Ensemble scenes are optional moments where several residents share a place. They give no reward, no Imprint and no recruit. Their purpose is to make the world feel lived in, with true continuity.
Ensemble scenes#
| Scene | Opens when | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| EN1. The record and the rota | After III6, if the player knows Mote's watch and Pip's east bend | Mote has a report; Pip has a duty. A small disagreement becomes a practical agreement, if the home can cover it. |
| EN2. Two kinds of short journey | After Fen arrives and Mote is known | On the Nearfield–Threadway road, Fen knows a route and Mote knows an observation. Looking and reaching are different skills. |
| EN3. No one makes a speech | After Pip's story is complete | A calm Hearth interval. The cast stand where the player's choices put them. |
When all three companion stories are finished, EN3 shows a tableau the player made possible. When none are finished, the home simply carries on. Both are valid ends.
Ambient episodes#
These play once, at most two per region per act, and never carry a progress bar.
- A mistaken appointment (Hearth): Mote waits at the wrong bend because two places share a name. Pip corrects the place, not Mote.
- A neighbour's preferred timing (Hearth): Nell likes a pause before a routine; Stella wants the crossing kept clear.
- The uninteresting visitor (Nearfield): Rill stops by briefly. The lines stay neutral if the player never did Rill's episode.
- A little quiet at Starwell: Aster is busy with real work and talks afterwards.
Development#
- Design: dossier §18B D and §25.
- Rules: Claude B's catalog lists
ENSEMBLEandAMBIENT, withAMBIENT_CAP = 2. - None of these scenes is wired in the alpha, as far as this wiki can tell from the code.
See also#
Sources#
- .GAME_PLAN/ARBORWAKE_COMPANIONS_NARRATIVE_AND_SYSTEMS_DOSSIER_v0.5.md (working copy, not in Git)
b89f778c2:src/main-game/game/vendor/services/sidequests/catalog.js
What links here (20)
- Act I: The Long Wake
- Act II: The Boundary Is Not a Wall
- Act III: What Stays After the Signal
- Act IV: The Interval
- Act V: The Break
- An Errand That Was Already Underway
- An Hour Without a Request
- Arborwake: The Long Wake
- Epilogue: The Next Ordinary Day
- Evening Pair
- Prologue: The Last Regular Evening
- Someone Else's Shift
- The Border of an Agreement
- The Five Stretches
- The Names at the Edge
- The Part Between
- The Stretch Between Neighbours
- The Uninteresting Ones
- Who Takes the New Road?
- Withdrawn story directions