it-strikes ambusher (the Glass Witness #199); and

the auditors' whole craft worn by one body as the §T capstone + #200 milestone — a two-phase instrument-master fusing the

cap-window and the exact-tally finish (the Tallymaster #200, GAME1-ALIGNMENT D1/D6). Each is paired with a living

teacher/foil in NPCS.md (Toll-Reader Hesper, Counting-Sister Edda, Veil-Walker Tomas, Grave-Clerk Otho, Bond-Breaker Sib,

Settlement-Scribe Orrin, Medal-Keeper Wynn, Leaf-Reader Pia, Dust-Watcher Calla, the turned Master-Auditor Vorr). ENEMIES

roster now contiguous #1–#200, no gaps. Additive; reconciled to MACRO-PLAN.md / GAME1-ALIGNMENT.md. No canon overwritten.

Recommend git/backup for design/.

recurrence of the tail-truncation incident: ENEMIES.md had lost the body of §T (#191–#200) after #190's tell while its

header still claimed the batch — #190 was completed and §T rebuilt, then a stale-mount artifact (a duplicate #190 tail +

duplicate §T) was reconciled so the roster is clean and single-copy. Then grew the bestiary with **§U "The Coin, the

Covenant & the Cold Reading" (#201–#210)**, ten mechanically-distinct foes mining the dragon-economy, the Veil-purgatory

weigh, and the red-moon clock: the Harmony auction as a rising-bid pressure foe (the Bidding-Husk #201, GAME1-ALIGNMENT

D4); the church of the Twelve as a buff-broadcasting cantor that arms the choir (the Scale-Sworn Cantor #202, D5); the

dragon-economy's tolls as a wealth-armoured wall that hardens on your gold (the Coin-Drinker #203, D4); the

Gatekeeper's fair weigh as a balance fight you must keep level across two pans (the Weigher's Twin-Pan #204, D8); the

source-starved Far Side as a regen-denial swarm-cloud (the Famine-Moth #205, D9); the perigee red moon as a

lunar-phase beast that doubles when the moon reddens (the Perigee-Hound #206); the erased/rewritten names as an

ability-rewrite scrivener that inverts one of your skills (the Inkless Scrivener #207); the **lives counted worth only the

spending as a kamikaze conscript-swarm (the Hollow Conscript #208); the tribute that became a god** as a cumulative-toll

leviathan that fattens on your expenditure (the Tithe-Leviathan #209, D5/D7); and **the auditors who read the person, not

the ledger** as the §U capstone — an adaptive boss-minion that learns and counters your habits (the Cold Reader #210,

GAME1-ALIGNMENT D6/D11). Each is paired with a living teacher/foil in NPCS.md (Auction-Breaker Tovë, Hymn-Breaker Edor,

Coinwright Dober [recurring D4], Even-Hand Maris, Saltwife Orla [recurring D7], Old Drover Hesk [recurring D10], Re-Reader

Senna, Press-Survivor Doln, Frugal Pilgrim Aldous, Thread-Reader Maeve [recurring D11]) — several recurring from the

GAME1-ALIGNMENT region rosters, tying the new cast back to the book's dungeon map. ENEMIES roster now **contiguous #1–#210,

no gaps, single-copy. Additive; reconciled to MACRO-PLAN.md / GAME1-ALIGNMENT.md. No canon overwritten. The

tail-truncation incident recurred and is now compounded by a stale shell-mount view of design/ — STRONGLY recommend

putting design/ under git/version control.**

's eyes), the rig that **drained the

King's daughter Maren (D3 the Glass Cradle) and her lingering soul, the perigee/red-moon eclipse clock** ("the

Red Quarantine," MACRO E2), the canon "wards fail by three" and hair-and-salt bound bell, and the series'

signature counting-horror (a miscounted soul that returns until counted true). NPCS.md "NYMIRIA'S COURT, THE

PERIGEE CLOCK & THE BOUND BELL" seats 9 paired faces: Court Physician Aldous Vane, **Liss / Maren's

Handmaid, Steward Halvic, Almanac-Keeper Yorrin, Quarantine-Crier Bett, Bell-Wright Goda, Esk

the Grave-Walker (the nameless dog as psychopomp), and the Unsworn** (an Order defector ahead of Gael).

Establishes/reconciles new named canon for later chapter use: Maren (the drained princess of Nymiria), the

Red Quarantine name for the perigee taking-window, and the dragon-seed court of King Edrik. All additive;

no canon overwritten; reconciled to MACRO-PLAN.md (dragon/Order/Veil-as-purgatory macro authoritative).

(#105–#114): Alex's named acolyte-crew — Freyd the Knot-Binder** (#105, binds the hair-and-salt bell),

Tor the Tally-Hand (#106, counts the household — bowls/chairs/doors), Bren the Chalk-Hand (#107, chalks

the square-with-a-line sigil) — the canon Root that waits at the foot of Gael's root-stair (**the Waiting

Root #108 forest boss + Root-Stair Lurker #109), the black slab veined like a still ocean (the Still

Slab** #110), the "square of stone taught discipline" (Discipline-Stone #111), and the takings' household

horror — counted crockery, open doors, still-burning hearths (Bowl-Census Poltergeist #112, **the Unbarred

Door #113, Ash-Choir of the Burning Hearth #114). Establishes the Tor/Bren/Freyd** crew as Alex's

on-the-ground auditors and the Waiting Root as a forest set-piece. ENEMIES.md now at 114 numbered foes.

NPCS.md gained the **"WEST OF THE

TOOTH, THE COUNTED & THE HERD"** section (7 new NPCs giving living faces to enemies already seated in ENEMIES.md):

Brann the Brakktun Boy + Greta of the Quiet Houses (the village west of the Tooth — the canon Brakktun-boy

report; pairs with the Sentinel of the Tooth, ENEMIES #104), Tomas Two-Count (the counting-horror survivor;

pairs with the Thrice-Counted, ENEMIES #100), Tally-Widow Maron (the husbandry/Source memorial; pairs with

ENEMIES §H), Gutter-Houndmaster Vidkun + Old Probe Wessel (overworld §G beast-lore). Establishes minor

canon: Brann (the Brakktun boy who found the village west of the Tooth) and the counting-horror's "uncounted,

not crossed out" survival-dread. All additive; nothing deleted; reconciled to MACRO-PLAN.md. (Verification note:

this run also confirmed ENEMIES.md is intact at 104 numbered foes #1–#104 — the §F–§J roster the header and

prior logs describe is all present; a stale shell-mount view that appeared truncated at #53 was a false alarm.)

Choirless** (#115 — a taken congregation whose names were excised; silent unison, distinct from the singing

Copper-Choir Husk #80), the Pilgrim-of-the-Ledger (#116 — the first convert to the audit-as-gospel, seeding

Evil Alex's Vol.7 "prophet of the ledger" as a Vol.3 roadside heresy; distinct from the bureaucratic auditors),

and the Forgotten (#117 — the Coiled Hold prisoners the Twelve judged not worth bleeding; distinct from the

serving Husk-Thrall #84). ENEMIES.md now at 117 numbered foes. NPCS.md added the **"SILENT CHOIR, LEDGER-GOSPEL

& THE UNPROVEN" section: Father Wend of the Silent Choir** (D7 CORE, pairs #115; establishes the canon mercy

"say the excised names once"), Maddox the Turned (roads SIDE, pairs #116; a near-convert who recanted — the

human face of the ledger-gospel temptation), and the Unproven (D9 SIDE collective — souls who failed the

gods' Trial, counterpart to "the Returned" who passed). All additive; nothing deleted; reconciled to MACRO-PLAN.md.

(Process note: the recurring stale shell-mount truncation illusion was re-encountered this run and an accidental

mid-file splice into #52 was caught and fully reverted before authoring — the authoritative file tool is the

source of truth for this folder; the shell mount lags and must not be trusted for line counts.)

added §M (#118–#132), 15 distinct foes mining the Vols 5–12 macro (MACRO-PLAN.md): the **humanity-as-herd

husbandry made explicit — the Cull-Shepherd (#118, Dragon-kin who runs the open culling), Vessel-Stock**

(#119, people bred as Ânimus vessels), the Renewable (#130, a vessel regrown after each draining); the

Order↔Dragon covenant — the Covenant-Keeper (#120, the Order's own metamorph-hunter, NOT Ministry), **the

Ageless Diplomat (#121, one of the Twelve in human form who negotiates before bleeding), the Covenant-Drake**

(#131, a Dragon war-form loosed when the pact breaks); the ledger-gospel deepening — the Zero-Sworn Penitent

(#122) and the Balance-Bringer (#123, who audits bloodlines, not towns); the devastated rage-years —

the Rage-Years Reaver (#124, a human, day-active — people as monstrous as their masters); the **far-side

wound — the Source-Drinker (#125, gorged on the draining soul-stream) and the Starving God's Hand** (#126,

a limb of the starving gods at D9); the perigee/culling clock — the Red-Moon Herald (#127); the

psychopomp corruption — the False Psychopomp (#128, a husk wearing the nameless dog's shape to lure souls

wrong); the mobile tear-corruption — the Dense-Air Drifter (#129); and the diminished dawn — **the

Diminished** (#132, a soul that paid identity and came back hollowed — the finale's price walking early). Each

kept distinct from prior dragon-kin (§E/§H/§I), purgatory (§F), and Vol.1 deep-cut (§J–§L) entries. ENEMIES.md now

at 132 numbered foes (#1–#132, contiguous). NPCS.md added the "THE HUSBANDRY, THE COVENANT & THE FAR DEEP"

section (12 NPCs, each pairing a §M foe): the Counted Mother Hesper, Drover-Defector Wick, **Brother Ovid /

the Sanctioned, Veladra Who Negotiates (Dragon-kin parley-then-fight), Sister Anwen / the Free-Given**

(Vol.11's freely-given-life counter to the ledger), Bloodline-Keeper Oren, Reaver-Captain Sool, **the

Compass-Maker's Apprentice Nael, the Diminished Man, Stream-Watcher Idony, the Twice-Bled Madder**, and

Herald-Hunter Bryn. Establishes/reconciles back-half canon for later chapters: the open culling/"season"

husbandry economy (Vol.9), the renewable-vessel rotation (Vol.8), the Order's covenant-keepers policing who

may wield the sacred (Vol.6), and the freely-given life as the one sum the ledger cannot drain (Vol.11). All

additive; nothing deleted; reconciled to MACRO-PLAN.md (dragon/Order/Veil-as-purgatory macro authoritative).

Text*), or paste

the chapters. Drop the export in this folder; I'll ingest it into design/BOOK-VOL1.md (clean

manuscript) as the working master.

  1. From the manuscript we derive: characters, places, the magic rules, the Ministry's methods, and

the season-1 plot beats — each becomes game content (regions, NPCs, quests, bosses) in the bibles.

  1. Each game region/dungeon dramatizes a chapter/beat; each boss = a book antagonist moment;

quest dialogue can quote/echo the prose. Game choices can foreshadow Vol. 2.

  1. The autobuild task keeps lore consistent: when it adds content, it cites the relevant book beat.
1051 linked entries · source: content · living wiki, auto-synced from the game's design.