in: Story, Main campaign, Acts
Prologue: The Last Regular Evening
In the alpha Story · facts checked 2 November 2026
The Prologue: The Last Regular Evening opens Arborwake: The Long Wake. It makes Hearth Grove a real place before anything goes wrong. The player learns to move and help, and sees one familiar rhythm that will change later.
Scenes#
| Scene | What happens |
|---|---|
| P1. Before the first request | Three rooted gold neurons pulse in a calm Hearth. The north line carries a paired pulse, the Evening Pair. Pip asks the Ranger to check a bend. If a removable clump is present, the player uses Tend on it. |
| P2. Mote's small argument | In Mote Pocket, Mote compares a rhythm with their own marks. Pip wants the Ranger back for a handoff. The player can inspect the rhythm or gather Supply first. Either order works. |
| P3. A task worth coming home for | Back at Hearth, the player chooses: support a weak connection now, or keep Supply for a later outing. |
| P4. The road beyond the bend | From an overlook in Nearfield Glade, the road to Threadway is visible. A passing resident shows that the world has a life beyond the player. |
“Don't look at the bright one. Look at the pause after it.”
Rules#
- No crisis starts in the prologue. The first Tend gives no lecture and no instant currency.
- P2 can bring Mote into the home duty roster early. It never recruits Mote as a field companion and never unlocks the Coordinator.
- Mote's record gains only what the player actually saw. An observation is not a diagnosis.
Side-story crossovers#
- PIP0, The east bend has a keeper: Pip already does the east-bend work. See Someone Else's Shift.
- M0, A pause between two pulses: Mote watches the gap, not the bright pulse. See The Uninteresting Ones.
- NELL0, The time somebody waits for: a neighbour waits for the paired signal. See The Part Between.
Development#
- Plan: scenes P1–P4 are in plan v0.5 Part IV.
- In the alpha The Placeholder alpha has four journal chapters with these titles in
campaign.js. P1 asks the player to watch two pairs arrive at the north connection. P2 asks for a Pocket cycle and a talk with Mote. P3 asks for a support choice at the home board. P4 asks the player to follow the Glade road into Threadway. The alpha's controller records the evidence that Mote's M0 and Nell's NELL0 steps need. This wiki has read the code; it has not played the chapters. - The old three-minute opening is not this prologue. See Withdrawn story directions.
See also#
Sources#
- .GAME_PLAN/ARBORWAKE_THE_LONG_WAKE_COMPLETE_GAME_PLAN_v0.5.md (working copy, not in Git)
- .GAME_PLAN/ARBORWAKE_COMPANIONS_NARRATIVE_AND_SYSTEMS_DOSSIER_v0.5.md (working copy, not in Git)
b89f778c2:src/main-game/game/campaign.jsb89f778c2:src/main-game/game/controller.js
What links here (23)
- 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 alpha
- Arborwake: The Long Wake
- Clear Interval
- Ensemble scenes
- Epilogue: The Next Ordinary Day
- Evening Pair
- Home duties
- 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