EchoSpire: Portals — Annalis Tutorial¶
The First Record¶
Tutorial Overview¶
Faction: The Annalis Passive Reward: Echo Recall — Once per turn, return 1 card from your discard pile to your hand. It costs 1 additional Energy this turn. Leader: The First Scribe, Cavan (appears at passive unlock only) Guide: Edric Senn — Senior Archivist (they/them) Other Candidate: Wren Tael — former Syntacta operative Realm: A temporal rift — a reality where the past is physically present Quest: Retrieve Soul-Data fragments and anchor the local timeline Structure: 1 Realm · 8 Nodes
Cast Reference¶
| Character | Name | Root Meaning | Foreshadowing | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Archivist | Edric Senn | Noble keeper of old wisdom / sentinel of the high place | Controls what those below can see — the betrayal is conviction not malice | Warm, trusted guide. Suppresses truth in Act 3 from belief, not corruption. |
| The Convert | Wren Tael | The winter singer / the account | Still asking questions after everyone else stopped | Former Syntacta — earned belief, finds the wrong version of warmth |
| The First Scribe | Cavan | The hollow place | The leader who hollowed themselves out | Appears once at passive unlock |
Design Notes¶
Edric Senn's warmth is real. They are not performing friendliness. The care is genuine throughout the tutorial and the early campaign. The betrayal in Act 3 lands only because the trust was never manufactured.
The Annalis's power is information control. In the EchoSpire this is literal — false memories physically rewrite reality. The Annalis control the record to prevent ontological contamination. That is a genuine and necessary function. They have also used it to prevent true histories from surfacing. The institution is not cynical. Everyone in it believes the work is righteous. That is the horror.
Edric uses they/them pronouns. Personal identity has been partially subsumed into the archivist function. The Annalis broadly have this quality — the role matters more than the person filling it.
Wren Tael's background: Former Syntacta. Found the Syntacta's coldness wrong and came to the Annalis believing truth was warmer. Finds the Annalis warm things just as thoroughly as the Syntacta erased them. Still deciding if they made the right call.
Cavan is the third or fourth person to carry the downloaded identity — at 100 years since the Bleed and 25-30 year leadership cycles. The original sin is recent. Someone made a conscious choice. The current Cavan inherited the rationalisation.
The Induction¶
The summons arrived eleven days ago.
A single page of formal document. The Annalis seal. You will present yourself at the primary Archive at the appointed time.
You are here at the appointed time.
The Archive corridor is vast and dim and lined with shimmering holographic records that stretch from floor to ceiling in both directions. White for verified. A faint reddish tinge for flagged. The flagged ones flicker occasionally, as if trying to assert something.
You notice your name on the wall before anyone has spoken to you.
Not as a greeting. As a record entry — a verified fact, filed in the historical archive. Your arrival here, at this time, already written as having occurred. The Annalis don't predict the future. They record the present with enough confidence that the distinction becomes unclear.
A figure emerges from the corridor's depths. Not young, not old — the particular agelessness of someone whose relationship with time has become professional.
Edric Senn:
"You found it. Good — some candidates spend twenty minutes looking for the entrance.
I'm Edric Senn. Senior Archivist, Temporal Division. I've been assigned to your orientation.
Come on. There's someone I want you to meet before we head in."
They say it the way someone says it when they mean it — no ceremony, no performance. Just forward.
Another figure waits further down the corridor — examining a flagged record with the attention of someone who hasn't yet learned to stop looking.
Edric Senn:
"Wren Tael. Joined us eight months ago from the Syntacta. Exceptional at separating authentic signal from echo contamination.
You'll be working together today. This isn't a routine orientation.
Three hours ago a temporal rift made contact with the southern boundary of our archival sectors. Our instruments detected the signature immediately — the specific resonance pattern of a realm where past and present are overlapping. Those signatures are rare and they don't stay stable long.
We've also been tracking six years of degraded records in this sector. Historical fragments disappearing from the archive. Authentic data replaced by false echo — slowly, consistently, from a source we couldn't locate. Until now. The signature matches.
Whatever is inside that rift has been corrupting our canonical record from the outside. We're going in to find it and stop it. Soul-Data — fragments of authentic history that crystallise at stability points in the temporal bleed — will help us anchor the local timeline while we work.
One thing before we go in: if you encounter something that seems like history but doesn't match what you know — flag it. Don't act on it. Bring it to me.
The past is very convincing. That's the whole problem."
The gate at the end of the corridor opens. Beyond it, light falls at the angle of a different time of day. Voices speaking a dialect from before the Bleed.
Edric walks through without hesitation.
Wren Tael glances at you before following.
Wren Tael:
"The Syntacta would call this an unconstrained variable. The Annalis call it contamination.
Different words. Same discomfort.
I found the Annalis version easier to live with. I'm still deciding if I was right."
Node 1 — Skirmish: "The False Echoes"¶
Rift Type: Basic Combat Teaches: Phase 1-3 turn structure, Energy, Block
The temporal rift layers the current moment over the past — both occupying the same physical space, visible simultaneously. The corridor exists now. It also exists forty years ago, a Sentinel administrative wing before the Bleed happened.
From the layered space, two Echo-Wraiths emerge — false memory given enough mass to become mobile. They wear the faces of people who died in timelines that were never supposed to exist.
Edric's voice is calm.
Edric Senn:
"Echo-Wraiths. False memory given physical form — they exist because someone, somewhere, remembers something that didn't happen, and that memory has bled into the local space with enough force to become solid.
They aren't alive in any meaningful sense. They are mistakes.
Watch your discard pile as you fight. Every card you play goes there — into the past. Note what you've spent. Note what remains. The Annalis learn to think about the past as a resource."
Tutorial Prompts:
- Turn 1 — Phase 1: "Initialization. Energy resets, you draw your hand, enemies lock in their Intent. Watch your discard pile — every card you play goes there. The past grows with each action."
- Turn 1 — Phase 2: "Action. Spend Energy to play cards. Your discard pile is not gone — it is the past. Soon you will learn to reach back for it."
- Turn 1 — Phase 3: "The Purge. Enemies execute, Block resets, hand discards. The past grows. The present is whatever remains in your deck."
- Turn 2: "Notice what you wish you still had. The Annalis build their power from exactly that feeling."
The Echo-Wraiths dissolve — corrected rather than defeated. Their faces disappear last. From the residue, a crystalline fragment settles — Soul-Data, the physical remnant of an authentic historical moment.
Edric picks it up with practiced care.
Edric Senn:
"Soul-Data. Pre-Bleed administrative record — genuine. You can tell by the resonance pattern. False echoes have a different texture.
First one retrieved. Keep watching your discard pile."
Wren watches the space where the Echo-Wraiths were.
Wren Tael:
"The Syntacta would have calculated their dissolution trajectory before engaging. Edric just watched.
Eight months and I still don't understand what they're looking for when they do that. I'm not sure if it's assessment or something else."
Combat AI Scripts — Node 1¶
Level 1 — Behaviour Pattern. Standard skirmish. Solo — the player fights alone. Edric Senn observes but does not participate. Wren Tael handles their own engagement off-screen.
Enemy — Echo-Wraith (×2)
| Unit | Behaviour Pattern |
|---|---|
| Echo-Wraith A | Targets player exclusively. Alternates Memory Strike (standard damage) and Echo Drain (sends top card of player's deck directly to discard without being played). Prioritises Echo Drain when player deck has more than 8 cards remaining. |
| Echo-Wraith B | Targets player exclusively. Standard Memory Strike every turn. Offset from A by 1 turn — strikes when A uses Echo Drain. Sustained pressure with no safe turn. |
Design intent: Echo Drain grows the discard pile faster than expected, making Echo Recall feel like recovery rather than bonus. Solo play is intentional — the player is being assessed, not assisted.
Companion — Edric Senn (non-combat)
| Turn | Action |
|---|---|
| All turns | Does not attack or block. Observes. |
| If player discard reaches 5+ cards | Comments: "You're building quite a past. Remember — it's accessible." |
| Post-combat | Reviews the Soul-Data fragment. Notes player performance without stating it aloud. |
Character note: Edric watching without intervening is a statement about the Annalis. They assess. They record. They do not interfere with a process producing useful data.
Node 2 — Protection Rift: "The Archive Vigil"¶
Rift Type: Defend Teaches: Enemy Intent targeting, VIP health pools, alternate win/loss conditions Contains: The first hairline crack.
Deeper in, the temporal layering thickens. A Memory Codex hovers at the centre of a reading chamber — an Annalis documentation device actively transcribing authentic historical data from the rift's temporal bleed, separating genuine record from false echo in real time.
The transcription requires five cycles to complete.
From the temporal layers, Timeline Corrupters emerge — entities formed where false memory has accumulated without correction. Their Intent arrows split between the candidates and the Codex.
Edric Senn:
"The Memory Codex is separating what actually happened from what people remember happening. If the Corrupters reach it, they'll overwrite the transcription with false data. Permanently.
Five cycles. Watch their Intent — some are going for the Codex. The record matters more than we do in this context. That's not self-deprecation. That's the work."
Tutorial Prompts:
- "Protection Rift. The Memory Codex has its own integrity pool. Enemies pointing at it will corrupt the transcription, not attack you."
- "Win Condition: Codex integrity holds for 5 cycles."
- "Failure: transcription corrupted. You take 12 unblockable damage and the Scar 'False Memory' enters your deck."
Turn 3. The Codex holds. Wren intercepts a Corrupter with Syntacta precision — threat assessed, response deployed, no wasted motion.
And then — in the space between one Corrupter's Intent and another's — the Codex transcribes something.
A record fragment. Pre-Bleed date. A maintenance event in the Spire's core systems. The authorship field is redacted.
The fragment's resonance pattern reads authentic.
Edric moves between you and the Codex. Not aggressively. Just — between.
"Focus on the Corrupters. The transcription handles itself."
The fragment completes. Edric reviews it quickly. Something crosses their face — too fast to read.
They pocket the data shard.
Five cycles. The transcription completes.
Edric Senn:
"Good work. The transcription is complex — I'll need to review it against the canonical record before filing. Standard procedure for ambiguous sources."
They say it the same way they say everything.
You are almost certain that is true.
Combat AI Scripts — Node 2¶
Level 2 — Phase Script. Three units present — player, Edric Senn, Wren Tael. First node where all three operate in the same combat space.
Enemy — Timeline Corrupter (×4)
| Unit | Turns | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Corrupter A | All turns | Targets player exclusively. Memory Strike every turn. Consistent pressure. |
| Corrupter B | Turns 1-2: player. Turn 3+: Codex exclusively. | Shifts to Codex as encounter progresses. |
| Corrupter C | Targets Edric on odd turns, Codex on even turns. | Forces player to decide: protect Edric or intercept Codex threat. |
| Corrupter D | Targets Codex exclusively from Turn 1. | Highest priority intercept target. |
Codex integrity loss (unintercepted): - Corrupter B hit: −15 integrity - Corrupter C hit (Codex turns): −12 integrity - Corrupter D hit: −18 integrity - Codex starts at 100 integrity.
Companion — Edric Senn
| Turn | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Turns 1-2 | Intercepts Corrupter C when it targets them. Moves to Codex-protection position. |
| Turn 3 | Pockets the data shard — scripted narrative action, not combat action. Focuses entirely on Codex protection from this point. |
| Turn 3+ | Intercepts D and B exclusively. Does not attack unless a Corrupter is immediately adjacent to the Codex. |
Companion — Wren Tael
| Turn | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| All turns | Targets highest-threat Corrupter each turn. Prioritises D first, then B. |
| Turn 3 | Notices Edric pocket the shard. Does not comment during combat. Files it. |
Character note: After combat, Wren watches Edric with the careful expression of someone noting something they haven't decided what to do with yet.
Node 3 — Anchor Rift: "The Temporal Sounding"¶
Rift Type: Map Reveal Teaches: Fog of War, Record Authentication Mini-Game Mini-Game: Fragment Authentication
The rift branches ahead — corridors existing in multiple time periods simultaneously, creating navigational paradoxes. An Annalis Echo-Locator at the junction — a device tuned to the resonance frequency of authentic historical moments, designed to identify stable threads of verified reality underneath the temporal noise.
The Echo-Locator fires a temporal pulse — and returns a cascade of historical fragments from the paths ahead. Authentic history and false echo, mixed together. The device cannot distinguish them. That part requires a Seeker.
Edric Senn:
"Echo-Locator. In every rift, instruments like this send a temporal pulse through the noise and return everything they find — authentic record and false echo together. The device doesn't filter. We filter.
The Echo-Locator will route the mapping pulse along the paths we authenticate. Classify each fragment correctly and the map resolves cleanly. Misclassify too many and the pulse follows false echoes — the map it returns will be unreliable.
Wren — you've used one of these before?"
Wren Tael:
"The Syntacta had something similar. Different purpose — mathematical consistency rather than historical authenticity.
The output looks the same. I've thought about what that means."
Fragment Authentication Mini-Game¶
Concept: The Echo-Locator returns a series of historical fragments from the paths ahead. The player examines each fragment and classifies it as Authentic or Contaminated. The Echo-Locator routes the mapping pulse along authenticated paths only — correct classifications produce an accurate map, misclassifications route the pulse along false echoes and degrade the map.
UI Layout:
A fragment examination panel. Each fragment is displayed as a holographic document — text, date stamps, personnel records, event descriptions. The player reads the fragment and presses Authentic or Contaminated.
Five fragments are presented per run. Each has visual and contextual tells:
Authentic fragments: - Consistent resonance signature (shown as a clean waveform in the corner) - Internally consistent dates and personnel - Technology and terminology appropriate to the stated time period - Cross-references that check out against known canonical records
Contaminated fragments (false echoes): - Slightly irregular resonance signature (waveform has a faint oscillation) - Date inconsistencies — a year slightly wrong, a sequence that doesn't add up - A person present who appears in no other record from that period - Technology referenced before its canonical introduction date - Descriptions that contradict established canonical events in minor ways
The player's tool: A Resonance Scanner overlay that the player can activate on any fragment — it highlights anomalies in the waveform signature and flags potential inconsistencies in the text. It doesn't classify for the player. It points at things worth looking at.
Scoring:
| Correct Classifications | Result |
|---|---|
| 5/5 | Perfect authentication — full map with complete temporal route detail |
| 4/5 | Strong authentication — full map revealed |
| 3/5 | Partial authentication — map revealed but one route's contents obscured |
| 2/5 or fewer | Poor authentication — degraded map, pulse followed false echoes, two nodes obscured, minor penalty in next combat |
The seed of doubt integration: One fragment in every run of this mini-game has a resonance signature that reads authentic — clean waveform, no obvious tells — but contains a detail that doesn't match the canonical record. A date slightly off. A number of personnel that differs from what the canonical history says by exactly one. The Resonance Scanner flags the waveform as clean. The inconsistency is in the content, not the resonance.
The player classifies it. Whichever way they classify it, Edric reviews their classification afterward without comment. The fragment goes into the Echo-Locator's routing data and the map resolves.
What the fragment actually contains will resurface in Act 2.
Edric's role: Edric reviews each classification after the player submits it — not during. They affirm correct identifications with a nod. They redirect misclassifications with a single precise observation about what the player missed. They never classify a fragment before the player has submitted their answer. This is Edric teaching by assessment rather than instruction.
Wren's role: Wren works through the fragments simultaneously. Their classifications are not shown to the player — but after the mini-game Wren mentions one fragment they found difficult. It is always the seed-of-doubt fragment. They classified it differently from Edric's expected answer. They don't say which way.
Difficulty scaling: - Easy: Obvious tells on contaminated fragments. Clean resonance signatures clearly distinguish authentic from false. - Normal: Subtler tells. Some contaminated fragments have clean resonance signatures — content must be examined carefully. - Hard: Multiple fragments with clean resonance signatures and subtle content tells. The seed-of-doubt fragment is harder to distinguish from genuinely authentic records.
The Echo-Locator routes the pulse along authenticated paths. False echoes peel away. The map resolves: an event chamber, a stabilisation node, a resource terminal, and beyond them the rift's temporal anchor point.
Edric examines the revealed map.
Edric Senn:
"Clear routes. The contamination is localised to the eastern passages — we navigate around it.
The Annalis always prefer to route around contamination rather than through it. Engagement changes you."
Wren looks at the eastern passages.
Wren Tael:
"What's in the eastern passages?"
Edric Senn:
"Contaminated temporal echoes. Nothing verified worth retrieving."
A pause so brief it might be imagined.
Node 4 — Anomaly: "The Archivist's Dilemma"¶
Rift Type: Event Teaches: Narrative choices, asymmetrical trades, forward consequences Contains: The seed of doubt — deepened.
An alcove off the main route. Two historical fragments crystallise at stability points in the temporal bleed.
The first is immediately identifiable: pre-Bleed administrative record, clean resonance pattern, consistent with the canonical history.
The second is more complex. Its resonance pattern also reads authentic. But its content — visible for a moment before Edric moves to assess it — describes an event from before the Bleed with a number of people present that differs from the canonical record by exactly one.
One additional person.
Edric reviews both fragments. Their expression doesn't change. It is one of their skills.
Edric Senn:
"The first fragment is verified authentic. We'll retrieve it.
The second has an inconsistency with the canonical record. Resonance pattern is unusual — possibly authentic, possibly a sophisticated false echo. In ambiguous cases, the canonical record takes precedence until formal review.
We leave it."
Wren looks at the second fragment.
Wren Tael:
"The resonance reads authentic to me."
Edric Senn:
"Your assessment is noted. Individual assessment is insufficient for canonical determination. We leave it and file a review request."
Gently. Edric is always gentle. Even when ending something.
Tutorial Prompt: "Anomaly — a narrative event with real mechanical consequences. The Annalis believe ambiguous sources must defer to the canonical record. But the second fragment reads authentic. There is no correct answer. There is only the protocol and what it costs."
Choice A — Follow Edric's assessment, leave the second fragment You leave it. The fragment will dissolve back into the temporal bleed within the hour. Effect: Gain the card Canonical Strike — 1-cost Attack: deal 10 damage. If this is the only Attack card played this turn, deal 14 instead.
Choice B — Retrieve both fragments You take the second fragment before Edric can prevent it. They look at you — not with anger. With the expression of someone updating an assessment. Effect: Gain 2 Soul-Data fragments. The second fragment — its content, its inconsistency — enters your codex. You cannot unread it. Edric files a note. You don't see what it says.
Wren watches you make your choice. Afterward, when Edric has moved ahead:
Wren Tael:
"The Syntacta had a similar protocol. Anomalous data contradicting the model is filed as error rather than evidence.
I left because I thought that was wrong.
I'm still thinking about whether the Annalis version is different."
Node 5 — Elite Threat: "The Drowning Archive"¶
Rift Type: Hard Combat Teaches: Advanced enemy mechanics, Artifact drops
The temporal bleed is thickest here — past pressing so hard against the present that the corridor exists in three time periods simultaneously. The walls carry writing from all three: Sentinel notation, early post-Bleed Annalis cataloguing, and something older that predates any known script.
A Temporal Scribe blocks the path — a former Annalis archivist who entered a temporal rift alone and did not come back correctly. Their mind exists across multiple time periods. Their body followed. They carry their archive tools still. They are, in some sense, still trying to do their job.
Edric Senn:
"Temporal Scribe. Former colleague. She entered a rift alone three years ago against protocol and lost temporal coherence. Her sense of what time it is shifts moment to moment — her attack patterns follow.
Watch for Pattern Shift — she's not adapting to you. She's adapting to whatever time period she's currently experiencing. Predict the shift, not the attack.
She was exceptional at her work."
Said the same way they say everything. As a record entry.
Tutorial Prompts:
- "Elite Threat. The Temporal Scribe has advanced mechanics — Pattern Shift changes her behaviour each time her temporal position shifts. Her outline blurs briefly before the change."
- "During shifts her Block drops to zero for one turn. That's the window."
- "Elite enemies drop Artifacts."
Wren fights alongside you. They approach the Scribe as a system to be understood — observing, identifying the shift pattern, then responding to it. Syntacta training in an Annalis situation.
When the Scribe stills — her temporal positions collapsing into a single moment — Wren stands over the residue with an expression that is not quite grief and not quite analysis.
Wren Tael:
"The Syntacta would have calculated the probability of recovery before engaging and factored it into the response strategy.
I don't know if that's better or worse than what Edric just did."
From the Scribe's archive tools, a crystalline data-shard separates.
Artifact Unlocked: Scribe's Echo — Once per combat, when your discard pile reaches 5 cards, draw 1 card.
Combat AI Scripts — Node 5¶
Level 2 — Phase Script. Elite encounter. Both Edric Senn and Wren Tael present as companions.
Enemy — Temporal Scribe
| Phase | Turns | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 — Present | 1-2 | Predictable attack pattern with archive tools. High Block. |
| Shift 1 | Turn 3 | Outline blurs. Block drops to zero for 1 turn — strike window. Pattern changes. |
| Phase 2 — Past | 3-5 | Pre-Bleed combat training — different rhythm, higher frequency, lower damage. |
| Shift 2 | Turn 6 | Second strike window. Block drops to zero. Pattern changes again. |
| Phase 3 — Unstable | 6+ | Rapid alternation between phases. Shift frequency increases. Each window shorter. |
Companion — Edric Senn
| Phase | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Observes. Plays Block. Does not attack former colleague. |
| Phase 2 | Attacks during shift windows only. Between windows — Block exclusively. |
| Phase 3 | Full engagement. The observation period is over. Efficient, precise, unrevealing. |
Companion — Wren Tael
| Phase | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Analyses pattern. Setup cards. |
| Phase 2 | Exploits shift windows aggressively — highest damage output during zero-Block turns. |
| Phase 3 | Coordinates with player — targets opposite from player's focus to maximise window damage. |
Node 6 — Sanctuary: "The Confession of Edric"¶
Rift Type: Stabilisation Node Teaches: Stability Budget, multi-option resource spending
A stable pocket in the rift — only one time period, and it is the current one. The writing on the walls here is contemporary. The air is consistent.
Edric sits on a storage unit with the tiredness of someone who has been doing something difficult for a long time and has become very good at not letting it show.
Tutorial Prompt: "Sanctuary — a stabilisation node. You have 3 Stability Points to spend across multiple services."
While you consider your options, Edric speaks. Same warm register. Something more present underneath it.
Edric Senn:
"I've been doing this work for twenty-three years.
In twenty-three years I've retrieved more authentic record than most archivists see in a career. And I've reviewed more ambiguous sources — fragments that could be authentic, fragments that contradicted the canonical record in ways that required formal review.
Not all of those fragments completed their formal review. Some were resolved in favour of the canonical record before the review was complete. Some were resolved by me, in the field.
I believe that was the correct decision in every instance. I want you to know I believe that genuinely.
I also want you to know that I'm aware it is the kind of decision that could be wrong. And that if it were wrong, I would have no way to know.
That is the weight of this work. I'm telling you now so that you carry it correctly."
A pause.
"Spend your points. The anchor point won't wait."
Wren has heard this. They look at the floor with the expression of someone deciding something.
Stability Budget: 3 Points
| Option | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Repair | 1 point | Heal 10% of max HP. Can be selected multiple times. |
| Recalibrate | 2 points | Upgrade one card in your deck. |
| Defragment | 2 points | Remove one card from your deck permanently. |
| Record (Annalis) | 1 point | Start the next combat with a copy of a random card from your deck already in your discard pile — accessible immediately via Echo Recall. |
Node 7 — Black Market: "The Memory Market"¶
Rift Type: Shop Teaches: Two-way economy — buying, selling, splicing
An Annalis Memory Broker manages a small trading station at a stable point in the rift — a specialist in archived knowledge and recovered historical records. Their inventory reflects what the rift has produced.
Memory Broker:
"Good timing. Rift Runners don't always make it this far into a temporal rift before needing to resupply.
Verified authentic Soul-Data accepted as currency alongside standard tender. Cards you no longer require can be sold — removing them from your deck and returning something useful. Browse at your pace. The rift is temporarily stable here."
Tutorial Prompts:
- "Black Market — a two-way economy. Buy new cards and Artifacts, Sell cards for gold, or Splice new keywords permanently onto existing cards."
- "Selling removes a card from your deck and earns gold. For the Annalis, a lean deck draws your Echo Recall targets more reliably — fewer cards means the past is closer."
- "Splicing permanently modifies a card — adding Retain keeps it from ever entering the discard, making it permanently present rather than past."
Wren examines the inventory with the focused attention of someone who is always looking for something specific.
Wren Tael:
"The Syntacta had a central requisition system. Highly efficient. You submitted a request and received exactly what the algorithm determined you needed.
I like this better. There's something honest about a market where the price is negotiated rather than calculated."
A pause.
"I've been saying things like that a lot lately. Things I like better about the Annalis than the Syntacta. I'm monitoring whether I'm right."
Shop Inventory (example):
| Item | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Echo Strike (Attack) | 50g | Deal 8 damage. If you have 3+ cards in your discard pile, deal 12 instead. |
| Historical Record (Skill) | 75g | Look at the top 3 cards of your draw pile. Put one in your discard pile and the rest back in any order. |
| Living Data (Power) | 100g | At the start of each turn, if your discard pile has 5+ cards, gain 1 Energy. |
Node 8 — Boss Rift: "The Prime Record"¶
Rift Type: Climax Teaches: Realm Boss mechanics, unlocks Faction Passive
The temporal anchor point.
You have enough Soul-Data. The anchor is possible. But between you and the installation point is what the temporal bleed has been building toward — the Temporal Parasite, an entity that has burrowed into the rift's deepest stability point and has been feeding on authentic historical record. It consumes Soul-Data. It replaces what it consumes with false echo. It has been doing this, quietly, for an indeterminate amount of time.
The canonical record for this sector has three unexplained gaps.
Edric looks at the Temporal Parasite with the expression of someone who has just found the source of a long-standing discrepancy.
Edric Senn:
"There it is.
The gaps in Sector 7's timeline. I've been trying to account for them for six years. Not an error in our records. Not a collection failure. An active contamination source consuming authentic history and replacing it with false echo.
It has to be removed. Everything it has consumed is gone — but we can prevent further loss and install the anchor to stabilise what remains.
You've been building a past all day — every card you've played is in that discard pile. The Parasite is going to try to eat it. Before it does — reach back. Take something you've already spent and bring it forward.
That is Echo Recall. It's yours for this fight. Use it.
This is the work. This is always the work."
From the Archive's depths — a presence. Not a projection. The First Scribe, Cavan, standing at the edge of the anchor point. Frail. His eyes unfocused in the way of someone who sees the present and the records of the past layered simultaneously.
He looks at you.
Not a welcome. The way someone looks at a new entry in a very old ledger.
Cavan:
"The Seeker who arrived today has already retrieved six authenticated fragments and identified one ambiguous source for review.
The record is accurate so far.
Proceed."
He speaks about you as if you are already history. As if this moment has already been filed.
He leaves without having addressed you directly.
Boss: The Temporal Parasite
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | Medium-High |
| Passive — Record Eater | Every turn, removes 1 card from player's discard pile permanently — eaten, not retrievable. This is the primary threat. |
| Special — Regurgitate | Every 3 turns, plays one of the consumed cards against the player as an attack. The player's own past used against them. |
| Attack Pattern | Low direct damage — the Parasite wins by attrition, not aggression |
| Health Floor | Cannot be reduced below 10% HP before Turn 5 |
Design intent: The Temporal Parasite threatens the discard pile — the resource Echo Recall depends on. The player must defeat it before it consumes too much of the past to reach back into. Aggressive play is rewarded. Stalling is punished. This fight teaches the player to value the discard pile as a resource by threatening to take it away.
Edric fights beside you. Their precision is the same as always — economical, sufficient, unrevealing. But there is something underneath it. Six years of unexplained gaps. The source is in front of them.
Wren fights on your other side. They are watching the Parasite consume records with the expression of someone who came to the Annalis to stop exactly this and is now wondering what exactly they stopped.
The Parasite regurgitates — plays a card from your consumed past against you. Your own words turned back.
You keep going.
Turn 5. Health floor lifts.
You finish it.
The Temporal Parasite dissolves. The consumed records don't return — the Parasite ate them, not archived them. But the consuming stops.
Edric installs the Soul-Data into the anchor point. The temporal bleed stabilises. The layers separate — past returns to the record, present becomes singular, the corridor exists in only one time period.
Silence.
Then Edric turns to you.
Edric Senn:
"Echo Recall is what we do. We reach back into the past and pull what was lost into the present — not to change it, but to use it. To learn from it. To let what was inform what is.
You used it in the fight. Now it's yours permanently — not a tool I lent you, but a capability you've demonstrated.
Welcome to the Annalis. You are a Seeker now.
Your name is in the record. It will remain there."
A new resonance settles through your awareness — the particular quality of a mind that has learned to reach backward. Not temporarily. Permanently.
FACTION PASSIVE INSTALLED: ECHO RECALL
Combat AI Scripts — Node 8¶
Level 3 — Authored Beats. Boss encounter. Both Edric Senn and Wren Tael present as companions. The health floor ensures the player lands the decisive blow. The Parasite's Record Eater must threaten but not consume so much that the player loses Echo Recall functionality.
Enemy — The Temporal Parasite
Record Eater: Activates at the start of every even turn (2, 4, 6, 8). Permanently removes 1 card from the player's discard pile. If discard pile is empty, targets the draw pile instead.
Regurgitate: Activates every 3 turns (Turn 3, 6, 9). Plays one consumed card as an attack against the player. Damage equals the consumed card's base energy cost × 5.
| Turn | Action | Narrative Beat |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Low damage attack. Observes. | Establishes the encounter. |
| 2 | Record Eater fires. Low attack. | First card consumed from discard. Player feels the threat. |
| 3 | Regurgitate — plays consumed card against player. | The past used against them. |
| 4 | Record Eater fires. Moderate attack. | Discard pile shrinking. |
| 5 | Moderate attack. Health floor lifts. | Decisive window opens. |
| 6 | Record Eater fires. Regurgitate. | Double threat turn — highest pressure. |
| 7+ | Escalating consumption. Record Eater every even turn. Regurgitate every 3 turns. | Commit or lose the past entirely. |
Health floor: Cannot be reduced below 10% HP before Turn 5.
Record Eater cap: Maximum 4 cards consumed before Turn 5 regardless of turn count. Prevents Echo Recall from being entirely depleted before the passive unlock.
Companion — Edric Senn
| Turn | Action |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Block and one attack. Calls Record Eater timing: "It consumes on even turns — build your discard on odd turns." |
| 3 | Intercepts Regurgitate if player Block is insufficient. Takes the hit. Does not comment. |
| 4-5 | Sustained attack and Block. Increases pressure as health floor approaches. |
| 6 | Yields primary attack window to player — plays Block support. |
| 7+ | Consistent attack output. Calls Regurgitate incoming on Turn 9: "Another regurgitate coming. Prepare." |
Character note: Edric calling the mechanics is consistent with who they are — someone who teaches by informing rather than by leading. They give the player everything they need and then step back.
Companion — Wren Tael
| Turn | Action |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Aggressive — high damage output. Watching the Parasite consume records with increasing focus. |
| 4-5 | Pulls back slightly — managing resources. |
| 6 | Yields to player on the decisive turn alongside Edric. Both companions step back simultaneously. |
| 7+ | Returns to aggressive output. Has made a decision — what it is will only become clear in Act 2. |
Narrative synchronisation: Both companions yield on Turn 6. The player delivers the decisive blow. The health floor ensures this regardless of companion damage output.
Passive Unlocked: Echo Recall¶
Once per turn, return 1 card from your discard pile to your hand. It costs 1 additional Energy this turn.
The past is not gone.
It is one turn away.
Outro¶
The temporal rift resolves into a single coherent present. The corridor exists in one time. The past is back in the record where it belongs.
Edric reviews the Soul-Data anchor with the focused satisfaction of someone who has closed a six-year discrepancy.
Wren Tael stands at the edge of the now-stable space, looking back at where the eastern passages were. The contaminated ones Edric said contained nothing verified worth retrieving.
Wren Tael:
"The eastern passages. What was in them?"
Edric Senn:
"Contaminated echoes from the early post-Bleed period. The review filed during our survey will determine what, if anything, requires further attention."
They say it cleanly. Then they begin packing their instruments.
Wren watches them pack.
You leave the rift through the gate you entered.
Your name is on the wall when you return. As a record entry. As a verified fact.
The fragment Edric pocketed — the one with the resonance pattern that read authentic, the one with the date that didn't line up, the one with one additional person present at an event from before the Bleed — is not in the record.
You cannot prove you saw it.
The Annalis's entire doctrine depends on that.
Production Notes¶
- Prose rule — trust the reader: State something once and move on. If the next sentence explains what the previous sentence already said, cut it. No redundant restatements. No "not X, not Y" constructions unless X and Y are genuinely surprising contrasts that earn the comparison. This rule applies to all dialogue, narration, and event text throughout the game.
- Edric Senn uses they/them pronouns throughout. Personal identity partially subsumed into the archivist function.
- Edric's warmth is never ironic and never performed. It must read as genuine throughout the tutorial — the betrayal in Act 3 requires that the trust was real.
- The data shard Edric pockets in the Protection Rift is never mentioned again in the tutorial. It is a seed. Its meaning develops over the campaign.
- Wren Tael's final question about the eastern passages is the tutorial's last beat and should land with quiet weight. Do not follow it with explanation.
- The Temporal Parasite's Record Eater must threaten but not destroy the discard pile — the record eater cap ensures Echo Recall remains functional at passive unlock.
- Cavan's appearance at the anchor point is brief, slightly wrong, and addressed to the record rather than to the player directly. He should not feel like a character addressing an audience. He should feel like someone filing a verbal note.
- Realm types are category descriptions not proper nouns. Lowercase throughout.
- No fourth-wall references to node numbers or rift types in dialogue or narration.
AI Image Generation — Annalis Tutorial Assets¶
Before generating any assets for this tutorial, load the Master Visual Style Guide (visual-style-guide.md) and apply the Universal Prompt Foundation and Annalis aesthetic descriptor to every prompt.
Annalis Faction Aesthetic Reminder¶
Primary colours: Funeral white (#E8E4DC) and archive grey (#8C8878) Secondary: Ghost blue (#C4D4E4) Accent: Suppression red (#8C1414)
Base aesthetic descriptor for all Annalis prompts:
Annalis faction aesthetic, funeral whites and tattered ancient scrolls,
shimmering holographic historical records, ghost-cult aesthetic,
pristine cleanliness against glitching corrupted architecture,
dim archival light, endless corridors of memory,
cathedral sci-fi concept art, dark atmospheric lighting,
high contrast, matte painting style
Negative prompts for all Annalis assets:
anime, cartoon, flat colour, warm cheerful lighting, vibrant colours,
generic fantasy, lens flare, modern clean aesthetic, overly saturated
Environment Assets¶
1. The Primary Archive Corridor (Induction)
Annalis primary archive corridor interior,
vast dim Gothic cathedral corridor lined floor to ceiling
with shimmering holographic historical records extending
further than the space should permit,
white records glowing clean, reddish-tinged records flickering,
the player's name visible as a record entry on the wall,
funeral white and archive grey palette, ghost blue record light,
suppression red accents on flagged records,
wide establishing shot, cathedral sci-fi interior
Dimensions: 1920 × 1080px
2. The Temporal Rift Entry
Annalis temporal rift gateway, a portal where time is visibly wrong,
light falling at the angle of a different time of day beyond the threshold,
the corridor beyond existing simultaneously in multiple time periods,
faint ghost images of the past visible in the same space as the present,
funeral white Annalis architecture framing a temporally unstable beyond,
archive grey and ghost blue palette with past-layer imagery in muted sepia,
wide establishing shot, cathedral sci-fi, atmospheric temporal wrongness
Dimensions: 1920 × 1080px
3. The Temporal Rift Interior
temporal rift corridor interior, the present and past
occupying the same physical space simultaneously,
modern Annalis architecture overlaid with ghost-images
of pre-Bleed Sentinel administrative spaces,
people from forty years ago visible as translucent layered figures
moving through corridors that don't fully exist yet,
funeral white and sepia-ghost layer palette,
unsettling beauty of two times in one space,
wide establishing shot, cathedral sci-fi, matte painting quality
Dimensions: 1920 × 1080px
4. The Stable Pocket (Sanctuary)
Annalis temporal rift stable pocket,
a small area of temporal consistency surrounded by visible layering,
only one time period exists here — the present,
contemporary Annalis architecture clear and unghostly,
the relief of a coherent moment after sustained temporal exposure,
funeral white and archive grey, ghost blue ambient light steady rather than flickering,
two figures at rest in the stable space,
intimate establishing shot, cathedral sci-fi
Dimensions: 1920 × 1080px
5. The Anchor Point (Boss Location)
Annalis temporal anchor point deep in the rift,
the location where Soul-Data is most concentrated,
authentic historical record crystallised into physical formations,
the Temporal Parasite visible at the centre — a consuming void
in a space full of preserved light,
Cavan visible as a frail figure at the edge, partially ghostly,
funeral white and archive grey with suppression red contamination
visible where the Parasite has consumed records,
wide establishing shot, cinematic, cathedral sci-fi
Dimensions: 1920 × 1080px
Character Assets¶
6. The First Scribe, Cavan — Reference Sheet
First Scribe Cavan Annalis leader character concept art,
frail figure in funeral white archival robes,
eyes unfocused — seeing the present and the records of the past
simultaneously layered in his vision,
the third or fourth person to carry a downloaded identity,
the hollow place that holds someone else's certainty,
age indeterminate, presence unsettling,
three-quarter portrait, something that was a person
now entirely subsumed into a function,
cathedral sci-fi character design, matte painting style
Dimensions: 512 × 768px
7. Edric Senn — Reference Sheet
Edric Senn Annalis senior archivist character concept art,
gender-neutral presentation, age indeterminate,
funeral white and archive grey archival robes with practical equipment,
the particular agelessness of someone whose relationship with time is professional,
warm, competent, genuine — not performing warmth,
carrying Echo-Locator instruments, data-shard case,
the bearing of someone who has been the boundary so long
they have become it without noticing,
three-quarter portrait, cathedral sci-fi character design, matte painting style
Dimensions: 512 × 768px
8. Wren Tael — Reference Sheet
Wren Tael Annalis candidate character concept art,
former Syntacta operative now in Annalis archival dress,
Annalis funeral whites worn with the slight awkwardness
of someone who hasn't fully settled into the uniform,
sharp observational presence — always watching,
the winter bird quality of someone who keeps asking questions
when everyone else has gone quiet,
three-quarter portrait, cathedral sci-fi character design, matte painting style
Dimensions: 512 × 768px
Enemy Assets¶
9. Echo-Wraith
Echo-Wraith enemy creature concept art,
false memory given enough mass to become mobile,
wearing the face of someone who died in a timeline
that was never supposed to exist,
translucent and unstable, flickering between versions of itself,
the specific wrongness of something that is a mistake
rather than a creature,
funeral white and ghost blue palette with suppression red at the edges,
full body concept art, clear silhouette despite translucency,
temporal rift aesthetic, cathedral sci-fi, matte painting style
Dimensions: 512 × 768px
10. Timeline Corrupter
Timeline Corrupter enemy creature concept art,
entity formed where false memory has accumulated without correction,
denser and more defined than an Echo-Wraith —
this one has had time to settle into false history,
a kind of negative authority, the confidence of a wrong thing
that has been unchallenged for too long,
archive grey and suppression red palette,
full body concept art, clear threatening silhouette,
temporal rift aesthetic, cathedral sci-fi, matte painting style
Dimensions: 512 × 768px
11. Temporal Scribe — Elite
Temporal Scribe elite enemy concept art,
former Annalis archivist lost to temporal incoherence,
their body existing across multiple time periods simultaneously,
still carrying archive tools — still trying to do the job,
funeral whites fragmented across temporal layers,
beautiful and wrong, the tragedy of function
continued past the point of the person who was performing it,
full body concept art, elite enemy presence,
temporal rift aesthetic, cathedral sci-fi, matte painting style
Dimensions: 512 × 768px
12. The Temporal Parasite — Boss
Temporal Parasite boss concept art,
entity that consumes authentic historical record
and replaces it with false echo,
a consuming void in a space full of preserved light,
the visual absence of what was there — the gap where records were,
archives visible around it but wrong where it has touched them,
archive grey and suppression red palette,
the feeling of something that has been quietly taking
things apart for a long time,
full body concept art, boss scale,
cathedral sci-fi, atmospheric dread, matte painting style
Dimensions: 1280 × 720px
UI Assets¶
13. Annalis Faction Crest
Annalis faction crest game UI element,
archival record or temporal loop motif,
funeral white and archive grey palette,
the visual language of something that preserves by containing,
bold graphic design, readable at small size,
ghost-cult aesthetic without being overtly sinister,
clean edges, no text, transparent background
Dimensions: 512 × 512px
14. Annalis Card Border
Annalis card border game UI element,
card frame design for collectible card game,
ancient scroll or archive record aesthetic at the edges,
ghost blue and funeral white palette,
the sense of something that has been kept for a very long time,
leaves central art area clear, transparent background where possible
Dimensions: 400 × 560px
15. Scribe's Echo Artifact
Scribe's Echo artifact game item concept art,
archival data-shard from a Temporal Scribe's tools,
crystalline, ghost blue, the compressed knowledge
of someone who knew how to reach backward,
warm light within cold crystal — the past preserved,
isolated on dark background, item art style, readable at card size
Dimensions: 256 × 256px
Generation Session Checklist — Annalis¶
Before generating, confirm: - [ ] Master Visual Style Guide loaded - [ ] Universal Prompt Foundation included in every prompt - [ ] Annalis aesthetic descriptor included in every prompt - [ ] Correct dimensions specified for asset type - [ ] Negative prompts included - [ ] Generating minimum 4 variations per prompt - [ ] Saving seeds for successful generations - [ ] Edric Senn rendered gender-neutral in all assets - [ ] Cavan rendered as frail and slightly wrong — not villainous, just hollow - [ ] Temporal layering effect consistent across all rift environment assets
Document status: Complete. Ready for implementation.