[{"slug":"heroes","label":"Heroes","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"helden","stems":["Maren","Tavi","Orla","Kellan"],"ends":["Bell","Reed","Lark","Wick"],"rule":"Let the nickname point to a choice rather than a bloodline.","hook":"A courier keeps returning undelivered letters to a village that no longer appears on maps.","description":"Let the nickname point to a choice rather than a bloodline. Start with maren, tavi, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Source of the reputation","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Service","words":["Beacon","Gate"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A repaired mistake","words":["Amends","Second"]},{"id":"f3","label":"Homecoming","words":["Return","Hearth"]}],"brief":"Name the action that other people remember, then decide whether the character accepts that account. A reputation can be useful while still being incomplete.","pitfall":"Avoid announcing moral perfection before the character makes a choice.","surface":"a quest introduction, a party roster, and a shouted warning","story":"At the last marked gate, the courier finds a new road sign covering the village’s former name. A resident recognizes the handwriting on one envelope but refuses to accept the address. Instead of announcing a rescue, the courier asks the residents to choose the wording of a temporary delivery notice. The eventual byname commemorates listening long enough to make a second attempt, leaving room for disagreement about what was actually saved."}},{"slug":"villains","label":"Villains","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"schurken","stems":["Vella","Orris","Sable","Corren"],"ends":["Ledger","Glass","Silk","Vale"],"rule":"Give the public name a plausible everyday use.","hook":"A respectable surveyor quietly changes the boundaries on every new town map.","description":"Give the public name a plausible everyday use. Start with vella, orris, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Public and private identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Respectable cover","words":["Ledger","Seal"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Personal grievance","words":["Debt","Margin"]},{"id":"f3","label":"Hidden network","words":["Thread","Web"]}],"brief":"Build a plausible public identity before choosing a threatening alias. Let a disagreement between those two names reveal which institution protects the character and who has reason to doubt it.","pitfall":"Do not substitute a sinister sound for a believable motive.","surface":"a business notice, an anonymous letter, and a confrontation","story":"The surveyor’s assistant notices that every disputed boundary moves by less than the width of a printed line. The public office calls these adjustments corrections; the market traders call them disappearances. At a routine dedication, someone addresses the surveyor by an old workshop nickname. The slip connects the respectable signature to a former employer and makes the name itself a piece of evidence, without announcing the entire plot in an ominous alias."}},{"slug":"mages","label":"Mages","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"magier","stems":["Iven","Sera","Noll","Veyra"],"ends":["Prism","Ink","Dial","Thread"],"rule":"Choose one magical specialty that a listener can picture.","hook":"An apprentice repairs broken sundials but cannot make one show the present hour.","description":"Choose one magical specialty that a listener can picture. Start with iven, sera, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Practice that shaped the name","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Observation","words":["Prism","Star"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Repair","words":["Mend","Spindle"]},{"id":"f3","label":"Uncertain knowledge","words":["Margin","Question"]}],"brief":"Choose a discipline narrow enough to show in one action. A name earned through repairing instruments creates different expectations from one bestowed by a school or claimed through theatrical performance.","pitfall":"Do not pack three unrelated magical specialties into one title.","surface":"an apprentice register, a spell annotation, and a spoken introduction","story":"A customer requests a sundial that will show one ordinary afternoon correctly. The apprentice produces a beautiful instrument that instead marks the hour when each visitor last made a promise. The school register still lists the apprentice under a prestigious discipline they have never practiced. Renaming the workshop becomes a choice between protecting an impressive reputation and explaining the narrower, stranger craft that people actually come to request."}},{"slug":"knights","label":"Knights","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"ritter","stems":["Elra","Toman","Bren","Ansel"],"ends":["Ferry","Gate","Oath","March"],"rule":"Separate a formal title from the name friends actually use.","hook":"A knight inherits a toll bridge and abolishes the toll that funds its repairs.","description":"Separate a formal title from the name friends actually use. Start with elra, toman, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Nature of the obligation","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A protected crossing","words":["Bridge","Ferry"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A contested oath","words":["Vow","Accord"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A public office","words":["Gate","Watch"]}],"brief":"Separate the person, the office, and the promise attached to it. Decide whether the second name belongs to a place, a witnessed deed, or a title that can pass to another bearer.","pitfall":"Do not make an inherited title sound like a proven achievement.","surface":"a formal announcement, a witness account, and a familiar greeting","story":"The first market after the toll is abolished brings more carts than the old bridge can bear. A farmer proposes a repair contribution, but a noble insists the inherited title already obliges the knight to pay. During the argument, a child uses a plain nickname rather than the official honorific. The knight keeps that shorter name on the repair ledger, making a public duty more visible than an inherited claim of grandeur."}},{"slug":"elves","label":"Elves","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"elfen","stems":["Eris","Aven","Lethra","Solin"],"ends":["Reed","Moss","Willow","Bough"],"rule":"Repeat one sound within a family without making every member rhyme.","hook":"A gardener records each departure by planting a tree with no nameplate.","description":"Repeat one sound within a family without making every member rhyme. Start with eris, aven, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Continuity and change","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Family memory","words":["Bough","Root"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A living landscape","words":["Fern","Reed"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A chosen departure","words":["Trail","Wind"]}],"brief":"Use a repeatable family sound alongside an individual distinction. A remembered grove may explain a shared second name without requiring every relative to have the same first syllable or identical temperament.","pitfall":"Avoid decorative punctuation that has no narrative or sound rule.","surface":"a family register, a quiet conversation, and a woodland sign","story":"When a new path cuts through the garden, two relatives give visitors different directions using the same ancestral name. One means the vanished grove; the other means the new nursery. The gardener moves an old nameplate between the two sites and asks each household to add one line explaining what they wish to preserve. The family name survives, while the personal names distinguish the different choices made under it."}},{"slug":"dwarves","label":"Dwarves","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"zwerge","stems":["Dorra","Brenna","Korr","Ulven"],"ends":["Chisel","Flint","Anvil","Brace"],"rule":"Use a craft detail instead of a stereotype about temperament.","hook":"An engineer signs a new tunnel with the name of the worker who opposed its route.","description":"Use a craft detail instead of a stereotype about temperament. Start with dorra, brenna, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Craft and belonging","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Workshop lineage","words":["Rivet","Chisel"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A new technique","words":["Brace","Measure"]},{"id":"f3","label":"Civic service","words":["Arch","Well"]}],"brief":"Connect a workshop name to a specific practice or responsibility. Decide whether the character signs a finished object with a personal mark, a shared house mark, or a reputation earned outside the craft.","pitfall":"Do not reduce a whole invented people to one trade.","surface":"a maker stamp, a guild roll, and a spoken repair request","story":"The new tunnel opens with the engineer’s signature above the entrance, but a maintenance worker recognizes a second mark beneath the paint. It belongs to the person who questioned the original route. At the dedication, the engineer explains why both marks must remain. A workshop byname that once sounded like a boast becomes a record of correction, and later apprentices learn the shorter version before they learn the full story."}},{"slug":"orcs","label":"Orcs","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"orks","stems":["Rova","Kesh","Torra","Venn"],"ends":["Copper","Ash","Canvas","Stone"],"rule":"Build individual roles and avoid treating ancestry as a moral label.","hook":"A traveling bookbinder preserves the arguments that official histories leave out.","description":"Build individual roles and avoid treating ancestry as a moral label. Start with rova, kesh, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Community and self-definition","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A craft identity","words":["Forge","Canvas"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A family promise","words":["Root","Keep"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A self-chosen path","words":["Trail","Open"]}],"brief":"Choose whether the second name records a household, a profession, or a deliberate reinvention. Give the individual an ordinary social role and let disagreements within the community shape the name’s meaning.","pitfall":"Do not equate ancestry, physical strength, and moral character.","surface":"a workshop signature, a family introduction, and a traveling alias","story":"The bookbinder is commissioned to make a ceremonial history with every disagreement removed. Instead, the finished volume includes a narrow foldout for dissenting accounts, each signed by its speaker. A customer calls the work disloyal; a neighbor calls it careful. The binder chooses a workshop signature that describes the craft rather than either judgment, giving the character a public identity that can withstand a disagreement without defining an entire people by it."}},{"slug":"dragons","label":"Dragons","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"drachen","stems":["Orren","Vasra","Ember","Tessel"],"ends":["Cinder","Quill","Cloud","Amber"],"rule":"Connect the name to a specific habit rather than size alone.","hook":"A dragon hoards unfinished apologies and lends one out at the start of winter.","description":"Connect the name to a specific habit rather than size alone. Start with orren, vasra, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The habit behind the legend","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An unusual collection","words":["Quill","Archive"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared boundary","words":["Ridge","Cloud"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered return","words":["Ember","Again"]}],"brief":"Start with a repeated habit that witnesses can describe. The name people whisper may differ from the dragon’s own name; establish both through a concrete encounter rather than a list of grand epithets.","pitfall":"Avoid making every dragon’s name another synonym for destruction.","surface":"a traveler account, an encounter heading, and the dragon’s introduction","story":"A visitor offers a beautifully written apology to add to the collection, but the dragon returns it because the recipient has never seen it. The object being hoarded is not the impressive phrase but the unfinished relationship. When travelers repeat the dragon’s byname, one calls it a keeper and another a thief. A scene in which the dragon finally releases a letter lets the audience decide which reading the name has earned."}},{"slug":"witches","label":"Witches","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"hexen","stems":["Mira","Hesta","Odra","Nessa"],"ends":["Thimble","Heather","Kettle","Spool"],"rule":"Try a household detail before reaching for an ominous title.","hook":"A witch sells weather forecasts written on scraps that dissolve when they come true.","description":"Try a household detail before reaching for an ominous title. Start with mira, hesta, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Local practice and reputation","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Household craft","words":["Thimble","Spool"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Weather watching","words":["Rain","Window"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An informal service","words":["Kettle","Parcel"]}],"brief":"Choose a service that a neighbor could actually request inside the fiction. Let an everyday surname and a community nickname coexist, and show whether affection, suspicion, or convenience keeps the nickname alive.","pitfall":"Do not treat real beliefs as evidence of fictional wrongdoing.","surface":"a shop note, a neighbor’s direction, and a private conversation","story":"On a rainy morning, a forecast dissolves before the customer leaves the shop. The witch insists the forecast concerned a different kind of weather: a family disagreement that has already changed. Rather than adding a frightening title, the story gives the business an ordinary sign and lets neighbors invent a second name for the unusual service. The witch accepts one nickname, corrects another, and reveals a boundary through a conversation."}},{"slug":"druids","label":"Druids","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"druiden","stems":["Rowan","Edda","Teren","Ilva"],"ends":["Root","Fern","Rain","Seed"],"rule":"Decide whether the name describes stewardship or ownership.","hook":"A seed keeper is asked to restore an orchard on land that has become a public square.","description":"Decide whether the name describes stewardship or ownership. Start with rowan, edda, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Relationship with a landscape","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Stewardship","words":["Seed","Root"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Seasonal change","words":["Leaf","Rain"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A disputed boundary","words":["Grove","Path"]}],"brief":"Decide what the character tends and what they refuse to own. A title can describe responsibility for a place while leaving other residents free to disagree about what that responsibility requires.","pitfall":"Avoid naming the character as though nature has one spokesman.","surface":"a seasonal duty list, a council exchange, and a grove marker","story":"The restored orchard would shade a square that local children now use for games. The seed keeper brings a planting plan to the public meeting but leaves several spaces blank. Residents write their own priorities into those gaps, and the orchard becomes smaller than the original proposal. The character’s chosen name records stewardship rather than ownership, while a dissenting neighbor continues to use an older title that assumes the land belongs to somebody else."}},{"slug":"rangers","label":"Rangers","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"waldlaeufer","stems":["Lysa","Oren","Tess","Arlen"],"ends":["Trail","Finch","Briar","Hollow"],"rule":"Make the short form easy to call across an open space.","hook":"A trail guide follows migrating lights that arrive a week before the birds.","description":"Make the short form easy to call across an open space. Start with lysa, oren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Route and working knowledge","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A familiar trail","words":["Track","Finch"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An unexpected detour","words":["Bend","Way"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A watchful task","words":["Beacon","Lookout"]}],"brief":"Give a route expert a name that survives a short call over distance. Distinguish a professional call sign from a family name, and use a place-specific observation to explain any earned nickname.","pitfall":"Avoid call names that resemble essential movement commands.","surface":"a route roster, a map annotation, and a shouted greeting","story":"The migrating lights lead the guide toward a path omitted from the latest route sheet. A merchant wants the shortcut kept secret, while the oldest resident insists it was once a public road. The guide marks the route with a temporary sign using a familiar call name rather than a grand title. The decision lets a professional nickname become a promise of accountable directions, without implying that every route choice will be easy."}},{"slug":"paladins","label":"Paladins","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"paladine","stems":["Adra","Belin","Tarin","Selva"],"ends":["Lantern","Hearth","Vow","Beacon"],"rule":"State the protected value without implying flawless judgment.","hook":"A sworn guardian must decide whether keeping a promise would break a kinder one.","description":"State the protected value without implying flawless judgment. Start with adra, belin, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The value under pressure","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Shelter","words":["Hearth","Door"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A difficult promise","words":["Vow","Measure"]},{"id":"f3","label":"Reconciliation","words":["Bridge","Accord"]}],"brief":"State a protected value, then invent a situation that makes protecting it costly. A restrained name leaves room for the character to reason, fail, repair a relationship, and change their understanding of duty.","pitfall":"Do not use a holy-sounding title as proof of correctness.","surface":"an oath text, an introduction, and a disputed request for help","story":"Two households produce copies of the same promise with different final lines. The guardian can enforce the oldest wording or ask both sides to agree on a repair. A formal title would make an order sound decisive, but the guardian introduces themself by a personal name before proposing a conversation. An earned epithet develops afterward, among people who disagree about the compromise but recognize the work required to reach it."}},{"slug":"necromancers","label":"Necromancers","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"nekromanten","stems":["Neris","Olven","Sethra","Calin"],"ends":["Echo","Dust","Archive","Veil"],"rule":"Keep the imagery fictional and focus on memory rather than graphic detail.","hook":"An archivist can interview an abandoned house, but each room remembers a different owner.","description":"Keep the imagery fictional and focus on memory rather than graphic detail. Start with neris, olven, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"How memory is handled","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An archive","words":["Index","Dust"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An unfinished conversation","words":["Echo","Letter"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An absent place","words":["Room","Veil"]}],"brief":"Center the fictional practice on memory, testimony, or an incomplete record. Identify what the character can learn and what remains unknowable, so the name does not imply an unlimited answer to every mystery.","pitfall":"Avoid graphic imagery when a specific memory can carry the scene.","surface":"an archive label, a witness interview, and an uncertain journal entry","story":"The archivist questions three rooms about a former resident and receives three incompatible accounts. A public report could select the most impressive answer, but the archivist labels every testimony by room and date instead. The resulting working name refers to indexing rather than omniscience. When a family asks for certainty, the character explains the limit of the practice, allowing an understated name to carry more trust than an enormous supernatural claim."}},{"slug":"assassins","label":"Assassins","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"assassinen","stems":["Venn","Issa","Rell","Nyra"],"ends":["Hush","Mask","Shade","Velvet"],"rule":"Use an alias that works in a suspense story without real-world instructions.","hook":"A retired infiltrator recognizes an old code in an ordinary theater program.","description":"Use an alias that works in a suspense story without real-world instructions. Start with venn, issa, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The function of an alias","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A harmless cover","words":["Thread","Ledger"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An old stage name","words":["Mask","Velvet"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changed allegiance","words":["Return","Margin"]}],"brief":"Design a fictional cover identity with a mundane use and a limited audience. Decide who knows the alias, who knows the personal name, and how the audience learns that the two belong together.","pitfall":"Do not turn an invented alias exercise into practical instructions.","surface":"a suspense scene, a theater program, and a private revelation","story":"A retired infiltrator sees the old code printed beside an innocuous costume credit. The name once belonged to a private assignment; the theater now uses it as a stage nickname. Rather than assuming the performer is an enemy, the character attends a rehearsal and discovers a copied program. The encounter turns an alias into a question about who remembers a name, while leaving practical concealment methods outside the scene."}},{"slug":"bards","label":"Bards","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"barden","stems":["Pella","Corin","Asha","Dellan"],"ends":["Verse","Chorus","Reel","Chime"],"rule":"Read the name before and after a short lyric to check its rhythm.","hook":"A singer knows a town anthem whose missing verse changes the meaning of its welcome.","description":"Read the name before and after a short lyric to check its rhythm. Start with pella, corin, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Performance and authorship","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A traveling repertoire","words":["Reel","Chorus"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A disputed verse","words":["Margin","Refrain"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local invitation","words":["Bell","Welcome"]}],"brief":"Test the name before and after a line of song. A stage identity should be memorable without obscuring who wrote, borrowed, or altered a piece inside the fiction; let that distinction generate character.","pitfall":"Avoid borrowing a real performer’s recognizable name or identity.","surface":"a performance bill, a spoken introduction, and a song credit","story":"The singer performs the missing verse at a repair festival, and half the audience hears a welcome while the rest hears a demand to leave. The song’s familiar title cannot explain the difference on its own. A short stage name remains on the bill, while the singer introduces the disputed verse with its separate provenance. The naming decision lets the character take responsibility for a performance without claiming sole ownership of a community’s memory."}},{"slug":"alchemists","label":"Alchemists","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"alchemisten","stems":["Tessa","Merrin","Ilo","Vessa"],"ends":["Brass","Still","Crucible","Measure"],"rule":"Let the equipment or failed experiment suggest the surname.","hook":"An alchemist invents an ink that becomes visible only after the reader changes their mind.","description":"Let the equipment or failed experiment suggest the surname. Start with tessa, merrin, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The workshop’s central question","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Measurement","words":["Scale","Measure"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A changing material","words":["Ink","Glass"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A failed commission","words":["Second","Mend"]}],"brief":"Choose the experiment that organizes the workshop rather than listing every imagined substance. A surname can come from a maker’s mark or a public misunderstanding, with the workbench providing evidence for either account.","pitfall":"Do not present fictional mixtures as usable chemical instructions.","surface":"a commission ledger, a bottle label, and a workshop signature","story":"The new ink makes an unsigned commission appear to carry the reader’s own handwriting. A customer asks the alchemist to certify the apparent signature, but the effect cannot establish authorship. The workshop changes its bottle label to name the imagined behavior plainly. A careful trade signature becomes part of the character’s reputation, showing that a professional identity can grow from stating a limitation rather than exaggerating what an invention proves."}},{"slug":"pirates","label":"Pirates","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"piraten","stems":["Della","Rusk","Avra","Corlo"],"ends":["Compass","Tide","Gull","Sail"],"rule":"Distinguish a crew nickname from a ship’s name.","hook":"A chart thief steals only maps of harbors that have never existed.","description":"Distinguish a crew nickname from a ship’s name. Start with della, rusk, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Crew identity and private history","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Navigation","words":["Compass","Shore"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A recovered message","words":["Parcel","Chart"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A chosen crew","words":["Knot","Canvas"]}],"brief":"Keep a personal name, a crew nickname, and a vessel name structurally distinct. A missing chart or an unexpected act of loyalty can explain an epithet more precisely than a generic threatening adjective.","pitfall":"Do not copy a living person or real criminal group.","surface":"a ship manifest, a tavern rumor, and a cabin conversation","story":"The stolen harbor map has a blank square where the crew expected a treasure mark. An old dock worker recognizes the square as the site of a public meeting that was removed from later charts. The captain returns the map to be copied rather than keeping it as a private advantage. A crew nickname remembers the return journey, while the ship keeps its own distinct name on the departure board."}},{"slug":"samurai","label":"Samurai","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"samurai","stems":["Ari","Sora","Rin","Yori"],"ends":["Reed","Dawn","Willow","Rain"],"rule":"Treat outputs as invented fiction, not verified Japanese naming practice.","hook":"A fictional retainer carries a ceremonial banner that nobody can agree how to display.","description":"Treat outputs as invented fiction, not verified Japanese naming practice. Start with ari, sora, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Role within an invented court","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Ceremonial duty","words":["Banner","Seal"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A personal promise","words":["Reed","Vow"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changing household","words":["Door","Branch"]}],"brief":"Choose a fictional office and the relationship that gives it meaning. Keep an invented working name separate from any claim of accurate Japanese history, genealogy, spelling, or naming order that requires independent research.","pitfall":"Do not label a generated form historically authentic.","surface":"a household roster, a ceremonial address, and an intimate scene","story":"The ceremonial banner is too long to hang in the room assigned for the reception. The fictional retainer suggests folding it, while a senior attendant worries that the fold will hide a household mark. A short personal name carries the private exchange; a formal title appears only on the program. The resolution is a new display arrangement, allowing duty, improvisation, and belonging to shape the character without claiming historical authenticity."}},{"slug":"ninjas","label":"Ninjas","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"ninjas","stems":["Nami","Rai","Aki","Toma"],"ends":["Mist","Paper","Shadow","Drift"],"rule":"Use a fictional alias and research real language conventions separately.","hook":"A messenger delivers a blank scroll whose folds contain the actual message.","description":"Use a fictional alias and research real language conventions separately. Start with nami, rai, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Who is allowed to know","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A messenger’s alias","words":["Fold","Paper"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A theatrical identity","words":["Shade","Mask"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A private name","words":["Reed","Quiet"]}],"brief":"Use an invented alias to manage information in a scene: one speaker recognizes it while another does not. Establish the private identity clearly enough that secrecy creates tension without making the cast unintelligible.","pitfall":"Avoid claiming that a fictional alias represents a real tradition.","surface":"a coded invitation, a stage scene, and a private introduction","story":"A recipient opens the blank scroll and sees only paper. The messenger asks them to refold it along the creases used by the sender, revealing a drawing rather than written instructions. The public alias belongs to a performer who once taught that fold. A private introduction makes the connection clear, so the name becomes a remembered relationship inside an invented story rather than a claim about a real tradition."}},{"slug":"vikings","label":"Vikings","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"wikinger","stems":["Eira","Tove","Arin","Sven"],"ends":["Shore","Oar","Frost","Rope"],"rule":"Do not present an invented name as an attested historical form.","hook":"A sailor navigates by the sounds of bells carried across frozen water.","description":"Do not present an invented name as an attested historical form. Start with eira, tove, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Journey and earned remembrance","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A remembered crossing","words":["Oar","Shore"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A household connection","words":["Hearth","Beam"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A public nickname","words":["Bell","Rope"]}],"brief":"Anchor a byname in a journey, household, or witnessed event. An invented sea-faring setting can have convincing internal customs without treating every generated syllable as an attested historical personal name.","pitfall":"Avoid equating historical authenticity with a rough-sounding spelling.","surface":"a voyage list, a homecoming toast, and a family exchange","story":"The sailor’s bell-based route fails when a harbor replaces its old tower chime. A younger crew member suggests keeping a written reference instead of pretending the inherited method is infallible. At home, relatives still use the sailor’s ordinary name, while the voyage list records an earned byname from an earlier crossing. The contrast lets a fictional identity preserve memory while accepting a practical correction."}},{"slug":"vampires","label":"Vampires","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"vampire","stems":["Velin","Iskra","Lenna","Orven"],"ends":["Velvet","Mirror","Clove","Dusk"],"rule":"Find a social habit that distinguishes the character.","hook":"An immortal museum attendant keeps recognizing portraits labeled as strangers.","description":"Find a social habit that distinguishes the character. Start with velin, iskra, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Identity over a long life","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An adopted identity","words":["Mirror","Name"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A preserved memory","words":["Portrait","Clove"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A public profession","words":["Archive","Velvet"]}],"brief":"Decide whether the character keeps one name, borrows new ones, or separates public and intimate forms. Show one inconsistency in a portrait, signature, or memory rather than explaining an entire invented lifetime at once.","pitfall":"Avoid making aristocratic decoration the only distinguishing feature.","surface":"a museum label, a guest register, and an old signature","story":"A portrait label identifies the attendant as an unknown donor from a century before. Removing the label would protect the current identity, but a visiting family is searching for the donor’s story. The attendant supplies a modest correction without revealing every year of the past. A new guest-register name coexists with an older intimate form, giving the next conversation a specific reason to test which identity the character chooses to acknowledge."}},{"slug":"werewolves","label":"Werewolves","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"werwoelfe","stems":["Tavi","Arda","Brin","Ollie"],"ends":["Briar","Moon","Track","Heather"],"rule":"Let the human identity remain useful outside a transformation scene.","hook":"A night watch keeper is the only witness to a trail that changes direction at dawn.","description":"Let the human identity remain useful outside a transformation scene. Start with tavi, arda, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Everyday and transformed identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An ordinary role","words":["Lantern","Watch"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A private routine","words":["Track","Heather"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared secret","words":["Moon","Door"]}],"brief":"Build an everyday name that remains useful outside a transformation scene. If a second identity matters, choose who uses it and whether the bearer experiences it as protection, pressure, affection, or misunderstanding.","pitfall":"Do not equate a condition or difference with moral failure.","surface":"a work roster, a neighbor’s greeting, and a nighttime account","story":"The changing trail leads to a gate that the watch keeper repaired in daylight. Neighbors recognize the work but disagree about the night’s witness account. The character keeps an ordinary professional signature on the repair notice and a separate private nickname among trusted friends. Introducing both in a quiet conversation ensures the reader can follow the person across scenes without reducing the whole identity to an unusual transformation."}},{"slug":"ghosts","label":"Ghosts","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"geister","stems":["Ada","Ellis","Nell","Arlo"],"ends":["Chime","Window","Whisper","Attic"],"rule":"Anchor the apparition to one sensory trace.","hook":"A station announces a departure for a train whose last passenger is still waiting.","description":"Anchor the apparition to one sensory trace. Start with ada, ellis, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The trace that remains","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A repeated sound","words":["Chime","Echo"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An unfinished journey","words":["Ticket","Platform"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered room","words":["Window","Attic"]}],"brief":"Name the trace before explaining the apparition. A bell, an announcement, or a room nickname can make a recurring presence recognizable while preserving uncertainty about whose memory keeps returning.","pitfall":"Avoid assigning a full biography before the story supplies evidence.","surface":"a station announcement, a room description, and a witness note","story":"A station clerk finally reads the obsolete departure notice aloud, and the waiting presence responds to a familiar shortened name. The name on the original ticket is longer and partly illegible. Rather than inventing a complete biography immediately, the clerk records the two forms together and leaves a question in the archive. A repeated announcement can then build recognition while the story remains uncertain about what the presence remembers."}},{"slug":"demons","label":"Demons","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"daemonen","stems":["Vezra","Orren","Calix","Nevra"],"ends":["Seal","Clause","Ember","Margin"],"rule":"Make the fictional bargain readable without borrowing sacred claims.","hook":"A contract spirit will grant a request only if the petitioner removes one adjective.","description":"Make the fictional bargain readable without borrowing sacred claims. Start with vezra, orren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The boundary of an invented bargain","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Exact wording","words":["Clause","Seal"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A missing exception","words":["Margin","Gap"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changed request","words":["Turn","Again"]}],"brief":"Create an invented bargaining rule and distinguish the entity’s own name from the title used by petitioners. A narrow limitation gives the name something to reveal without borrowing claims of real supernatural authority.","pitfall":"Do not present invented fiction as a genuine ritual or guarantee.","surface":"a fictional contract, a petition, and a careful introduction","story":"A petitioner asks for an endlessly happy village. The contract spirit removes the word endlessly and asks what one ordinary happy afternoon would contain. The exchange reveals that the bargain’s difficulty lies in defining the request, not in choosing a dramatic title. The spirit uses a compact personal alias, while petitioners preserve a formal designation on the document, keeping the invented rule and the person’s identity in separate roles."}},{"slug":"angels","label":"Angels","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"engel","stems":["Aven","Seren","Ilya","Liora"],"ends":["Beacon","Feather","Choir","Daybreak"],"rule":"Keep an invented cosmology distinct from religious authority.","hook":"A celestial messenger misplaces the envelope but remembers the warmth of its seal.","description":"Keep an invented cosmology distinct from religious authority. Start with aven, seren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Message and responsibility","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A delivery","words":["Seal","Feather"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An incomplete instruction","words":["Margin","Cloud"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared duty","words":["Choir","Beacon"]}],"brief":"Define a messenger’s responsibility and what they do not know. A personal name can coexist with a role title, while the surrounding invented cosmology remains separate from real religious authority or doctrine.","pitfall":"Do not imply that a generated name has sacred endorsement.","surface":"a message heading, a celestial roster, and a mistaken delivery","story":"The messenger arrives with a warm seal and no envelope. Different recipients recognize the seal as a promise made to each of them, but the messenger cannot decide which claim is correct. A formal celestial title would conceal that uncertainty, so the character offers a personal name first. The following meeting gives the invented role a specific responsibility without presenting the scene as an authoritative account of real beliefs."}},{"slug":"golems","label":"Golems","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"golems","stems":["Brindle","Tessel","Cobb","Inlay"],"ends":["Clay","Tile","Mortar","Slate"],"rule":"Name a material and a task before adding an honorific.","hook":"A municipal golem repairs street signs with names from an older city plan.","description":"Name a material and a task before adding an honorific. Start with brindle, tessel, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Material and civic purpose","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Repair","words":["Mortar","Brace"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Memory","words":["Tile","Index"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A chosen task","words":["Clay","Open"]}],"brief":"Choose a visible material and a job the community can recognize. A municipal identifier, maker’s mark, and familiar nickname can all belong to one golem if the first scene connects the three clearly.","pitfall":"Avoid treating a made being as incapable of individual preference.","surface":"a maintenance plate, a street sign, and a resident’s greeting","story":"A repaired street sign points to a bakery that became a library years earlier. The maintenance office wants the old wording erased, while residents ask to keep a small reference beneath the new label. The golem records both and adds its own chosen workshop mark. A municipal code still identifies the repair, but a neighborhood nickname begins to recognize a judgment rather than merely a manufactured object."}},{"slug":"fairies","label":"Fairies","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"feen","stems":["Pip","Fenna","Tilli","Aster"],"ends":["Petal","Dew","Thistle","Acorn"],"rule":"Keep small names distinct by changing both consonant and rhythm.","hook":"A fairy rents out the five minutes between the first bell and the second.","description":"Keep small names distinct by changing both consonant and rhythm. Start with pip, fenna, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The scale of an ordinary surprise","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A tiny service","words":["Button","Dew"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Borrowed time","words":["Minute","Bell"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local meeting place","words":["Acorn","Petal"]}],"brief":"Make a small name distinct through rhythm, not just an added diminutive. An unexpected service or routine gives the fairy an identity beyond being tiny, while a short public name can stay easy to call.","pitfall":"Avoid giving every fairy nearly identical rhyming syllables.","surface":"a miniature shop sign, a meeting invitation, and a spoken call","story":"A customer borrows the quiet interval before the second bell to finish an apology, then asks to borrow it again. The fairy explains that the interval can be offered once, not used to postpone the conversation indefinitely. A small shop name and a short personal call name appear separately on the counter card. The limitation gives the name an everyday purpose beyond simply suggesting something tiny or charming."}},{"slug":"goblins","label":"Goblins","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"kobolde","stems":["Nix","Tib","Brikka","Pell"],"ends":["Button","Spindle","Patch","Penny"],"rule":"Use trade and personality rather than a blanket character judgment.","hook":"A repair stall sells replacement keys for doors customers have not found yet.","description":"Use trade and personality rather than a blanket character judgment. Start with nix, tib, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A useful social role","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Repairs","words":["Patch","Spindle"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Trading","words":["Penny","Button"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A personal invention","words":["Latch","New"]}],"brief":"Begin with a trade, hobby, or obligation that makes this individual recognizable. Let a repair, a bargain, or an invention explain a nickname rather than assigning one personality to an entire invented people.","pitfall":"Avoid using ancestry as shorthand for dishonesty.","surface":"a stall sign, a repair tag, and a neighbor’s recommendation","story":"The repair stall receives a key that fits no known door. Its maker recognizes the shape as a promise to return after a long journey, and the repairer must decide whether to sell a replacement or ask who is still waiting. A trading nickname recalls an ordinary mending habit. The character’s careful choice supplies individuality, while another goblin in the same scene takes a different view of the bargain."}},{"slug":"trolls","label":"Trolls","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"trolle","stems":["Molla","Brum","Trenna","Oggin"],"ends":["Arch","Moss","Pillar","Fern"],"rule":"Give the character an interest beyond guarding a crossing.","hook":"A bridge caretaker writes remarkably gentle reviews of passing clouds.","description":"Give the character an interest beyond guarding a crossing. Start with molla, brum, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"More than the crossing","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Caretaking","words":["Arch","Moss"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A private interest","words":["Cloud","Verse"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local agreement","words":["Bridge","Accord"]}],"brief":"Give the character an interest independent of the bridge or boundary they inhabit. A name can retain a geographic connection while the scene shows a reader, gardener, critic, or civic caretaker making a decision.","pitfall":"Avoid making one familiar folklore role the whole character.","surface":"a bridge notice, a cloud diary, and a visitor conversation","story":"A passing traveler mistakes the cloud reviews for toll records and offers payment. The caretaker explains that the bridge is public, then asks whether the traveler sees a different shape in the afternoon sky. A geographic second name remains useful in directions, while a private interest changes what the audience expects from it. The encounter gives a familiar crossing role an individual voice without requiring a threatening introduction."}},{"slug":"giants","label":"Giants","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"riesen","stems":["Olla","Beren","Talla","Holl"],"ends":["Cloud","Peak","Fold","Meadow"],"rule":"Choose an everyday scale comparison that supports the scene.","hook":"A giant is hired to fold a royal picnic blanket without moving the guests.","description":"Choose an everyday scale comparison that supports the scene. Start with olla, beren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Daily life at another scale","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Careful work","words":["Fold","Measure"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared landmark","words":["Peak","Meadow"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A social invitation","words":["Table","Welcome"]}],"brief":"Choose an everyday action that becomes unusual through scale. A name tied to careful work or a shared landmark can distinguish the giant without announcing physical size in every line of dialogue.","pitfall":"Avoid confusing a large body with a simple personality.","surface":"a work request, a village introduction, and a distant call","story":"The giant can fold the picnic blanket only if the guests agree to move their cups. A host insists the job should be effortless, while a child starts gathering the plates. The giant’s name is repeated as an ordinary introduction, not a description of size. A later nickname remembers the careful fold, giving an impressive scale a scene built on cooperation rather than a simplistic personality."}},{"slug":"merfolk","label":"Merfolk","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"meerjungfrauen","stems":["Neris","Thessa","Coral","Avin"],"ends":["Current","Shell","Reef","Foam"],"rule":"Test the name in both an underwater scene and a surface conversation.","hook":"A tide librarian stores messages in shells that sing only at low water.","description":"Test the name in both an underwater scene and a surface conversation. Start with neris, thessa, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Names across environments","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Currents","words":["Reef","Flow"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An exchanged message","words":["Shell","Letter"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A surface encounter","words":["Foam","Shore"]}],"brief":"Test the identity in both an underwater community and a surface conversation. A local descriptive name may need a contact form, but the story should establish the connection rather than invent an unexplained second person.","pitfall":"Avoid claiming an invented aquatic term is a real translation.","surface":"a tide ledger, a shell label, and a surface introduction","story":"At low water, a shell sings a message whose address names a shoreline that has moved. The tide librarian must translate the place reference for a surface visitor without pretending the whole message has one obvious meaning. An underwater community uses one name for the librarian and the visitor learns a chosen contact form. A shared delivery connects both forms before the story asks readers to recognize them separately."}},{"slug":"centaurs","label":"Centaurs","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"zentauren","stems":["Taren","Ella","Selin","Orris"],"ends":["Meadow","Track","Hazel","Reed"],"rule":"Make family and place names distinguishable at a glance.","hook":"A traveling teacher carries a classroom blackboard between seasonal camps.","description":"Make family and place names distinguishable at a glance. Start with taren, ella, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Travel and community","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Seasonal teaching","words":["Slate","Meadow"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Family affiliation","words":["Branch","Hearth"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An open route","words":["Track","Reed"]}],"brief":"Name a community member with work and relationships beyond movement. A seasonal route can explain a second name, while a family convention should leave enough variation to distinguish relatives in a classroom scene.","pitfall":"Avoid reducing an invented people to a single bodily trait.","surface":"a class register, a camp notice, and a traveling introduction","story":"The traveling teacher finds that the old camp’s lessons have become a set of local proverbs. At the next stop, several students recognize the sayings but not the teacher’s full name. A short classroom form is introduced beside a family name on the board. The lesson gives the character a practical public role and shows how a route can carry ideas without making movement the only thing that defines a community."}},{"slug":"phoenixes","label":"Phoenixes","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"phoenixe","stems":["Solin","Avra","Ember","Tavi"],"ends":["Sun","Kindle","Copper","Spark"],"rule":"Focus on what changes between returns instead of repeating fire imagery.","hook":"A phoenix returns each spring with a different song and one unchanged note.","description":"Focus on what changes between returns instead of repeating fire imagery. Start with solin, avra, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What changes on returning","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A remembered song","words":["Note","Refrain"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A seasonal return","words":["Spring","Again"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An unchanged trace","words":["Ember","Keep"]}],"brief":"Choose what persists across an invented return and what changes. A nickname can record a song, mark, or repeated meeting, giving the name a narrative function beyond another description of fire.","pitfall":"Avoid using rebirth as permission to erase every consequence.","surface":"a seasonal chronicle, a caretaker’s call, and a remembered melody","story":"This spring’s song contains the same final note but none of last year’s verses. The caretaker worries that a familiar name now makes an unfair promise about memory. Instead of renaming the bird immediately, the caretaker records the difference beside the old call name. A later scene repeats the unchanged note, allowing continuity and difference to coexist without declaring that every return erases the consequences of the previous story."}},{"slug":"griffins","label":"Griffins","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"greifen","stems":["Kestrel","Arven","Tessa","Rill"],"ends":["Feather","Crest","Crag","Flight"],"rule":"Pick a movement or nesting habit that makes a useful call name.","hook":"A rooftop griffin collects weather vanes and arranges them to face tomorrow’s wind.","description":"Pick a movement or nesting habit that makes a useful call name. Start with kestrel, arven, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Movement and nesting","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A familiar roof","words":["Crest","Perch"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Weather watching","words":["Vane","Cloud"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A working partnership","words":["Scout","Flight"]}],"brief":"Anchor a call name in a nesting place, motion, or shared routine. A formal registry can use a longer title, but the everyday name should remain distinct when several animals or companions enter the same scene.","pitfall":"Avoid a name that sounds like a flight command.","surface":"a rooftop notice, a handler’s call, and a travel log","story":"The collected weather vanes all turn toward an empty roof. A caretaker discovers that the roof belonged to a meeting place removed from the current city plan. The griffin’s ordinary call name remains on the feeding record, while residents invent a new epithet for the habit. A scene showing the creature reject one unfamiliar vane suggests a specific preference rather than assigning it a complete human explanation."}},{"slug":"unicorns","label":"Unicorns","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"einhoerner","stems":["Luma","Elin","Vesper","Ari"],"ends":["Silver","Dew","Glade","Star"],"rule":"Avoid stacking several decorative materials in one name.","hook":"A unicorn appears only beside paths someone has chosen not to take.","description":"Avoid stacking several decorative materials in one name. Start with luma, elin, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The condition of an encounter","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An unchosen path","words":["Glade","Turn"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A quiet invitation","words":["Dew","Welcome"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered promise","words":["Silver","Vow"]}],"brief":"Name the condition under which the creature appears rather than stacking precious materials. One recurring path, gesture, or promise gives a restrained name a scene that readers can remember and question.","pitfall":"Avoid treating beauty as the creature’s only action or purpose.","surface":"a path description, an encounter heading, and a whispered recognition","story":"A traveler meets the creature beside a road they decided not to take, then returns with a friend who cannot see it. The name first appears as a quiet recognition rather than an announcement of perfection. A local record uses a longer descriptive form, but the traveler keeps a short call name. The difference lets the encounter become a question about choices without asserting a universal meaning for the invented name."}},{"slug":"robots","label":"Robots","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"roboter","stems":["Milo","Tess","Unit","Relay"],"ends":["Copper","Loop","Socket","Patch"],"rule":"Separate the service identifier from a companion’s nickname.","hook":"A sorting robot begins filing lost objects by who might miss them most.","description":"Separate the service identifier from a companion’s nickname. Start with milo, tess, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Identifier and chosen nickname","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A service function","words":["Sort","Relay"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An affectionate nickname","words":["Patch","Button"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An unexpected preference","words":["Keep","Question"]}],"brief":"Separate the service identifier from the name used in conversation. Let a small preference or exception reveal the difference between what the machine was assigned to do and how others have come to know it.","pitfall":"Avoid a long code that cannot be distinguished when spoken.","surface":"an equipment plate, a task queue, and a familiar greeting","story":"The sorting robot places a valuable parcel in the wrong tray because it has organized objects by how much somebody misses them. Its service code appears on the incident report, while a clerk uses the familiar nickname during the discussion. The robot asks for a new category rather than an exception. Linking code and nickname gives the scene clarity while an unexpected preference provides an identity beyond the assigned function."}},{"slug":"androids","label":"Androids","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"androiden","stems":["Ada","Iven","Vera","Noll"],"ends":["Index","Signal","Frame","Trace"],"rule":"Decide who chose the name and whether its bearer agrees.","hook":"An android changes its registered name after every journey but keeps the same signature.","description":"Decide who chose the name and whether its bearer agrees. Start with ada, iven, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Who chooses the identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Self-registration","words":["Open","Name"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A changing journey","words":["Trace","Return"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An inherited record","words":["Index","Frame"]}],"brief":"Decide who chose the public name and whether its bearer agrees. A registration code can remain stable while an everyday name changes, provided the audience sees enough evidence to connect both identities.","pitfall":"Do not imply that an artificial origin settles personhood or motive.","surface":"a transit register, a personal signature, and an introduction","story":"A clerk refuses a travel application because the signature belongs to several earlier registered names. The android explains that each name marks a journey, while the unchanged signature records continuity. A small note connects the current public name to the earlier record without making the reader memorize every version. The naming conflict becomes a question about self-definition and administration, rather than a shortcut that settles the character’s personhood."}},{"slug":"aliens","label":"Aliens","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"aliens","stems":["Oru","Veya","Teln","Iska"],"ends":["Orbit","Wave","Prism","Pulse"],"rule":"Create a pronounceable contact name instead of random punctuation.","hook":"A visitor mistakes the town’s punctuation marks for a map of safe meeting places.","description":"Create a pronounceable contact name instead of random punctuation. Start with oru, veya, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The contact form of a name","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A visitor’s choice","words":["Wave","Open"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A translated role","words":["Signal","Guide"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared reference","words":["Prism","Orbit"]}],"brief":"Choose a pronounceable contact name and state what it represents in the fiction. It may be an approximation, a role, or a voluntary alias; none should be presented as a verified word from a real language.","pitfall":"Avoid random punctuation offered as proof of alien complexity.","surface":"a first-contact exchange, a seating plan, and a radio call","story":"The visitor arranges punctuation cards into what they believe is a map of meeting places. A host first mistakes the chosen contact name for a title, then asks how the visitor wants to be addressed. The reply establishes a short public form without claiming to translate an entire language. Their next exchange tests that shared convention, giving an unfamiliar identity a practical social beginning."}},{"slug":"mutants","label":"Mutants","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"mutanten","stems":["Rin","Asha","Ellis","Venn"],"ends":["Echo","Prism","Morrow","Shift"],"rule":"Describe an individual without presenting difference as moral failure.","hook":"A cartographer sees streets as they will look one season from now.","description":"Describe an individual without presenting difference as moral failure. Start with rin, asha, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Identity beyond difference","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A profession","words":["Map","Measure"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A chosen connection","words":["Thread","Kin"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An unexpected perception","words":["Prism","Shift"]}],"brief":"Build the person’s social identity before naming an unusual ability. Decide whether the difference has any role in the chosen name, and show how the bearer accepts or rejects descriptions imposed by other people.","pitfall":"Avoid making a bodily difference shorthand for moral danger.","surface":"a work signature, a family scene, and a self-introduction","story":"The cartographer’s future-looking street sketch shows an orchard where a warehouse currently stands. A developer wants to use the image as a guarantee, but the cartographer refuses to certify that interpretation. A professional signature remains distinct from an outsider’s nickname about the ability. The disagreement lets the character define a working boundary and a social identity without treating difference as a moral category."}},{"slug":"bounty-hunters","label":"Bounty hunters","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"kopfgeldjaeger","stems":["Dara","Kell","Orla","Seth"],"ends":["Receipt","Compass","Slate","Trail"],"rule":"Make the professional alias distinct from a target’s name.","hook":"A fictional tracker is hired to recover a runaway mechanical weather forecast.","description":"Make the professional alias distinct from a target’s name. Start with dara, kell, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Professional identity and limits","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A recovery task","words":["Receipt","Return"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A travel reputation","words":["Trail","Compass"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A private boundary","words":["Measure","Seal"]}],"brief":"Give the fictional professional a public identity and a clear limit on the work they will accept. A missing object or disputed contract can explain a call sign without requiring a scene of real-world harm.","pitfall":"Avoid copying actual enforcement identities or offering pursuit instructions.","surface":"a fictional contract, a job-board entry, and an introduction","story":"The missing mechanical forecast has begun delivering contradictory predictions to different households. The fictional tracker returns it to a public bench rather than privately deciding which owner deserves it. A contract name and a personal alias appear on separate lines of the receipt. The recovery becomes a question about responsibility and evidence, keeping practical real-world pursuit methods outside the exercise."}},{"slug":"spacefarers","label":"Spacefarers","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"raumfahrer","stems":["Ari","Lena","Orrin","Maeve"],"ends":["Orbit","Dock","Comet","Beacon"],"rule":"Read the name through a noisy imaginary radio exchange.","hook":"A navigator keeps receiving postcards from a station that has not been built.","description":"Read the name through a noisy imaginary radio exchange. Start with ari, lena, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A name through a radio","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A navigation role","words":["Beacon","Orbit"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A home connection","words":["Dock","Return"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A crew nickname","words":["Comet","Loop"]}],"brief":"Keep the working radio form short and different from station names and emergency words. A longer personal name belongs in the crew register; use a first exchange to show why a familiar nickname exists.","pitfall":"Avoid making every crew member’s opening syllable the same.","surface":"a crew roster, a noisy radio exchange, and a homecoming scene","story":"A postcard names a station berth that does not yet exist, but the handwriting matches a crew member who left years ago. The navigator reads the message using a personal name, then switches to the short radio form when asking the route office about the berth. A clear introduction links both. The mystery can then concern time and memory rather than whether the reader has mistaken one crew member for another."}},{"slug":"merchants","label":"Merchants","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"haendler","stems":["Pella","Arlo","Tessa","Bram"],"ends":["Ledger","Spice","Canvas","Scale"],"rule":"Give the shop and its owner different naming structures.","hook":"A market trader accepts stories as payment but refuses the same ending twice.","description":"Give the shop and its owner different naming structures. Start with pella, arlo, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Person and trading signature","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A personal reputation","words":["Scale","Ledger"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A market specialty","words":["Spice","Canvas"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A family establishment","words":["House","Fig"]}],"brief":"Distinguish the proprietor’s name from the trading house or shop. A consistent receipt signature can connect both, while a disputed trade or unexpected form of payment supplies a reason for the public nickname.","pitfall":"Avoid implying that a fictional trade name is registered or endorsed.","surface":"a receipt, a market recommendation, and a shop introduction","story":"A customer offers a story with a familiar ending, and the trader refuses it despite the customer’s insistence that the details are new. The shop name stays on the receipt, while the proprietor signs with a separate personal identity. A later visitor changes the ending through one small act of generosity. The trader’s nickname records the unusual exchange without implying that the whole community follows the same commercial rule."}},{"slug":"blacksmiths","label":"Blacksmiths","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"schmiede","stems":["Dorra","Kellen","Maera","Olin"],"ends":["Rivet","Tongs","Brass","Forge"],"rule":"Choose a workshop signature that could fit on a maker’s stamp.","hook":"A smith repairs a bell without changing the one note that its town remembers.","description":"Choose a workshop signature that could fit on a maker’s stamp. Start with dorra, kellen, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The maker’s visible signature","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A workshop mark","words":["Rivet","Forge"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A repair reputation","words":["Mend","Brace"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared commission","words":["Bell","Accord"]}],"brief":"Choose a mark that could fit on a finished object and a spoken name that differs from the workshop sign. Let a repair decision show what the maker preserves, changes, or refuses to reproduce.","pitfall":"Avoid using generic strength as a substitute for a craft identity.","surface":"a maker stamp, a commission ledger, and a customer greeting","story":"The repaired bell sounds exactly as remembered, but the customer notices that its maker’s mark has changed. The smith explains which earlier repair must remain visible and which new work should be credited separately. A compact personal name fits the conversation, while the workshop signature belongs on the invoice. The scene lets craft and accountability explain an identity more precisely than another general claim of strength."}},{"slug":"healers","label":"Healers","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"heiler","stems":["Nella","Orin","Tavi","Edda"],"ends":["Heather","Linen","Willow","Well"],"rule":"Keep invented character traits separate from medical claims.","hook":"A village caretaker maintains a book of small comforts left by departing travelers.","description":"Keep invented character traits separate from medical claims. Start with nella, orin, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Care without unsupported claims","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A community role","words":["Linen","Well"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered kindness","words":["Willow","Rest"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A practical routine","words":["Basket","Heather"]}],"brief":"Frame the character through a social role, relationship, or ordinary caring task. A fictional name can suggest attentiveness without claiming that a plant, title, or imagined practice has a real medical benefit.","pitfall":"Do not turn a character description into diagnosis or treatment advice.","surface":"a visitor book, a supply label, and a neighbor’s account","story":"A traveler asks for a copy of the village’s book of comforts, but several entries belong to private conversations. The caretaker creates a new page of ordinary shared routines instead of circulating the original notes. A personal name and community role remain separate in the introduction. The character is defined through care and discretion within the fiction, without turning the scene into advice about a real treatment."}},{"slug":"monks","label":"Monks","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"moenche","stems":["Ilo","Seren","Bren","Avra"],"ends":["Quiet","Reed","Bell","Path"],"rule":"Use fictional order customs without claiming real religious authenticity.","hook":"A contemplative copyist notices that a library’s oldest book is still adding pages.","description":"Use fictional order customs without claiming real religious authenticity. Start with ilo, seren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An invented daily discipline","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Copying and study","words":["Page","Bell"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared duty","words":["Path","Keep"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changing practice","words":["Open","Reed"]}],"brief":"Design a daily practice before naming its fictional participant. A community title and personal name can reveal belonging while leaving room for disagreement; real religious accuracy requires separate, appropriate research.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting a generated title as a real religious credential.","surface":"a copying ledger, a community introduction, and a private exchange","story":"A copyist discovers a newly written page in the oldest book, describing a meeting scheduled for the next morning. The community debates whether to preserve it as testimony or mark it as uncertain. The copyist adds a plain dated note and uses a personal signature instead of claiming authority through an elaborate title. An invented daily discipline becomes visible through a decision about how knowledge should be labeled."}},{"slug":"kings","label":"Kings","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"koenige","stems":["Aldren","Toren","Emric","Corven"],"ends":["Orchard","Harbor","Seal","Crown"],"rule":"Distinguish a personal name from a regnal title.","hook":"A king must open the annual market wearing an apron rather than a crown.","description":"Distinguish a personal name from a regnal title. Start with aldren, toren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Person, office, and regnal form","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Public duty","words":["Seal","Gate"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A chosen reign","words":["Orchard","Open"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An inherited office","words":["Crown","Branch"]}],"brief":"Separate a personal name from a regnal title and a historian’s later label. Show a task the office requires, then decide whether the public name records a promise, a place, or somebody else’s expectation.","pitfall":"Avoid a long stack of titles before the person takes action.","surface":"a proclamation, a household conversation, and an annual ceremony","story":"The annual market opens with the king wearing an apron, but an official notice still lists every inherited title. A stallholder addresses the person by the short name used in childhood and asks for help moving a table. The scene connects person and office before either is tested politically. A later regnal epithet can record a specific public undertaking rather than announce that ancestry alone establishes virtue."}},{"slug":"queens","label":"Queens","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"koeniginnen","stems":["Maera","Elra","Vessa","Orla"],"ends":["Beacon","Laurel","Gate","Seal"],"rule":"Let the title reveal a duty rather than beauty or lineage alone.","hook":"A queen’s public calendar contains one day that no courtier is allowed to schedule.","description":"Let the title reveal a duty rather than beauty or lineage alone. Start with maera, elra, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Authority and everyday identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A public undertaking","words":["Beacon","Gate"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A chosen symbol","words":["Laurel","Seal"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A private continuity","words":["Hearth","Branch"]}],"brief":"Let the title describe authority or responsibility while the personal name remains usable in an ordinary scene. A policy, ceremony, or kept appointment gives a public epithet a more precise basis than appearance.","pitfall":"Avoid reducing an office to beauty, marriage, or ancestry.","surface":"a proclamation, a calendar entry, and an intimate greeting","story":"The unscheduled day on the public calendar was reserved for hearing a complaint nobody wanted recorded. When courtiers try to fill it with a ceremony, the queen asks for the old appointment book. A formal proclamation uses the regnal style, while the waiting visitor uses a personal name. The contrast gives an office a specific obligation and makes the naming system reveal who is permitted to speak familiarly."}},{"slug":"companions","label":"Companions","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"begleiter","stems":["Pip","Merrin","Tavi","Rook"],"ends":["Pocket","Lark","Button","Scout"],"rule":"Test whether the nickname stays clear beside the protagonist’s name.","hook":"A traveling companion remembers every wrong turn and calls them the scenic routes.","description":"Test whether the nickname stays clear beside the protagonist’s name. Start with pip, merrin, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A shared history","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An early meeting","words":["Pocket","Parcel"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A useful habit","words":["Scout","Button"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A friendly disagreement","words":["Detour","Again"]}],"brief":"Name the relationship without making the companion a smaller copy of the protagonist. Choose a short form that differs in opening sound, then let one repeated habit explain why the nickname has survived travel.","pitfall":"Avoid a companion name that disappears beside the lead character.","surface":"a party roster, a camp exchange, and a remembered first meeting","story":"The companion calls an expensive detour the scenic route, then reveals that it avoided a village the protagonist once promised to visit. The joke now carries a choice rather than a random quirk. A short nickname works beside the protagonist’s distinct opening sound, while a full name appears in a shared letter. One remembered mistake becomes a relationship the story can change instead of a permanent comic label."}},{"slug":"mounts","label":"Mounts","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"reittiere","stems":["Bramble","Clover","Juniper","Tumble"],"ends":["Stride","Hoof","Cloud","Reed"],"rule":"Prefer a short call name that is distinct from a command.","hook":"A sure-footed mount refuses the shortest route because it knows who waits there.","description":"Prefer a short call name that is distinct from a command. Start with bramble, clover, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A clear call name","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An ordinary habit","words":["Clover","Reed"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered journey","words":["Cloud","Trail"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A patient partnership","words":["Stride","Keep"]}],"brief":"Try a short call name beside the movement instructions used in your scene. A registry title can preserve lineage or a journey, but a familiar spoken form should not require reciting the whole record.","pitfall":"Avoid names easily confused with the commands in your own game.","surface":"a stable record, a handler’s call, and a travel note","story":"The mount stops at a fork whose shorter path is marked on the latest route sheet. The traveler first assumes stubbornness, then sees an old picnic basket beside the longer road. A stable record preserves the formal name, but the spoken call remains short and unlike a command. The scene offers a recognizable habit and relationship without pretending the name explains an animal’s behavior scientifically."}},{"slug":"pets","label":"Pets","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"haustiere","stems":["Pip","Miso","Fig","Nori"],"ends":["Puddle","Sock","Button","Peach"],"rule":"Say the name several times without adding extra syllables.","hook":"A studio pet relocates every important sketch to the sunniest patch of floor.","description":"Say the name several times without adding extra syllables. Start with pip, miso, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Everyday recall","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An observed habit","words":["Puddle","Sock"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An affectionate image","words":["Fig","Peach"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A meeting place","words":["Window","Pocket"]}],"brief":"Choose a name that the household can repeat comfortably and distinguish from other call names. Let an observed habit carry the personal connection instead of relying on increasingly elaborate decorative syllables.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting a generated suggestion as behavioral or veterinary advice.","surface":"a household note, a repeated call, and a small story scene","story":"Every missing sketch turns up in the sunny corner, including one the owner had deliberately put away. A visitor uses the pet’s short name and accidentally receives attention meant for another household member with a similar call name. The family revises the nickname rather than changing the pet’s entire identity. A small domestic mistake gives the naming decision an observable purpose without borrowing behavioral or veterinary authority."}},{"slug":"bosses","label":"Boss characters","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"endgegner","stems":["Vella","Orren","Maera","Tessel"],"ends":["Dial","Mirror","Gate","Clock"],"rule":"Name the encounter’s central idea instead of its damage level.","hook":"A clockwork curator tests visitors by rearranging the exhibit labels between rooms.","description":"Name the encounter’s central idea instead of its damage level. Start with vella, orren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The encounter’s central rule","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A changed pattern","words":["Clock","Turn"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A tested promise","words":["Gate","Vow"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An uncertain identity","words":["Mirror","Mask"]}],"brief":"Name the encounter’s organizing question rather than its damage level. A public title can stay memorable while a personal identity emerges later, and the scene should teach any important distinction fairly.","pitfall":"Avoid revealing a hidden solution in the encounter title.","surface":"an encounter heading, a quest log, and the first introduction","story":"The curator rearranges the exhibit labels after each room, but keeps one ordinary object in the same place. The encounter title points toward a changing record rather than revealing the stable clue. A later introduction supplies the curator’s personal name, which is different from the public role. The player’s question becomes what the curator is preserving, allowing a memorable title to support an encounter without giving away its resolution."}},{"slug":"npcs","label":"Non-player characters","group":0,"category":"Characters & creatures","legacy":"nichtspielerfiguren","stems":["Tessa","Arlo","Nell","Bram"],"ends":["Parcel","Lantern","Slate","Reed"],"rule":"Give a recurring supporting character one name players can retrieve quickly.","hook":"A station porter recognizes every passenger but cannot remember their own first arrival.","description":"Give a recurring supporting character one name players can retrieve quickly. Start with tessa, arlo, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Fast retrieval in a larger cast","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A recurring job","words":["Parcel","Slate"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A neighborhood tie","words":["Reed","Gate"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A small contradiction","words":["Second","Question"]}],"brief":"Give a supporting character a readable personal name and one stable role cue. A minor contradiction, habit, or connection helps the person return later without forcing the reader to memorize an elaborate biography.","pitfall":"Avoid introducing several near-identical names in the same scene.","surface":"a dialogue label, a task list, and a later return visit","story":"The station porter recognizes the protagonist’s earlier journey but cannot recall their own arrival. A small work label supplies the porter’s name and role in the first scene. On a later visit, a personal object connects the porter to an old platform notice. The returning character has one new question, while the stable everyday name helps the reader retrieve the person without requiring a lengthy biography."}},{"slug":"houses","label":"Houses","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"haeuser","stems":["Alder","Amber","Willow","Brick"],"ends":["House","End","Nook","Lodge"],"rule":"Name the feature a visitor would actually use as a landmark.","hook":"A narrow house has a front door on a different street every market day.","description":"Name the feature a visitor would actually use as a landmark. Start with alder, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What a visitor notices","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An entrance","words":["Door","Step"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A former resident","words":["Letter","Memory"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A useful room","words":["Window","Attic"]}],"brief":"Choose the feature a visitor can find without knowing the family history. A house name can preserve an older use, but leave a visible trace that explains why the household still recognizes it.","pitfall":"Avoid a grand institutional title for an ordinary private building.","surface":"a street direction, a door plate, and a visiting scene","story":"A delivery worker follows the address on an old invitation and finds the front door opening onto the next street. The residents agree on the house’s familiar name but disagree about which entrance it describes. A small doorplate is moved rather than replaced, preserving the household identity while clarifying the public direction. The scene gives an ordinary place name a practical conflict before introducing a larger mystery."}},{"slug":"castles","label":"Castles","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"burgen","stems":["Copper","Heron","Bracken","Pale"],"ends":["Keep","Castle","Tower","Hold"],"rule":"Choose a silhouette or duty before invoking an ancient dynasty.","hook":"A castle’s eastern tower rings its bell only when someone returns an old debt.","description":"Choose a silhouette or duty before invoking an ancient dynasty. Start with copper, heron, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Purpose of the stronghold","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A crossing","words":["Bridge","Ferry"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A household seat","words":["Hall","Branch"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A public signal","words":["Bell","Beacon"]}],"brief":"Decide whether the name identifies a defensive site, a residence, or the settlement around it. Keep those scales separate, then let a tower, bridge, or ceremony explain the familiar local form.","pitfall":"Avoid naming the whole region and its castle identically without context.","surface":"a regional map, a gate announcement, and a household letter","story":"The eastern tower rings when a long-forgotten debt is returned in the form of a repaired market scale. The castle’s official title says nothing about the custom, but local residents use a short tower name to explain the sound. A visitor connects both forms at the gate. The name then carries a small public memory instead of merely announcing how ancient or imposing the architecture appears."}},{"slug":"palaces","label":"Palaces","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"schloesser","stems":["Apricot","Ivory","Glass","Laurel"],"ends":["Palace","Court","Hall","Terrace"],"rule":"Separate ceremonial names from the staff’s practical vocabulary.","hook":"A palace garden is arranged like a map of the monarch’s childhood village.","description":"Separate ceremonial names from the staff’s practical vocabulary. Start with apricot, ivory, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Official and working vocabulary","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A ceremonial route","words":["Court","Laurel"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A garden memory","words":["Orchard","Terrace"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A staff landmark","words":["Door","Gallery"]}],"brief":"Design a ceremonial name and the practical directions used by staff. A palace can accumulate formal titles while workers rely on a courtyard or entrance; connect the forms through an arrival or delivery.","pitfall":"Avoid requiring every spoken direction to use the full dedication.","surface":"a ceremonial program, a delivery note, and a corridor sign","story":"A worker delivering a tree recognizes the palace garden as a map of a village that no longer exists. Courtiers know the formal dedication; staff give directions using the village’s old street names. The delivery passes through both vocabularies in one scene. Keeping a public palace name separate from the garden’s practical labels lets the history emerge through movement rather than an uninterrupted page of explanation."}},{"slug":"fortresses","label":"Fortresses","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"festungen","stems":["Slate","North","Ember","Iron"],"ends":["Watch","Bastion","Wall","Gate"],"rule":"Make location and defensive purpose legible without tactical instructions.","hook":"A fortress is converted into a public observatory but keeps its night watch tradition.","description":"Make location and defensive purpose legible without tactical instructions. Start with slate, north, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A place with a changing duty","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An old boundary","words":["Gate","March"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public conversion","words":["Window","School"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered watch","words":["Beacon","Slate"]}],"brief":"Name the site’s role at the time relevant to the story. If a fortress becomes an observatory, market, or archive, decide whether the old name survives and which users prefer the new designation.","pitfall":"Avoid implying tactical instruction or real security assessment.","surface":"an approach map, a public notice, and an old service record","story":"Visitors arrive for the observatory opening carrying an invitation that still uses the former fortress title. The gate attendant explains that the nightly watch now records stars instead of arrivals. Residents keep the old short name but add a new service description to the sign. The naming decision preserves the building’s past while making its present role understandable to somebody who has never heard the story."}},{"slug":"villages","label":"Villages","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"doerfer","stems":["Apple","Bracken","Miller","Finch"],"ends":["ford","wick","mead","brook"],"rule":"Build from a local livelihood or crossing people still remember.","hook":"A village votes to rename itself whenever its orchard produces a new kind of apple.","description":"Build from a local livelihood or crossing people still remember. Start with apple, bracken, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Founding livelihood","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A crossing","words":["Ford","Bridge"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An orchard","words":["Apple","Clover"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A regular trade","words":["Mill","Market"]}],"brief":"Use one local livelihood and one spatial fact rather than piling up pleasant natural words. A former occupation can remain in the name after the work changes if the landscape or a custom preserves its trace.","pitfall":"Avoid giving neighboring villages indistinguishable endings and openings.","surface":"a road sign, a postal address, and a village introduction","story":"The village council agrees to rename the settlement after a new orchard variety, then discovers that the postal clerk has a drawer full of earlier names. One household wants the oldest restored; another prefers the form printed on its tools. The final road sign uses one current name and a small historical line. A playful custom becomes a decision about how continuity and practical directions can coexist."}},{"slug":"cities","label":"Cities","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"staedte","stems":["Amber","Cinder","Willow","Copper"],"ends":["port","market","bridge","reach"],"rule":"Let districts have shorter everyday names than the city’s formal title.","hook":"A city’s delivery routes follow an old river that now runs beneath the streets.","description":"Let districts have shorter everyday names than the city’s formal title. Start with amber, cinder, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A name across civic scales","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Trade and movement","words":["Canal","Market"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A founding route","words":["Bridge","Landing"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A revised public map","words":["Open","New"]}],"brief":"Distinguish the city from its districts, streets, and individual buildings. Pick a naming force that can support future neighborhoods without making every label repeat the same first word or administrative title.","pitfall":"Avoid forcing a city name to explain the whole political history.","surface":"a city map, a district notice, and a timetable","story":"A courier follows a route that crosses three workshops built above the former riverbed. The official map labels the street after a council dedication, while residents still use the old waterway’s name. When a parcel arrives with both forms, the route office must connect them rather than choose one and erase the other. A short city name remains stable while district and street labels reveal the layered account of its growth."}},{"slug":"capitals","label":"Capitals","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"hauptstaedte","stems":["Laurel","Grand","Beacon","Silver"],"ends":["Court","Seat","City","Spire"],"rule":"Ask whether the official name and common nickname tell different histories.","hook":"A capital relocates its council chamber to whichever district wins the spring lottery.","description":"Ask whether the official name and common nickname tell different histories. Start with laurel, grand, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Who names the seat of government","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A founding agreement","words":["Accord","Court"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A ceremonial claim","words":["Laurel","Seat"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An ordinary nickname","words":["Market","Steps"]}],"brief":"Separate the official seat of government from the wider city and its local nickname. Decide whose document supplies the name: an invitation, a resident’s directions, and an outside atlas may emphasize different things.","pitfall":"Avoid treating an official self-description as everyone’s accepted opinion.","surface":"an atlas heading, a council announcement, and a local address","story":"The spring lottery selects a neighborhood hall too small for the council’s ceremonial seating plan. Staff bring the public seal, but residents insist the building should keep its ordinary name during the session. A notice distinguishes the capital’s identity from the temporary seat. The ceremony becomes legible through the naming hierarchy, allowing political symbolism to appear without confusing a city, an office, and a particular room."}},{"slug":"harbors","label":"Harbors","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"haefen","stems":["Gull","Brass","Low","Apricot"],"ends":["Harbor","Quay","Landing","Sound"],"rule":"Test the name on a timetable and in a shouted arrival.","hook":"A harbor’s lamps are lit in the order that its missing ships were expected home.","description":"Test the name on a timetable and in a shouted arrival. Start with gull, brass, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The working arrival","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A repair trade","words":["Rivet","Canvas"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A departure custom","words":["Bell","Second"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A navigational landmark","words":["Gull","Beacon"]}],"brief":"Choose a name that works in an arrival announcement and an ordinary work request. A harbor’s public form should differ from a ship name; a specific landing can use a short additional qualifier.","pitfall":"Avoid a poetic label that makes two adjacent landings sound identical.","surface":"a departure board, a repair ticket, and a dockside call","story":"A repaired lamp is ready to return to the dock, but its place in the lighting order belongs to a ship no one expects anymore. A new harbor clerk wants to renumber the sequence; a local family asks for a short note explaining it instead. The public name stays useful on the departure board. A particular landing and its older nickname become the clue that connects the lamp to an unfinished delivery."}},{"slug":"taverns","label":"Taverns","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"tavernen","stems":["Copper","Sleepy","Paper","Wandering"],"ends":["Kettle","Heron","Compass","Acorn"],"rule":"Picture the hanging sign before writing the backstory.","hook":"A tavern keeps one table set for the crew of a ship drawn on its sign.","description":"Picture the hanging sign before writing the backstory. Start with copper, sleepy, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What the hanging sign promises","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An everyday object","words":["Kettle","Button"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A meeting custom","words":["Second","Welcome"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A traveling image","words":["Heron","Compass"]}],"brief":"Picture a sign that could be recognized before its text is read. Give the public name a straightforward first reading, then use a local custom or repaired object to support a quieter second interpretation.","pitfall":"Avoid a mysterious title that cannot be recognized in directions.","surface":"a hanging sign, a spoken recommendation, and a menu heading","story":"A newcomer asks for the table reserved for the crew painted on the sign. The owner sets a second cup but explains that nobody has claimed the reservation for years. Later, a letter uses the same table name as an instruction to wait beyond the final departure. The familiar tavern title gains a second reading through a practical custom, while the ordinary direction remains easy to remember."}},{"slug":"inns","label":"Inns","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"gasthaeuser","stems":["Clover","Wayward","Amber","Willow"],"ends":["Rest","Door","Lantern","Pillow"],"rule":"Give travelers a name they could remember after one recommendation.","hook":"An inn marks each room with the destination its last guest hoped to reach.","description":"Give travelers a name they could remember after one recommendation. Start with clover, wayward, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The reason to stop","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A reliable landmark","words":["Lantern","Door"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A route tradition","words":["Way","Rest"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A host’s habit","words":["Clover","Welcome"]}],"brief":"Name the stop from a traveler’s point of view. Separate the inn from its owner and room names, and choose one remembered feature that can survive a recommendation after the visitor has left town.","pitfall":"Avoid promising real accommodation, availability, or verified facilities.","surface":"a route guide, a guest register, and a spoken recommendation","story":"A traveler books the room marked with the destination they are trying to leave behind. The host explains that the names record former hopes, not current transport routes. A simple guest-register label prevents a misunderstanding, while a longer room story remains available to curious visitors. The inn’s own name stays separate from the owner and rooms, making the surprising custom easier to follow."}},{"slug":"bakeries","label":"Bakeries","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"baeckereien","stems":["Morning","Copper","Fig","Little"],"ends":["Loaf","Oven","Crumb","Crust"],"rule":"Choose a sensory detail without making unsupported product claims.","hook":"A bakery saves the first loaf each morning for whoever brings news of the river.","description":"Choose a sensory detail without making unsupported product claims. Start with morning, copper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A readable trading identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A daily rhythm","words":["Morning","First"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A recognizable object","words":["Oven","Loaf"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A neighborhood tie","words":["Market","Fig"]}],"brief":"Choose an image that fits a shop sign and a small wrapper. A daily routine, community connection, or signature object can explain the name without inventing dietary, sourcing, or quality certifications.","pitfall":"Avoid unsupported health, certification, or superiority claims.","surface":"a shop sign, a fictional wrapper, and a market direction","story":"The first loaf waits untouched after the usual river messenger fails to arrive. A new apprentice wants to sell it, but the baker leaves a note inviting any visitor with news to share a seat. The business name points to a recognizable object on the sign rather than a health claim. A small daily practice gives that object a reason to matter after the first attractive impression."}},{"slug":"workshops","label":"Workshops","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"werkstaetten","stems":["Brass","Willow","Small","Spindle"],"ends":["Works","Bench","Shed","Room"],"rule":"Use a material or process that could become a believable trade sign.","hook":"A workshop repairs objects only after their owners explain why they kept them.","description":"Use a material or process that could become a believable trade sign. Start with brass, willow, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Process and public signature","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Repairs","words":["Mend","Brace"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A material","words":["Brass","Canvas"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An apprentice tradition","words":["Bench","Second"]}],"brief":"Identify the work a visitor could commission and the sign used to find it. Keep the workshop’s trading identity distinct from a maker’s personal name, while a stamp or receipt can connect them.","pitfall":"Avoid replacing a specific trade with a vague promise of mastery.","surface":"a work order, a maker stamp, and a street sign","story":"An owner brings a cracked household clock and asks for every mark of repair to be hidden. The workshop keeper asks why the clock has been kept, and learns that one old patch records a family reconciliation. The job becomes a decision about what should remain visible. A trading name connected to a bench or tool now suggests a practice, while the maker’s personal signature takes responsibility for the new work."}},{"slug":"libraries","label":"Libraries","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"bibliotheken","stems":["Margin","Lantern","Quiet","Paper"],"ends":["Library","Archive","Shelf","Stacks"],"rule":"Decide whether the name honors a collection or a way of reading.","hook":"A lending library requires readers to return a question alongside each book.","description":"Decide whether the name honors a collection or a way of reading. Start with margin, lantern, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What the institution preserves","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A particular collection","words":["Map","Letter"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A way of reading","words":["Margin","Quiet"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A public service","words":["Open","Lantern"]}],"brief":"Decide whether the name honors a collection, a building, or an access tradition. A reader needs a practical public form; an archival dedication can remain in the catalog or the first arrival scene.","pitfall":"Avoid an elaborate scholarly title that obscures the institution’s role.","surface":"a catalog entry, a lending slip, and a street direction","story":"A borrowed atlas returns with a question about a town missing from the map. The librarian keeps the question beside the catalog record instead of treating it as damage. A second reader recognizes an older place name in the handwriting. The library’s public title identifies its service, while the collection’s distinct name carries the mystery. The scene shows how an access custom can become a naming principle."}},{"slug":"academies","label":"Academies","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"akademien","stems":["Compass","Laurel","Copper","Glass"],"ends":["Academy","School","Institute","College"],"rule":"Match the formality of the title to the fictional institution’s role.","hook":"An academy teaches mapmaking in a building whose corridors move each term.","description":"Match the formality of the title to the fictional institution’s role. Start with compass, laurel, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Scope of study","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An observation practice","words":["Compass","Glass"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A founding question","words":["Measure","Open"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared craft","words":["Slate","Laurel"]}],"brief":"Choose the subject and scale of the fictional institution before naming it. A workshop school and a court academy need different levels of formality; the full title should not imply expertise beyond the invented brief.","pitfall":"Avoid invented real-world accreditation or academic endorsement.","surface":"an admissions notice, a course list, and a spoken introduction","story":"The mapmaking class receives a corridor plan that becomes inaccurate before the lesson ends. Instead of grading students on a perfect final map, the instructor asks them to label what they observed and when. The academy’s formal title remains on the course sheet, but students use a shorter building nickname in directions. The naming difference reflects a practice of uncertainty rather than an unsupported claim of academic authority."}},{"slug":"temples","label":"Temples","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"tempel","stems":["Dawn","Quiet","Willow","Open"],"ends":["Sanctum","Temple","Hall","Court"],"rule":"Build a fictional practice before selecting sacred-sounding words.","hook":"A hilltop temple rings a wooden bell to mark the moment the town becomes quiet.","description":"Build a fictional practice before selecting sacred-sounding words. Start with dawn, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An invented shared practice","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A daily observance","words":["Dawn","Bell"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A civic gathering","words":["Open","Court"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered promise","words":["Willow","Keep"]}],"brief":"Build a fictional practice that explains the building’s role and public name. A local entrance name may differ from a formal dedication; connect the two without treating the invented institution as a real religious authority.","pitfall":"Avoid borrowing sacred credentials to validate a fictional place.","surface":"a gathering notice, a route map, and a dedication plaque","story":"The wooden bell fails to sound on the day the town is unusually quiet. Visitors assume the observance has been canceled, but a caretaker explains that listening is the activity, not the noise. A simple public name remains on the gathering notice, while a formal dedication appears inside. The invented practice gives both forms context without treating the scene as a description of an actual religious tradition."}},{"slug":"shrines","label":"Shrines","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"schreine","stems":["Little","Moss","Amber","Wayfarer"],"ends":["Shrine","Niche","Stone","Light"],"rule":"Anchor the name in a local act of remembrance.","hook":"Travelers leave repaired buttons at a roadside shrine instead of coins.","description":"Anchor the name in a local act of remembrance. Start with little, moss, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A particular act of remembrance","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A traveler’s pause","words":["Way","Rest"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A repaired object","words":["Button","Mend"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared loss","words":["Lantern","Memory"]}],"brief":"Choose a small act that residents or visitors can perform in the fiction. The name should point toward a place, object, or remembered relationship rather than claiming a real spiritual benefit or guaranteed outcome.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting an invented custom as a living culture’s actual practice.","surface":"a roadside direction, a small plaque, and a visitor’s note","story":"A traveler leaves a repaired button where someone else has placed a replacement for the same coat. The caretaker ties both to a blank card so their owners can write separate accounts. A small place name points to the roadside object, while a dedication preserves the remembered relationship. The shrine becomes specific through an ordinary action rather than a claim that its name guarantees a spiritual result."}},{"slug":"monasteries","label":"Monasteries","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"kloester","stems":["Reed","Still","Silver","Morning"],"ends":["Cloister","Abbey","Retreat","House"],"rule":"Keep invented institutions distinct from claims about real traditions.","hook":"A secluded community copies weather diaries so future gardeners can read the past.","description":"Keep invented institutions distinct from claims about real traditions. Start with reed, still, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Community and daily work","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Copying records","words":["Page","Ink"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A garden routine","words":["Reed","Seed"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared retreat","words":["Quiet","Path"]}],"brief":"Distinguish the community, its building, and the practice that gives it a public role. An invented institution can have believable daily work without suggesting an affiliation, historical lineage, or credential in a real religion.","pitfall":"Avoid making quietness the only characteristic of every resident.","surface":"a correspondence address, a duty schedule, and a visitor introduction","story":"A gardener asks to borrow the community’s old weather diaries, and the copyist finds two records for the same spring. One follows the formal calendar; the other follows the orchard. The archive labels both rather than choosing an apparently perfect account. A working name for the collection remains distinct from the monastery’s formal address, letting a daily task explain why the institution’s identity has endured."}},{"slug":"ruins","label":"Ruins","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"ruinen","stems":["Fallen","Pale","Overgrown","Silent"],"ends":["Steps","Arcade","Court","Towers"],"rule":"Consider what present-day visitors can actually see.","hook":"A ruin’s windows frame buildings that disappeared from the valley centuries ago.","description":"Consider what present-day visitors can actually see. Start with fallen, pale, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What remains visible","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An architectural trace","words":["Arch","Steps"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A changed use","words":["Garden","Market"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A disputed memory","words":["Name","Second"]}],"brief":"Name the place from what present visitors can observe, then decide whether scholars or residents use another form. The difference between a surviving feature and a recorded purpose can become a recoverable story clue.","pitfall":"Avoid treating a speculative explanation as established history.","surface":"a present-day map, a field notebook, and an old inscription","story":"A visitor looks through an intact window and recognizes a market building missing from the present skyline. A local guide calls the site by its surviving steps, while an old record uses a formal court name. A sketch connects the two before the route becomes important. The ruin’s name can now carry an uncertain interpretation without requiring the reader to accept a speculative history as established fact."}},{"slug":"dungeons","label":"Dungeons","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"verliese","stems":["Echo","Slate","Lower","Hidden"],"ends":["Vault","Cells","Passage","Chambers"],"rule":"Name a spatial puzzle rather than promising graphic danger.","hook":"An underground storehouse has labels for supplies nobody remembers ordering.","description":"Name a spatial puzzle rather than promising graphic danger. Start with echo, slate, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The original use of the space","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A storehouse","words":["Vault","Ledger"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A forgotten passage","words":["Door","Lower"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A spatial puzzle","words":["Turn","Echo"]}],"brief":"Choose the space’s original job before naming its current mystery. Doors, inventory labels, or ventilation traces can make an underground area legible without relying on graphic danger as the only source of atmosphere.","pitfall":"Avoid promising real-world confinement or tactical instructions.","surface":"a room heading, an exploration map, and a found inventory","story":"The underground labels list household supplies due next month, though the storehouse was sealed generations ago. The first room’s practical name helps the explorers orient themselves before the unexplained inventory appears. A second record identifies a passage that changed purpose. The mystery develops through dates and objects, allowing the space’s identity to do more work than a generic promise of darkness or danger."}},{"slug":"mazes","label":"Mazes","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"labyrinthe","stems":["Turning","Paper","Willow","Mirror"],"ends":["Labyrinth","Walk","Maze","Paths"],"rule":"Choose one navigational rule the name can quietly suggest.","hook":"A garden maze opens a new exit whenever a visitor gives directions to someone else.","description":"Choose one navigational rule the name can quietly suggest. Start with turning, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The navigation rule","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A changing route","words":["Turn","Again"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A readable landmark","words":["Window","Willow"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared solution","words":["Open","Guide"]}],"brief":"Name the maze’s organizing rule rather than a generic difficulty level. A repeated landmark or condition for opening an exit gives the title something the player can test through observation instead of arbitrary guessing.","pitfall":"Avoid a title that reveals a hidden solution unintentionally.","surface":"a garden sign, a puzzle heading, and a route annotation","story":"A visitor gives a stranger directions and notices that a new gate has appeared behind them. The entrance sign had named the maze after a shared walk, not a test of cleverness. A caretaker records which exits appeared after each act of guidance. The title starts as a friendly label and becomes a clue to the rule, while the route remains fair enough for the audience to investigate."}},{"slug":"mines","label":"Mines","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"minen","stems":["Copper","Shale","Amber","North"],"ends":["Seam","Pit","Works","Delve"],"rule":"Distinguish the geological feature from the working settlement.","hook":"A closed mine emits a steady ticking that matches no clock in the town.","description":"Distinguish the geological feature from the working settlement. Start with copper, shale, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Resource and settlement","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A visible seam","words":["Copper","Shale"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A working community","words":["Lamp","Shift"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An abandoned claim","words":["Old","Ledger"]}],"brief":"Keep the extraction site distinct from the nearby settlement and the company that once used it. A seam, shift tradition, or recorded claim can anchor the name without pretending to provide geological or safety advice.","pitfall":"Avoid using a fictional name as evidence of a real mineral deposit.","surface":"a work ledger, a regional map, and a former entrance sign","story":"A former worker brings an old timepiece to compare with the ticking from the sealed entrance. The sounds disagree by one beat. A survey note identifies the mine by a seam name, but residents refer to the adjacent settlement with a different label. Connecting those names makes the first journey clear, leaving the unresolved rhythm as the mystery rather than making geography itself unnecessarily confusing."}},{"slug":"caves","label":"Caves","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"hoehlen","stems":["Lantern","Whisper","Chalk","Glass"],"ends":["Cavern","Hollow","Grotto","Chambers"],"rule":"Use an observable texture or sound as the naming anchor.","hook":"A cave’s echoes return yesterday’s conversations instead of the words just spoken.","description":"Use an observable texture or sound as the naming anchor. Start with lantern, whisper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A sensory point of entry","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A returning sound","words":["Echo","Whisper"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A visible surface","words":["Chalk","Glass"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local approach","words":["Lantern","Reed"]}],"brief":"Choose a feature that a visitor can encounter early. An echo or rock texture can establish a practical name, while a second interpretation emerges later through the fictional scene rather than a long decorative title.","pitfall":"Avoid implying real cave access, surveying, or safety guidance.","surface":"an exploration heading, an approach map, and a witness description","story":"An explorer calls a companion’s name and hears the reply they gave the previous afternoon. A chalk mark on the entrance records an ordinary local name based on the sound, while an older account uses a different approach landmark. The party writes both beside a single sketch. The story can then test the echo’s limit without asking the reader to mistake the same cave for two separate destinations."}},{"slug":"forests","label":"Forests","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"waelder","stems":["Alder","Silver","Thimble","Rain"],"ends":["Wood","Forest","Grove","Thicket"],"rule":"Decide who first used the name and what they needed to find.","hook":"A forest trail is maintained by people who have never seen its far end.","description":"Decide who first used the name and what they needed to find. Start with alder, silver, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Who uses the paths","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A local livelihood","words":["Alder","Acorn"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A travel memory","words":["Trail","Rain"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changed boundary","words":["Edge","Open"]}],"brief":"Decide whether the name comes from residents, travelers, or an outside mapmaker. One visible tree, route, or boundary custom can make the label feel specific while leaving other people free to name the same landscape differently.","pitfall":"Avoid describing an inhabited landscape as an empty stage.","surface":"a map label, a local direction, and a path marker","story":"A trail marker is repaired by someone who says they have never traveled beyond the next bend. Farther on, another caretaker gives the same answer. Their separate local names describe connected stretches of one route rather than contradictory forests. A shared map keeps the regional name visible while recording each segment. The naming system turns partial knowledge into a community practice rather than an unexplained inconsistency."}},{"slug":"mountains","label":"Mountains","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"berge","stems":["Copper","Cloud","Heron","White"],"ends":["Peak","Crag","Ridge","Spire"],"rule":"Make neighboring peaks distinguishable on a crowded map.","hook":"A mountain’s shadow points to an abandoned observatory for one afternoon each year.","description":"Make neighboring peaks distinguishable on a crowded map. Start with copper, cloud, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Scale and viewpoint","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A silhouette","words":["Heron","Spire"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A route association","words":["Pass","Beacon"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A seasonal appearance","words":["Copper","Snow"]}],"brief":"Choose the observer whose viewpoint supplies the name and distinguish the summit from the ridge or pass. A short map form can coexist with a ceremonial dedication if the first scene makes their relationship clear.","pitfall":"Avoid confusing several neighboring peaks through identical prefixes.","surface":"a skyline description, a small map, and a route guide","story":"The mountain’s afternoon shadow crosses a ruined observatory just as an old diary predicts, but a later map labels the summit from the opposite valley. A guide connects the two peak names using a visible notch in the skyline. The shadow supplies the story question; the paired labels establish where the scene happens. A precise viewpoint gives the name a stronger foundation than another vague claim of grandeur."}},{"slug":"valleys","label":"Valleys","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"taeler","stems":["Orchard","Heather","Soft","Amber"],"ends":["Vale","Valley","Hollow","Basin"],"rule":"Name the valley at the scale used by its residents.","hook":"A valley’s villages exchange bells every autumn so no town hears the same winter.","description":"Name the valley at the scale used by its residents. Start with orchard, heather, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A shared landscape and its residents","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A livelihood","words":["Orchard","Mill"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A seasonal custom","words":["Bell","Autumn"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A travel corridor","words":["Reed","Way"]}],"brief":"Name the valley at the scale of the people who use it. A shared trade or seasonal exchange can unite several settlements while their individual names remain distinct, preventing the regional label from replacing local identities.","pitfall":"Avoid a regional name that makes all settlements seem interchangeable.","surface":"a regional map, a travel account, and an inter-village notice","story":"The exchanged autumn bell sounds unfamiliar to a child who knows every local chime. A traveler explains that the next village now hears the bell once associated with home. The valley’s regional name appears on the exchange record, while the villages retain their distinct names. A shared custom unites the place without erasing local differences, and the next arrival tests what residents recognize beyond a familiar sound."}},{"slug":"rivers","label":"Rivers","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"fluesse","stems":["Willow","Copper","Lark","Reed"],"ends":["Run","Water","Flow","River"],"rule":"Check whether upstream and downstream communities use different names.","hook":"A river carries paper boats upstream on the first foggy morning of the month.","description":"Check whether upstream and downstream communities use different names. Start with willow, copper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The naming viewpoint","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An upstream landmark","words":["Willow","Source"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A working crossing","words":["Ferry","Bridge"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A downstream memory","words":["Copper","Bend"]}],"brief":"Decide whether communities share a river name or keep local forms for particular reaches. A change in label should be explained through a crossing, chart, or conversation before navigation depends on recognizing both names.","pitfall":"Avoid treating two connected river labels as unrelated destinations.","surface":"a ferry timetable, a map, and a downstream direction","story":"A paper boat arrives upstream carrying a street address from before the canal works. The ferry operator knows that reach by an older bend name. A route note connects it to the current river label, giving the courier a fair starting point. The name’s history can remain contested while the immediate directions are clear, separating uncertainty about memory from uncertainty about where to walk."}},{"slug":"lakes","label":"Lakes","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"seen","stems":["Mirror","Heron","Still","Silver"],"ends":["Lake","Pool","Mere","Water"],"rule":"Distinguish a seasonal appearance from a permanent geographic fact.","hook":"A lake reflects a second moon whenever the village holds its lantern festival.","description":"Distinguish a seasonal appearance from a permanent geographic fact. Start with mirror, heron, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Appearance and ordinary use","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A reflected landmark","words":["Mirror","Spire"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A local routine","words":["Heron","Reed"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A seasonal event","words":["Lantern","Spring"]}],"brief":"Choose whether the name records a permanent feature, a seasonal appearance, or a community event. Keep that distinction visible so the label suggests a setting without being mistaken for a real geographic fact or current condition.","pitfall":"Avoid making a temporary effect the only navigation cue.","surface":"a lakeside sign, a festival notice, and a map label","story":"The second reflected moon appears on a night when the festival has been postponed. A visitor thinks the lake’s name predicts the event, but the caretaker points to a much older shoreline mark. The formal map label and the festival nickname are recorded together. A changing reflection becomes a story question without the name pretending to establish a permanent geographic fact or a real astronomical explanation."}},{"slug":"seas","label":"Seas","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"meere","stems":["Amber","Quiet","Glass","Outer"],"ends":["Sea","Waters","Sound","Expanse"],"rule":"Choose a sailor’s reference point rather than a generic color alone.","hook":"A sea chart labels an empty stretch of water with the name of a familiar street.","description":"Choose a sailor’s reference point rather than a generic color alone. Start with amber, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The traveler’s reference","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A familiar coast","words":["Shore","Amber"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A recorded crossing","words":["Far","Way"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A distant visual image","words":["Glass","Quiet"]}],"brief":"Give the name a viewpoint and a scale. A coastal community, a shipping ledger, and an outside atlas can emphasize different waters; connect their terminology without pretending an invented chart establishes real oceanographic conditions.","pitfall":"Avoid using color alone to distinguish adjacent named waters.","surface":"an atlas heading, a fictional ship log, and a coastal description","story":"A navigator finds a familiar street name printed in an empty stretch of the old sea chart. The coastal ledger uses a broader name for those waters, while a family letter refers only to the street. A comparison of the records reveals the viewpoint behind each form. The chart can be mysterious without claiming real oceanographic accuracy or making every regional label a competing destination."}},{"slug":"islands","label":"Islands","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"inseln","stems":["Fig","Lantern","Little","Cloud"],"ends":["Island","Isle","Key","Atoll"],"rule":"Try the name in both a shipping list and a local address.","hook":"An island’s lighthouse is inland because the shore moves every few years.","description":"Try the name in both a shipping list and a local address. Start with fig, lantern, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A remembered approach","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A landing landmark","words":["Lantern","Key"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A local livelihood","words":["Fig","Reef"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A moving shore","words":["Tide","Return"]}],"brief":"Name the island from an approach or local use, then test it as part of an ordinary address. Distinguish the island from its main settlement and any lighthouse, especially when one clue mentions all three.","pitfall":"Avoid one repeated label for island, town, and harbor.","surface":"a shipping list, a postal address, and an arrival scene","story":"A delivery arrives for the lighthouse using a harbor address, though the tower now stands inland. A resident produces an older map with a different shoreline. The island’s name has stayed stable while settlement and landing labels have moved. That hierarchy lets the courier connect the address to a real place in the fiction before discovering why one household still leaves a lamp facing the former coast."}},{"slug":"deserts","label":"Deserts","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"wuesten","stems":["Apricot","Copper","White","Silent"],"ends":["Dunes","Sands","Reach","Flats"],"rule":"Avoid treating a dry landscape as empty of people or history.","hook":"A desert post office sorts letters by the shape of the dune they describe.","description":"Avoid treating a dry landscape as empty of people or history. Start with apricot, copper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An inhabited route","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A caravan landmark","words":["Bell","Stone"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A changing surface","words":["Dune","Apricot"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local record","words":["Well","Ledger"]}],"brief":"Start with people, routes, and a practical reference rather than an assumption of emptiness. A well, postal custom, or remembered path can support the name while the landscape changes around the residents’ vocabulary.","pitfall":"Avoid reducing a diverse imagined region to danger or absence.","surface":"a caravan ledger, a regional map, and a local direction","story":"The postmaster sorts a letter by the dune shape drawn on its envelope, then finds that a recent wind has changed the landmark. A caravan record preserves the route’s old wording alongside the nearest maintained well. The regional name remains useful while the local description is updated. The story treats the landscape as inhabited and remembered, giving the naming decision a social purpose rather than merely an atmosphere of emptiness."}},{"slug":"swamps","label":"Swamps","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"suempfe","stems":["Reed","Moss","Heron","Candle"],"ends":["Marsh","Fen","Mire","Bog"],"rule":"Use vegetation and local travel habits instead of disgust as shorthand.","hook":"A marsh guide reads the positions of floating lanterns left by earlier travelers.","description":"Use vegetation and local travel habits instead of disgust as shorthand. Start with reed, moss, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Local passage and observation","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A plant community","words":["Reed","Moss"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A route custom","words":["Lantern","Board"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shifting landmark","words":["Float","Heron"]}],"brief":"Choose the details that residents use to navigate and work in the wetland. A plant, boardwalk, or floating marker supplies more identity than a generalized unpleasant adjective and can support several distinct neighboring places.","pitfall":"Avoid using disgust as the landscape’s entire identity.","surface":"a local map, a guide’s instruction, and a floating marker","story":"A guide notices one floating lantern placed against the direction used by the others. The mark belongs to an older public route, not an attempt to mislead travelers. A boardwalk sign names the present approach while a marsh ledger records the former one. Reading the paired labels lets the visitor recognize a changed practice, while plants, paths, and maintenance make the setting specific beyond a generalized unpleasant adjective."}},{"slug":"glaciers","label":"Glaciers","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"gletscher","stems":["Blue","Quiet","Silver","Old"],"ends":["Icefield","Glacier","Tongue","Shelf"],"rule":"Give the ice feature a scale that matches the map.","hook":"A glacier slowly reveals a staircase that was built to be climbed in the opposite direction.","description":"Give the ice feature a scale that matches the map. Start with blue, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Time and geographic scale","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An exposed trace","words":["Step","Archive"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A visible surface","words":["Blue","Silver"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A measured boundary","words":["Edge","Line"]}],"brief":"Distinguish an icefield, a flowing feature, and a nearby settlement in the fictional map. A newly exposed object can explain a local nickname without making the generator a source of real climate or travel claims.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting a poetic name as current safety information.","surface":"an expedition map, an observation note, and a regional label","story":"The newly exposed staircase has wear marks on the underside of its steps. An expedition note uses a broad icefield label, while a local guide names the particular edge where the structure appears. A sketch connects the scales before the party debates the stair’s original orientation. The place name aids observation without pretending that an invented title supplies real travel advice or evidence about present climate conditions."}},{"slug":"volcanoes","label":"Volcanoes","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"vulkane","stems":["Ember","Russet","Cinder","Copper"],"ends":["Cone","Mount","Crater","Caldera"],"rule":"Keep the name geographic rather than a claim about present safety.","hook":"A crater village names its streets after colors found in the old lava stone.","description":"Keep the name geographic rather than a claim about present safety. Start with ember, russet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Feature and surrounding community","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A remembered material","words":["Cinder","Russet"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A visible form","words":["Cone","Rim"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A settlement custom","words":["Bell","Market"]}],"brief":"Separate the peak, crater, and community below it. Choose a material or custom that residents can point to, and leave activity or safety conditions to the story’s explicit facts rather than the name’s mood.","pitfall":"Avoid treating a gentle-sounding name as evidence of safety.","surface":"a regional map, a village introduction, and a stone label","story":"A child follows the street sequence named after local stone colors and discovers one color missing from the public square. A mason explains that the absent stone was used in a repaired bell tower. The settlement name remains distinct from the mountain and crater labels on the map. The naming pattern gives the search a fair structure without treating a gentle title as a claim about safety or volcanic activity."}},{"slug":"kingdoms","label":"Kingdoms","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"koenigreiche","stems":["Alder","Laurel","Copper","Seven"],"ends":["Realm","Crown","Marches","Kingdom"],"rule":"Keep the territory’s name distinct from its ruling family.","hook":"A kingdom’s borders are redrawn by a yearly survey of shared public wells.","description":"Keep the territory’s name distinct from its ruling family. Start with alder, laurel, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Territory and public promise","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared resource","words":["Well","Orchard"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A ruling claim","words":["Crown","Laurel"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A boundary practice","words":["Bridge","March"]}],"brief":"Keep the territory’s name separate from the current ruling family. A shared resource or administrative custom can give the realm continuity when the ruler changes, while an official title may express an aspiration that residents contest.","pitfall":"Avoid assuming the realm’s official name describes unanimous loyalty.","surface":"an atlas heading, a decree, and a traveler’s account","story":"A well survey places one village on the other side of a proposed administrative boundary. Residents bring records showing that both sides have maintained the same water source for years. The realm’s official name stays on the survey, while local names preserve the shared practice. A public title now expresses a political claim rather than an unquestioned description of what every person believes."}},{"slug":"empires","label":"Empires","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"imperien","stems":["Glass","Amber","Far","Laurel"],"ends":["Empire","Dominion","Concord","Reach"],"rule":"Make official self-description different from every neighbor’s opinion.","hook":"An empire maintains roads to provinces that no longer recognize its calendar.","description":"Make official self-description different from every neighbor’s opinion. Start with glass, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Official name and outside account","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A public infrastructure","words":["Road","Relay"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A ceremonial claim","words":["Laurel","Grand"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A contested reach","words":["Far","Margin"]}],"brief":"Design an official self-description and an understandable external reference. Roads, calendars, and administrative habits can connect far places without making every resident or province share one attitude toward the imperial name.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting a political claim as a neutral geographic fact.","surface":"a proclamation, an outside atlas, and a provincial letter","story":"A road crew reaches a province whose calendar labels the date differently from the official repair order. The route itself is still used by both communities. A milestone preserves the imperial name, while the local notice records a separate public identity. The characters must coordinate a practical task before settling the wording, allowing a broad political label to coexist with different experiences of the same infrastructure."}},{"slug":"provinces","label":"Provinces","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"provinzen","stems":["Orchard","Upper","Copper","Reed"],"ends":["Province","March","District","Shire"],"rule":"Use one administrative naming rule consistently across a map.","hook":"A province is responsible for a bridge that sits outside all of its official borders.","description":"Use one administrative naming rule consistently across a map. Start with orchard, upper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Administrative naming logic","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A geographic division","words":["Upper","Reed"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A working district","words":["Mill","Orchard"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A revised survey","words":["Line","New"]}],"brief":"Choose a naming rule that can be applied consistently across several neighboring districts. Record exceptions explicitly, and distinguish the administrative name from a town, landscape, or older local region that overlaps its borders.","pitfall":"Avoid using the same word for province and capital without a qualifier.","surface":"a boundary map, a civic address, and an administrative heading","story":"A bridge inspection is delayed because neither neighboring office believes the crossing lies inside its boundary. The old maintenance ledger names the province by a retired survey term. A new map adds that term as a linked historical label instead of silently replacing it. The immediate problem becomes shared responsibility, and the administrative name remains distinguishable from the town and river that happen to overlap its borders."}},{"slug":"borderlands","label":"Borderlands","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"grenzlande","stems":["Thistle","Outer","Amber","Willow"],"ends":["March","Frontier","Verge","Border"],"rule":"Name the people and exchanges that make a boundary inhabited.","hook":"Two border towns share one postbox and disagree about which day it is emptied.","description":"Name the people and exchanges that make a boundary inhabited. Start with thistle, outer, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"People who cross the boundary","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared service","words":["Post","Bridge"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A changing agreement","words":["Accord","Open"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local exchange","words":["Market","Reed"]}],"brief":"Name the inhabited exchanges that make a boundary meaningful. A shared postbox, market, or maintenance duty gives the place an identity beyond its position relative to a distant center or a single political viewpoint.","pitfall":"Avoid describing residents only as obstacles between larger powers.","surface":"a crossing notice, a market direction, and a border map","story":"The shared postbox contains two notices announcing different collection days. Residents realize that each town has used its own calendar convention. A new public card gives both forms and one unambiguous next appointment. The place’s collective name grows from that service rather than from a distant ruler’s idea of the frontier, making the boundary a lived relationship instead of an empty line on a map."}},{"slug":"continents","label":"Continents","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"kontinente","stems":["Avera","Orren","Tessara","Veylan"],"ends":["Reach","Land","Span","Main"],"rule":"Explain whose language supplied a map-wide label.","hook":"A continent is known by three names that each describe a different coastline.","description":"Explain whose language supplied a map-wide label. Start with avera, orren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Whose large-scale label","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A coastline account","words":["Shore","Span"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An inherited atlas","words":["Old","Main"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A later contact name","words":["Open","Reach"]}],"brief":"Decide who produced the map and how its large-scale label became legible to the audience. Different coastlines or language communities can retain their own names; a short explanatory link keeps that plurality readable.","pitfall":"Avoid implying one invented label is everyone’s original self-description.","surface":"a world atlas, a map legend, and an introductory narration","story":"An atlas arrives with a new cover label, but the coastline chapters retain three older continental names. A teacher asks the class to identify who wrote each account before choosing a public map legend. The resulting note connects the names without declaring one community’s form the only legitimate original. A large-scale label becomes readable through viewpoint, while local geography stays available for the actual journey."}},{"slug":"planets","label":"Planets","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"planeten","stems":["Vela","Orin","Tessa","Calder"],"ends":["Prime","Minor","Blue","Amber"],"rule":"Separate a survey designation from a settled world’s own name.","hook":"A planet’s settlers keep the survey nickname because the official dedication never arrived.","description":"Separate a survey designation from a settled world’s own name. Start with vela, orin, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Survey code and settled identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A survey designation","words":["Prime","Array"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A local nickname","words":["Orchard","Home"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A revised dedication","words":["New","Open"]}],"brief":"Separate the stable survey identifier from the name residents actually use. A dedication, local nickname, and orbital reference can coexist if the interface distinguishes those fields and the arrival scene connects the personal and technical forms.","pitfall":"Avoid turning an invented planet name into a scientific claim.","surface":"a navigation screen, a settlement address, and an arrival announcement","story":"A settlement receives its long-delayed dedication plaque after residents have used the survey nickname for an entire generation. The arrival clerk adds the new formal title to the register but keeps the familiar name on the boarding display. A visitor learns both in one exchange. The naming difference can then reveal a changing relationship with the sponsor instead of turning technical identification into a confusing contest of labels."}},{"slug":"moons","label":"Moons","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"monde","stems":["Nacre","Ember","Thimble","Orla"],"ends":["One","Drift","Companion","Arc"],"rule":"Keep orbital order and poetic names easy to cross-reference.","hook":"A moon is named after a lullaby whose composer never saw the sky.","description":"Keep orbital order and poetic names easy to cross-reference. Start with nacre, ember, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Orbital reference and familiar name","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A visible appearance","words":["Nacre","Arc"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered song","words":["Note","Silver"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local relationship","words":["Companion","Home"]}],"brief":"Give a technical reference and a poetic name different jobs. The everyday form may come from a song or shared view, while orbital order belongs in a separate field that does not change whenever the nickname changes.","pitfall":"Avoid creating several nearly identical names for neighboring moons.","surface":"an orbital diagram, a local saying, and a navigation list","story":"An old recording supplies the lullaby behind the moon’s familiar name, but the composer’s notes call it a different number. A school diagram links the orbital reference to the song name without treating them as interchangeable fields. The story can ask why the composer never saw the sky, while the audience still knows which moon appears above the station window."}},{"slug":"star-systems","label":"Star systems","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"sternsysteme","stems":["Lumen","Vela","Copper","Orison"],"ends":["Array","System","Reach","Cluster"],"rule":"Use a consistent naming order for star, station, and orbit.","hook":"A navigation chart lists an extra orbit that appears only in handwritten copies.","description":"Use a consistent naming order for star, station, and orbit. Start with lumen, vela, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A consistent navigation hierarchy","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An observation record","words":["Array","Lumen"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared route","words":["Relay","Reach"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A settled convention","words":["Orbit","Anchor"]}],"brief":"Set the order for system, star, planet, and station before choosing decorative words. A stable hierarchy allows a short name to remain distinctive without forcing the audience to remember an unintroduced chain of similar identifiers.","pitfall":"Avoid a system name that looks like one station’s docking code.","surface":"a navigation list, a route map, and a radio introduction","story":"A handwritten chart adds an extra orbit that the station’s catalog does not list. A pilot first checks whether the annotation is a station name, a planet label, or the system heading. The naming hierarchy eliminates those easy misunderstandings before the mystery continues. Stable technical fields and a separate public name let the reader investigate the chart rather than merely decode inconsistent labels."}},{"slug":"galaxies","label":"Galaxies","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"galaxien","stems":["Lantern","Spindle","Paper","Amber"],"ends":["Spiral","Wheel","Arc","Cloud"],"rule":"Choose a distant visual metaphor without inventing scientific facts.","hook":"An observatory changes its name for a galaxy after finding an old child’s drawing.","description":"Choose a distant visual metaphor without inventing scientific facts. Start with lantern, spindle, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A distant visual metaphor","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A visible shape","words":["Spiral","Wheel"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An observer’s image","words":["Lantern","Spindle"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An inherited catalog","words":["Index","Cloud"]}],"brief":"Choose a visual metaphor and identify whose observation established it in the fiction. A catalog reference can remain separate from the public name, preserving a readable identity without claiming actual astronomical discovery or measurement.","pitfall":"Avoid using technical-looking numbers as a claim of real observation.","surface":"an observatory note, a fictional catalog, and an atlas heading","story":"A child’s drawing contains the same unusual curve as the observatory’s oldest sketch. The public name changes, but the catalog reference remains stable in the archive. A short exhibition note connects both forms and explains whose metaphor the new wording preserves. The scene offers an invented history of recognition without claiming that a naming tool has identified a real astronomical object or supplied scientific measurements."}},{"slug":"space-stations","label":"Space stations","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"raumstationen","stems":["Relay","Amber","Lantern","Spindle"],"ends":["Station","Hub","Anchor","Platform"],"rule":"Make the short radio form different from nearby docking codes.","hook":"A station’s public garden receives sunlight from a mirror nobody admits to adjusting.","description":"Make the short radio form different from nearby docking codes. Start with relay, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Function and radio clarity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A transfer role","words":["Relay","Hub"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public landmark","words":["Garden","Lantern"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A maintenance history","words":["Spindle","Brace"]}],"brief":"Name the station’s function and its recognizable shared space separately. Keep the short radio form distinct from vessel names, berth codes, and emergency language; use the longer form only where the display has room.","pitfall":"Avoid naming every stop with the same generic orbital prefix.","surface":"a route manifest, a docking announcement, and a public directory","story":"The public garden receives an extra hour of light after an unrecorded mirror adjustment. Maintenance staff use a short working name for the station, while the announcement uses its full service designation. A visitor connects them on the route board before asking who tends the garden. The ordinary benefit gives the station an identity beyond a code and keeps the vessel names on the same manifest distinct."}},{"slug":"colonies","label":"Colonies","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"kolonien","stems":["Seed","Far","Willow","New"],"ends":["Landing","Haven","Outpost","Settlement"],"rule":"Show a settlement’s own identity instead of only its sponsor’s ambitions.","hook":"A remote settlement debates whether to rename the square that never received its statue.","description":"Show a settlement’s own identity instead of only its sponsor’s ambitions. Start with seed, far, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A community’s chosen identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A founding promise","words":["Seed","Open"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A local landmark","words":["Willow","Landing"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changed relationship","words":["New","Home"]}],"brief":"Distinguish a community’s self-chosen name from the designation used by its sponsor. A local landmark or public decision gives residents agency, while a record of the former label can preserve the history of that relationship.","pitfall":"Avoid treating settlers as a single unanimous voice.","surface":"a public sign, a sponsor record, and a local address","story":"The square’s intended statue never arrives, but the empty plinth becomes a shared noticeboard. The sponsor’s formal settlement name stays on old shipping crates while residents choose a shorter public identity for the square. A dedication meeting records both without implying unanimous agreement. The name grows from an activity people control, preserving the community’s agency rather than defining it entirely through an outside institution."}},{"slug":"underwater-cities","label":"Underwater cities","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"unterwasserstaedte","stems":["Pearl","Glass","Reef","Quiet"],"ends":["Dome","Deep","Harbor","City"],"rule":"Choose a landmark that residents can perceive in their environment.","hook":"An underwater city’s oldest public clock measures currents instead of hours.","description":"Choose a landmark that residents can perceive in their environment. Start with pearl, glass, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A resident’s visible landmark","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared structure","words":["Dome","Glass"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A movement pattern","words":["Current","Reef"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A public service","words":["Bell","Harbor"]}],"brief":"Choose landmarks residents could perceive and use in everyday directions. A city name, dome label, and current route should not all be the same phrase; the fictional environment should explain which distinctions matter.","pitfall":"Avoid relying on surface-only imagery without an in-world explanation.","surface":"a civic map, a route announcement, and a visitor guide","story":"The public clock announces a strong current instead of an hour, confusing a surface visitor waiting for an appointment. A resident explains the city’s working schedule using the local name for the central dome. The formal city title remains on the visitor pass. Distinguishing those scales lets the story show how daily life works without making every unfamiliar word an unexplained piece of lore."}},{"slug":"treehouses","label":"Treehouses","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"baumhaeuser","stems":["Acorn","Finch","Little","Willow"],"ends":["Nest","Perch","Loft","Lookout"],"rule":"Connect the name to access, canopy, or a daily use.","hook":"A treetop reading room lends books by lowering them in an old picnic basket.","description":"Connect the name to access, canopy, or a daily use. Start with acorn, finch, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Canopy and daily use","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A reading space","words":["Page","Loft"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared lookout","words":["Finch","Perch"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A hidden entrance","words":["Acorn","Step"]}],"brief":"Choose a purpose and an approach that make the dwelling recognizable. A public nickname can point to a basket, landing, or reading room while a private household name stays out of ordinary directions.","pitfall":"Avoid a decorative height claim that says nothing about use.","surface":"a canopy map, a basket tag, and a visitor’s direction","story":"A book basket arrives at the wrong platform because two branches have inherited the same informal nickname. The reading-room keeper adds a visible landing mark and records the full household name separately. A visitor can now give directions without knowing who lives overhead. The revised name preserves the treehouse’s gentle social role while solving an ordinary access problem before a larger story begins."}},{"slug":"farms","label":"Farms","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"bauernhoefe","stems":["Clover","Fig","Amber","Orchard"],"ends":["Farm","Acres","Field","Homestead"],"rule":"Name a crop or landscape detail without claiming real certification.","hook":"A farm rotates its entrance sign to match the crop growing behind it.","description":"Name a crop or landscape detail without claiming real certification. Start with clover, fig, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Crop and household identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A planted landscape","words":["Clover","Fig"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A working routine","words":["Morning","Field"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An inherited place","words":["Old","Hearth"]}],"brief":"Distinguish the farm’s place name from the household surname and any fictional product label. A crop or daily routine can explain the identity without implying a real certification, commercial operation, or verified agricultural claim.","pitfall":"Avoid unsupported organic, health, or sustainability certifications.","surface":"a gate sign, a delivery address, and an imagined produce label","story":"The entrance sign is turned to show the current crop, but an important letter still uses the old orchard name. A family member suggests replacing the sign permanently; another wants the earlier name retained on the address line. They choose a stable farm identity and a separate seasonal label. The distinction gives a fictional agricultural place continuity without inventing real certifications or promising anything about its produce."}},{"slug":"gardens","label":"Gardens","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"gaerten","stems":["Apricot","Quiet","Willow","Paper"],"ends":["Garden","Close","Terrace","Plot"],"rule":"Pick one organizing idea visitors can notice on a walk.","hook":"A public garden labels every plant with a question contributed by a neighbor.","description":"Pick one organizing idea visitors can notice on a walk. Start with apricot, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The organizing idea of a walk","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A seasonal sequence","words":["Bloom","Spring"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public conversation","words":["Question","Open"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered planting","words":["Willow","Keep"]}],"brief":"Choose one organizing idea that a visitor can notice while walking. A garden’s full dedication can sit on a plaque, while ordinary directions use a shorter form connected to a visible path, bed, or terrace.","pitfall":"Avoid requiring a long backstory before the first landmark makes sense.","surface":"a path sign, a planting label, and a community notice","story":"A visitor follows the questions printed beside plants and realizes that two neighbors have answered each other across a path. The garden’s formal dedication appears at the entrance, while the community uses a shorter meeting-place name. A new planting leaves one label blank for another reply. The name now identifies a public conversation as well as a landscape, giving a small recurring practice room to shape the story."}},{"slug":"bridges","label":"Bridges","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"bruecken","stems":["Heron","Copper","Seven","Little"],"ends":["Bridge","Span","Arch","Crossing"],"rule":"Make the crossing’s nickname useful for giving directions.","hook":"A bridge has two dedication plaques that credit people from opposite banks.","description":"Make the crossing’s nickname useful for giving directions. Start with heron, copper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A crossing with two viewpoints","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A useful landmark","words":["Arch","Heron"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared obligation","words":["Accord","Keep"]},{"id":"f3","label":"Two local names","words":["Bank","Second"]}],"brief":"Design the practical name first, then decide whether the two banks agree on it. A repair tradition or paired dedication can carry the disagreement without making the crossing hard to locate in a quest or timetable.","pitfall":"Avoid two unrelated labels with no explicit connection in the story.","surface":"a road direction, a dedication plaque, and a map icon label","story":"A repair exposes a second dedication plaque beneath the first, crediting a worker from the opposite bank. The timetable uses one practical crossing name, so neither side needs to lose a useful direction. A public note links the two commemorative titles to that stable name. The next meeting can concern recognition and maintenance, while a player trying to cross the river receives clear instructions."}},{"slug":"roads","label":"Roads","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"strassen","stems":["Orchard","Old","Lantern","Willow"],"ends":["Road","Lane","Way","Walk"],"rule":"Check the name on a short directional sign.","hook":"A road’s milestones count the distance to a town that moved uphill generations ago.","description":"Check the name on a short directional sign. Start with orchard, old, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Destination and remembered use","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An everyday journey","words":["Market","Orchard"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A former destination","words":["Old","Return"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A maintenance custom","words":["Lantern","Stone"]}],"brief":"Name the route at the level used by residents, not only by an atlas. A former destination may survive in the wording, but the player needs one visible explanation before the old name becomes essential to navigation.","pitfall":"Avoid giving every nearby lane the same first noun.","surface":"a short directional sign, a milestone, and an address","story":"The milestones count down to a town that moved uphill after a flood in the fictional past. A traveler assumes they are walking the wrong way until a resident points out the old market foundation. The current map names the route plainly and retains the former destination as a note. A road name becomes a record of use, while the journey itself remains understandable without a history lesson at every turning."}},{"slug":"markets","label":"Markets","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"marktplaetze","stems":["Copper","Morning","Fig","Canal"],"ends":["Market","Exchange","Square","Bazaar"],"rule":"Name a trading rhythm or meeting place instead of a vague promise.","hook":"A market reserves one empty stall for ideas that are not ready to sell.","description":"Name a trading rhythm or meeting place instead of a vague promise. Start with copper, morning, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Why people gather","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A trading rhythm","words":["Morning","First"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A material exchange","words":["Copper","Canvas"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared meeting place","words":["Canal","Open"]}],"brief":"Choose a rhythm, material, or meeting place that can be observed in a scene. Distinguish the square, the regular event, and the institution managing it so a character can ask for directions without ambiguity.","pitfall":"Avoid vague prestige claims that replace a concrete trading identity.","surface":"a market notice, a stall receipt, and a street direction","story":"An empty stall receives applications for ideas that are not ready to sell, including a map with half its streets unnamed. The market clerk gives the event a short public name and keeps its managing association separate on the notices. A regular customer remembers the square’s former use. That layered identity supports a meeting scene without replacing concrete trading activity with a vague claim of prestige."}},{"slug":"cemeteries","label":"Cemeteries","group":1,"category":"Worlds & places","legacy":"friedhoefe","stems":["Willow","Quiet","Heather","Lantern"],"ends":["Garden","Rest","Ground","Field"],"rule":"Use respectful language centered on remembrance.","hook":"A memorial garden keeps a map of trees planted by visitors who return each spring.","description":"Use respectful language centered on remembrance. Start with willow, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Respectful remembrance","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared landscape","words":["Willow","Heather"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A visitor practice","words":["Lantern","Tree"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A quiet record","words":["Name","Memory"]}],"brief":"Use a respectful place identity centered on remembrance and the people who maintain it. A garden, planting practice, or record can explain the name without making loss into a decorative mystery or sensational claim.","pitfall":"Avoid treating grief as a generic dramatic effect.","surface":"a visitor map, a memorial plaque, and a quiet direction","story":"A returning visitor cannot find the tree they helped plant because a path has been rerouted. The caretaker keeps the old location reference in the memorial record and adds a clear public direction to the new route. A respectful garden name stays distinct from individual dedication labels. The scene makes remembrance and practical care visible, without treating loss as a decorative mystery or promising a universal emotional response."}},{"slug":"swords","label":"Swords","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"schwerter","stems":["Copper","Quiet","Glass","Last"],"ends":["Edge","Oath","Refrain","Measure"],"rule":"Give the fictional blade a history without describing real use.","hook":"A ceremonial sword is valued because its owner used it to cut a festival ribbon.","description":"Give the fictional blade a history without describing real use. Start with copper, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What the name records","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A ceremonial role","words":["Ribbon","Laurel"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A maker’s signature","words":["Rivet","Measure"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered promise","words":["Vow","Keep"]}],"brief":"Separate the plain object type from an individual title and any later legend. A repaired grip, ceremonial use, or inscription can explain the name without describing real combat technique or promising extraordinary performance.","pitfall":"Avoid making every ordinary blade sound like a world-ending relic.","surface":"an inventory row, a maker mark, and a fictional inscription","story":"The ceremonial ribbon is preserved beside the object, but the inventory label still claims a much grander history. A curator asks the former owner what should be printed on the new card. They choose a modest short name and record the ceremony separately. The repaired label gives the object a specific place in public memory without turning its fictional title into a claim about real performance."}},{"slug":"axes","label":"Axes","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"aexte","stems":["Alder","Cinder","Rain","Brass"],"ends":["Notch","Edge","Mark","Split"],"rule":"Let a maker’s mark distinguish it from nearby equipment.","hook":"An inherited tool bears a mark that matches an unfinished guild sign.","description":"Let a maker’s mark distinguish it from nearby equipment. Start with alder, cinder, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Tool, prop, or keepsake","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A workshop mark","words":["Notch","Brace"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An inherited object","words":["Old","Memory"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A stage identity","words":["Paint","Mask"]}],"brief":"Decide whether the fictional object is a tool, a theatrical prop, or a personal keepsake. A name tied to a visible mark can carry history while the ordinary description continues to identify the object clearly.","pitfall":"Avoid turning the name into construction or injury guidance.","surface":"a workshop list, a prop label, and a family account","story":"The inherited mark matches a guild sign that was never completed. A young maker wants to finish the sign in the original owner’s name, while the family remembers why the commission stopped. The object keeps its plain type label on the tool rack. A separate personal title grows from the decision to acknowledge both the work accomplished and the disagreement that remains."}},{"slug":"bows","label":"Bows","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"boegen","stems":["Willow","Amber","Reed","Silver"],"ends":["Arc","Song","String","Bend"],"rule":"Prefer a material or maker over exaggerated performance claims.","hook":"A bow’s old nickname survives after every original component has been replaced.","description":"Prefer a material or maker over exaggerated performance claims. Start with willow, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The identity that survives repair","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A material","words":["Willow","Reed"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A maker","words":["Mark","Spindle"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered owner","words":["Return","Keep"]}],"brief":"Choose which part of the identity survives replacement of components. A maker’s name, recorded journey, or customary title may stay even when the object changes, creating a useful distinction between a label and its material.","pitfall":"Avoid unsupported claims about real range, strength, or effectiveness.","surface":"an equipment list, a repair tag, and a fictional provenance note","story":"An owner brings the object for a final repair and realizes that none of its earliest components remain. The maker asks whether the familiar name should change with the material. An old travel tag supplies the answer: the title commemorates a return, not a particular piece of wood. The inventory can keep the short form while the repair record explains how continuity is being understood."}},{"slug":"crossbows","label":"Crossbows","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"armbrueste","stems":["Brass","Slate","Quiet","Copper"],"ends":["Frame","Crank","Brace","Lock"],"rule":"Keep the description about fictional prop identity rather than construction.","hook":"A museum prop has two inventory names and neither matches its display label.","description":"Keep the description about fictional prop identity rather than construction. Start with brass, slate, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A readable fictional prop","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A workshop series","words":["Brace","Frame"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A collection label","words":["Index","Slate"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An inherited nickname","words":["Second","Keep"]}],"brief":"Keep the imagined object’s identity separate from technical specifications. A workshop series and a collector’s nickname can disagree in an interesting way, while a plain type label stops the inventory becoming a guessing exercise.","pitfall":"Avoid real construction details, modifications, or performance advice.","surface":"an inventory entry, a museum label, and a prop register","story":"A collection register lists the theatrical prop under a technical-sounding title that no production ever used. The stage manager recognizes a painted repair and produces an old program with a shorter nickname. Both names are linked on a revised label. The mystery concerns the object’s journey between theater and museum, without requiring construction details or claims that the fictional device has real capabilities."}},{"slug":"daggers","label":"Daggers","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"dolche","stems":["Paper","Small","Silver","Velvet"],"ends":["Point","Whisper","Margin","Seal"],"rule":"Name a story association without celebrating real violence.","hook":"A stage dagger is the only surviving object from a theater’s missing final act.","description":"Name a story association without celebrating real violence. Start with paper, small, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The story attached to a prop","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A theater history","words":["Velvet","Mask"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A disputed label","words":["Margin","Seal"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A ceremonial role","words":["Ribbon","Laurel"]}],"brief":"Focus on provenance, performance, or a fictional social custom. A title can recall an unfinished play or disputed collection record without celebrating real violence or obscuring what kind of prop the scene contains.","pitfall":"Avoid treating an ominous adjective as a complete backstory.","surface":"a stage inventory, a collection tag, and a mystery clue","story":"A rehearsal photograph shows the prop in the hands of a performer absent from the surviving cast list. The inventory name points to the play’s final scene, but a handwritten note uses the performer’s nickname. The archivist records both references before searching for the missing act. A restrained title preserves a question about authorship and memory rather than treating a threatening sound as the whole story."}},{"slug":"spears","label":"Spears","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"speere","stems":["Reed","Long","Dawn","Heron"],"ends":["Reach","Standard","Line","Point"],"rule":"Check whether it is a personal keepsake or a unit’s shared symbol.","hook":"A ceremonial spear carries ribbons from every town visited by its bearer.","description":"Check whether it is a personal keepsake or a unit’s shared symbol. Start with reed, long, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Personal object and shared symbol","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A ceremonial banner","words":["Standard","Ribbon"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A maker’s mark","words":["Reed","Measure"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered route","words":["Road","Return"]}],"brief":"Distinguish a personal keepsake from a shared standard or ceremonial object. A name can record a town, journey, or donation while the surrounding description provides the ordinary type and the fictional social role.","pitfall":"Avoid offering real handling or tactical instruction.","surface":"a ceremonial program, an equipment list, and a travel account","story":"A ribbon from one town has been sewn underneath another, leaving only a few letters visible. A ceremony organizer proposes replacing both with a new official title. The bearer instead adds a small account of each stop to the program. The object’s short working name remains clear in the equipment list, while the longer commemorative form records relationships rather than an unearned claim of grandeur."}},{"slug":"hammers","label":"Hammers","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"haemmer","stems":["Copper","Brass","Stone","Little"],"ends":["Knock","Measure","Chime","Tap"],"rule":"Use an audible or visible detail that fits a maker’s story.","hook":"A clockmaker’s hammer produces the same note as the town hall bell.","description":"Use an audible or visible detail that fits a maker’s story. Start with copper, brass, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The sound of a workshop","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A measured task","words":["Measure","Tap"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered note","words":["Bell","Chime"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A maker’s signature","words":["Copper","Mark"]}],"brief":"Choose a task, sound, or maker’s convention that distinguishes the item from nearby tools. A public nickname can arise from a repair story, while a workbench label remains short enough to retrieve during ordinary use.","pitfall":"Avoid exaggerated claims about real manufacturing capabilities.","surface":"a tool tray label, a commission record, and a repair scene","story":"The clockmaker hears the familiar note in a bell repaired by somebody else. A new apprentice assumes the shared sound proves common authorship, but the maker’s marks disagree. The workbench nickname remains tied to the sound, while the commission ledger credits the actual work separately. The name can suggest a connection without pretending that a pleasant association establishes provenance or technical identity."}},{"slug":"staves","label":"Staves","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"staebe","stems":["Alder","Cloud","Quiet","Silver"],"ends":["Staff","Branch","Line","Reed"],"rule":"Keep the magical function understandable in a single phrase.","hook":"A walking staff records each bridge crossed as a new ring in its wood.","description":"Keep the magical function understandable in a single phrase. Start with alder, cloud, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The walking object and its history","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A traveled route","words":["Bridge","Path"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered promise","words":["Vow","Root"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A narrow magic","words":["Window","Echo"]}],"brief":"Define the ordinary object and one imagined behavior before choosing its title. A walking aid, ceremonial staff, and magical instrument may share a shape but should have distinguishable names and explanations in the project.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting fictional effects as real spiritual or medical benefits.","surface":"an inventory row, a journey note, and an inscription","story":"A new ring appears in the wood after a bridge crossing that the traveler insists never happened. The walking staff has an ordinary inventory name, but an inscription gives a longer title that a local ferryman recognizes. Linking the two names makes the encounter clear. The next scene can ask what counts as a crossing, allowing an imagined behavior to carry the mystery rather than an endless list of powers."}},{"slug":"shields","label":"Shields","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"schilde","stems":["Amber","Round","Laurel","Painted"],"ends":["Guard","Promise","Wall","Welcome"],"rule":"Consider what symbol its owner wants other people to see.","hook":"A shield’s painted garden is repainted each year to match a courtyard at home.","description":"Consider what symbol its owner wants other people to see. Start with amber, round, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What the owner wants seen","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A community symbol","words":["Garden","Hearth"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public promise","words":["Vow","Gate"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A repair history","words":["Patch","Brace"]}],"brief":"Name the visible emblem or social obligation rather than an abstract level of protection. A repaired surface or annually repainted image can explain an individual identity while the plain equipment type remains available.","pitfall":"Avoid implying tested real-world protective performance.","surface":"an equipment list, a painted emblem, and a public ceremony","story":"The painted garden no longer matches the courtyard at home because a public path has replaced the oldest flowerbed. The owner hesitates between restoring the old image and acknowledging the new route. A short inventory name remains unchanged while a small repaint records the decision. The title can then hold a relationship with home without implying that the equipment has any verified protective property."}},{"slug":"armor","label":"Armor","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"ruestungen","stems":["Copper","Canvas","Slate","Dawn"],"ends":["Mantle","Plate","Shell","Weave"],"rule":"Distinguish the whole set from individual pieces in an inventory.","hook":"A ceremonial suit is assembled from donations made by different city trades.","description":"Distinguish the whole set from individual pieces in an inventory. Start with copper, canvas, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Set and individual component","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A workshop series","words":["Rivet","Canvas"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A civic commission","words":["Accord","Laurel"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered repair","words":["Patch","Keep"]}],"brief":"Separate a complete set’s title from the names of its components. A consistent maker or commission reference helps the pieces belong together without making every inventory row repeat an elaborate legend.","pitfall":"Avoid names that imply unverified real protective certification.","surface":"an inventory set, a component label, and a commission note","story":"The ceremonial set arrives with one component carrying a different workshop mark. A clerk wants to standardize every label, but the commission record shows that several trades donated distinct parts. The full set receives a shared public name, while each component retains a plain functional identity. The naming hierarchy lets the story celebrate cooperation without making the inventory an unreadable repetition of one long title."}},{"slug":"helmets","label":"Helmets","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"helme","stems":["Brass","Heron","Cloud","Amber"],"ends":["Crest","Crown","Visor","Cap"],"rule":"Choose a silhouette that remains identifiable in a small icon.","hook":"A helmet’s crest folds down so its owner can enter a tiny village library.","description":"Choose a silhouette that remains identifiable in a small icon. Start with brass, heron, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Silhouette and display size","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A recognizable crest","words":["Heron","Cloud"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An ordinary issue","words":["Mark","Slate"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A ceremonial adaptation","words":["Fold","Laurel"]}],"brief":"Choose a silhouette or marking that remains identifiable in a small icon. A ceremonial title can be longer than a practical equipment label, but the interface should make their relationship clear before a player chooses between similar items.","pitfall":"Avoid a decorative name that hides the ordinary item type.","surface":"a small icon label, an equipment row, and a ceremonial description","story":"The folding crest allows the owner to enter the village library without removing the ceremonial headpiece. A child remembers the visit through that ordinary accommodation rather than the formal title on the procession list. The inventory uses a short form based on the visible crest; a longer description preserves the ceremony. A practical scene gives the name a silhouette and a social meaning at the same time."}},{"slug":"boots","label":"Boots","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"stiefel","stems":["Willow","Wayward","Quiet","Cloud"],"ends":["Step","Stride","Sole","Trail"],"rule":"Give the pair a nickname that reads naturally beside a description.","hook":"A traveler’s boots always collect dust from a road they have not walked yet.","description":"Give the pair a nickname that reads naturally beside a description. Start with willow, wayward, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An everyday name with a journey","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A route memory","words":["Trail","Detour"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A repair signature","words":["Stitch","Patch"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An imagined condition","words":["Cloud","Quiet"]}],"brief":"Give the pair a name an owner could naturally repeat. A repaired sole, recurring journey, or narrowly defined fictional behavior can support the nickname without turning ordinary equipment into an unexplained pile of powers.","pitfall":"Avoid claims of real health, protection, or athletic performance.","surface":"an inventory row, a repair receipt, and a travel scene","story":"Dust from the next town appears on the soles before the traveler changes route. A companion treats the name as a promise of a shortcut, but the owner knows the pair has sometimes led toward unfinished errands instead. The short inventory label stays plain. A longer anecdote explains the nickname’s uncertainty, preventing an evocative title from being mistaken for a rule the story has not established."}},{"slug":"gloves","label":"Gloves","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"handschuhe","stems":["Ink","Soft","Silver","Amber"],"ends":["Touch","Stitch","Grip","Thread"],"rule":"Anchor the name in craft or sensation rather than a vague power tier.","hook":"A pair of gloves lets a conservator feel the last page a closed book was opened to.","description":"Anchor the name in craft or sensation rather than a vague power tier. Start with ink, soft, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Craft, sensation, and limitation","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A working craft","words":["Ink","Stitch"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A narrow perception","words":["Page","Trace"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered owner","words":["Linen","Keep"]}],"brief":"Decide what the gloves help a fictional character notice or do, then state the limit. A title tied to a specific craft or remembered sensation is easier to distinguish than a generic superlative about power.","pitfall":"Avoid making imagined effects sound like real medical-device claims.","surface":"a conservator note, an inventory label, and an object description","story":"The conservator touches a closed book and senses a page associated with an old visitor. The effect identifies a remembered opening, not the truth of the text printed there. A revised collection label states that limitation beside the gloves’ short name. The scene makes the imagined perception useful without turning the item into a source of unquestionable testimony or a real medical-device claim."}},{"slug":"cloaks","label":"Cloaks","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"umhaenge","stems":["Rain","Heather","Cloud","Copper"],"ends":["Fold","Mantle","Veil","Hem"],"rule":"Try the name as something an owner would actually call a garment.","hook":"A cloak’s lining shows a different weather map whenever it is turned inside out.","description":"Try the name as something an owner would actually call a garment. Start with rain, heather, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Lining and public appearance","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A visible fabric","words":["Heather","Thread"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A concealed pattern","words":["Map","Window"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A familiar journey","words":["Rain","Return"]}],"brief":"Separate what a passerby sees from what the owner discovers in the lining. A restrained everyday name can take on a second meaning when the interior pattern appears, without requiring an oversized title in every dialogue line.","pitfall":"Avoid adding several unrelated magical effects to explain one name.","surface":"an equipment row, a tailor’s note, and a lining description","story":"The lining shows clear weather over a place the wearer has never visited, while the outer cloth remains soaked from the local rain. A tailor recognizes a stitch in the map border and asks who last repaired it. The ordinary garment name remains on the inventory row. A separate formal title can preserve the journey once the story establishes what the changing map actually means."}},{"slug":"rings","label":"Rings","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"ringe","stems":["Amber","Small","Silver","Laurel"],"ends":["Loop","Promise","Circle","Band"],"rule":"Name the relationship or constraint instead of only the jewel.","hook":"A ring grows warm when its wearer remembers a promise they have already kept.","description":"Name the relationship or constraint instead of only the jewel. Start with amber, small, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The relationship being carried","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A freely made promise","words":["Vow","Open"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared memory","words":["Circle","Keep"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A visible repair","words":["Join","Silver"]}],"brief":"Choose the relationship, rule, or repair that gives the band its identity. Keep the invented behavior limited, and distinguish a personal nickname from the formal description a jeweler or archive would record.","pitfall":"Avoid promising real emotional, health, or supernatural outcomes.","surface":"a jewelry label, a personal letter, and an inscription","story":"The band grows warm during an apology for a promise the wearer has already kept. Another character assumes the object is judging sincerity, but an old letter suggests it responds to remembering rather than truth. The familiar short name stays appropriate while the description records the uncertainty. A narrowly defined imagined behavior makes the naming choice more useful than a sweeping promise about love or loyalty."}},{"slug":"amulets","label":"Amulets","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"amulette","stems":["Paper","Fig","Quiet","Glass"],"ends":["Token","Charm","Knot","Seal"],"rule":"Make the charm’s limitation part of its fictional identity.","hook":"An amulet finds lost keys but only to doors its owner once opened for someone else.","description":"Make the charm’s limitation part of its fictional identity. Start with paper, fig, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The charm’s precise boundary","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A lost ordinary object","words":["Key","Button"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A chosen promise","words":["Knot","Keep"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local belief","words":["Penny","Hearth"]}],"brief":"Define one fictional behavior and one request the charm cannot fulfill. The limitation gives a name something specific to suggest, while the description can distinguish an observed effect from what a character merely believes.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting an invented charm as a real guarantee.","surface":"an inventory entry, a shop explanation, and a refusal scene","story":"The charm points toward a key to a house the owner once opened for a stranger. A newer, more valuable key is ignored. The disappointed request teaches the rule before an inscription explains the old name. A short token label remains easy to find in the inventory, while the fuller form carries the personal account without promising any real protection or supernatural benefit."}},{"slug":"crowns","label":"Crowns","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"kronen","stems":["Copper","Orchard","Laurel","Paper"],"ends":["Crown","Circlet","Wreath","Diadem"],"rule":"Let the material say something about the institution.","hook":"A town elects a festival host who wears a crown woven from last year’s receipts.","description":"Let the material say something about the institution. Start with copper, orchard, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The institution behind the object","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A civic custom","words":["Paper","Receipt"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An inherited office","words":["Laurel","Seal"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A temporary role","words":["Ribbon","Day"]}],"brief":"Name the object through the office or ceremony that uses it. A temporary festival crown and an inherited regalia piece should not carry the same assumptions about ownership, authority, material, or who may wear them.","pitfall":"Avoid treating expensive materials as proof of legitimate authority.","surface":"a ceremony program, a collection label, and a public introduction","story":"A new festival host finds a receipt in the paper wreath for a repair that helped the whole square. The formal ceremony could replace it with an impressive dedication, but the host asks the maker to leave the receipt visible. The crown’s short name remains practical in the program. Its longer account recognizes an ordinary public contribution rather than suggesting that costly material establishes authority."}},{"slug":"artifacts","label":"Artifacts","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"artefakte","stems":["Glass","Amber","Quiet","Paper"],"ends":["Compass","Dial","Key","Spindle"],"rule":"Give the object one concrete behavior and one unanswered question.","hook":"A compass points toward the place where its holder last changed their mind.","description":"Give the object one concrete behavior and one unanswered question. Start with glass, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"One behavior and one question","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A directional rule","words":["Compass","Needle"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered moment","words":["Dial","Echo"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An unfinished task","words":["Key","Return"]}],"brief":"Choose one observable behavior, one limitation, and one unresolved question. A compact title should point toward the behavior while the description explains the boundary; the origin can remain uncertain until the story supplies evidence.","pitfall":"Avoid an artifact that can solve every problem on demand.","surface":"an inventory row, an inspection note, and a failed request","story":"The compass points away from a missing parcel toward a neighbor’s quiet doorway. The owner wants a universal finding instrument; the object instead recalls an unkept promise. A plain inventory type and a restrained personal title keep those expectations separate. The first failed request teaches a limitation, and the subsequent conversation gives the chosen name meaning through an action rather than a decorative explanation."}},{"slug":"relics","label":"Relics","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"relikte","stems":["Old","Silver","Willow","Little"],"ends":["Fragment","Seal","Button","Chime"],"rule":"Separate what characters believe from what the narration establishes.","hook":"A small bell is preserved because it is the only object mentioned in two rival histories.","description":"Separate what characters believe from what the narration establishes. Start with old, silver, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Evidence and belief","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A surviving fragment","words":["Piece","Trace"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered ceremony","words":["Bell","Seal"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A disputed account","words":["Margin","Second"]}],"brief":"Distinguish what the object visibly is from what characters say it once did. A collection label, private nickname, and old record can preserve different accounts without the narration pretending all are established facts.","pitfall":"Avoid claiming authenticity through age-sounding words alone.","surface":"an archive label, a witness account, and an ordinary object description","story":"Two rival histories both mention a small bell but disagree about who rang it. A collector wants a label endorsing one account, while the archivist can confirm only the shared object reference. The bell receives a modest title with both sources identified separately. The name preserves an important uncertainty, allowing the next scene to investigate a memory without treating age-sounding words as evidence of authenticity."}},{"slug":"talismans","label":"Talismans","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"talismane","stems":["Red","Willow","Brass","Soft"],"ends":["Knot","Token","Mark","Penny"],"rule":"Describe a fictional belief without promising a real benefit.","hook":"A caravan’s lucky token is a plain button sewn onto a new coat each spring.","description":"Describe a fictional belief without promising a real benefit. Start with red, willow, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A community’s invented belief","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A travel custom","words":["Knot","Road"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A household token","words":["Button","Hearth"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changed meaning","words":["Penny","Again"]}],"brief":"Choose an invented custom and the people who maintain it. A token’s meaning can change through use, so the name should show a relationship or event without asserting a real spiritual benefit, protection, or certainty.","pitfall":"Avoid treating fictional symbolism as a universal cultural meaning.","surface":"a traveler note, a household scene, and a token label","story":"A traveler loses the old button and finds a plain replacement sewn onto the next coat. Members of the caravan disagree about whether the object or the repeated act supplies the meaning. The token’s familiar name remains the same while the story shows the disagreement. A clearly fictional custom can support the title without claiming that the object guarantees protection in the real world."}},{"slug":"runes","label":"Runes","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"runen","stems":["Turning","Quiet","Amber","Open"],"ends":["Mark","Stroke","Sign","Line"],"rule":"Invent a consistent visual grammar and avoid claiming ancient authenticity.","hook":"A rune on a public gate changes shape whenever its town changes a law.","description":"Invent a consistent visual grammar and avoid claiming ancient authenticity. Start with turning, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The visual naming rule","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A repeated stroke","words":["Line","Mark"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A civic sign","words":["Gate","Seal"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changed instruction","words":["Turn","Open"]}],"brief":"Invent a small visual grammar and decide what readers in the story can infer from it. A rune’s spoken name, drawing label, and function should be linked deliberately rather than assembled from unrelated mystical adjectives.","pitfall":"Avoid claiming that invented marks are historically attested scripts.","surface":"a drawing caption, a fictional sign, and a puzzle note","story":"A public gate changes one stroke after a law is revised, but a visitor’s map preserves the earlier drawing. The caretaker keeps the spoken name and adds a dated note explaining the shape. The rune’s label, appearance, and civic function remain connected without being identical. The resulting puzzle concerns which rule a record describes, rather than borrowing authority from a real ancient script."}},{"slug":"spells","label":"Spells","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"zauber","stems":["Borrowed","Soft","Paper","Little"],"ends":["Dawn","Echo","Window","Light"],"rule":"Make the effect and its limit readable before adding poetic language.","hook":"A spell creates a window showing the weather at a friend’s location but never the friend.","description":"Make the effect and its limit readable before adding poetic language. Start with borrowed, soft, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Effect and readable limit","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A temporary view","words":["Window","Light"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A borrowed echo","words":["Echo","Return"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An ordinary assistance","words":["Page","Little"]}],"brief":"State the imagined effect in a plain sentence before selecting poetic wording. Give the spell an understandable limit and a short interface form, so the title invites interest while the description makes the interaction fair.","pitfall":"Avoid naming a broad power when the actual effect is narrow.","surface":"a spell menu, a dialogue request, and a fictional rule description","story":"A character opens the imagined window expecting to see a friend and finds only the weather over their neighborhood. The title had suggested connection, while the description had promised a much narrower view. A revised short label makes that boundary clear. The disappointment becomes a useful scene about what cannot be known at a distance, giving a restrained spell name more purpose than an unlimited claim of vision."}},{"slug":"curses","label":"Curses","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"flueche","stems":["Crooked","Last","Silver","Unfinished"],"ends":["Echo","Promise","Hour","Thread"],"rule":"Use a narrative complication rather than graphic punishment.","hook":"A fictional curse makes every unfinished letter return to its writer’s desk.","description":"Use a narrative complication rather than graphic punishment. Start with crooked, last, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The narrative complication","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An unfinished letter","words":["Ink","Again"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A repeated appointment","words":["Hour","Return"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A misplaced promise","words":["Thread","Vow"]}],"brief":"Use an invented complication that changes a character’s choices without needing graphic punishment. A repeated letter, appointment, or promise can give the name a distinctive rule that a reader can understand and test.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting the fictional name as a usable ritual.","surface":"a journal note, a mystery clue, and a rule explanation","story":"The writer burns a draft in the fiction, only to find a clean copy on the desk the next morning with the same unfinished final sentence. Completing a different letter does not end the recurrence. The journal’s short title identifies the phenomenon, while a longer name records the disputed promise behind it. The complication creates choices without relying on graphic punishment or presenting a usable real ritual."}},{"slug":"blessings","label":"Blessings","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"segen","stems":["Morning","Small","Kind","Open"],"ends":["Light","Path","Welcome","Measure"],"rule":"Present the effect as invented worldbuilding rather than a real spiritual claim.","hook":"A village blessing ensures every visitor can find one person willing to give directions.","description":"Present the effect as invented worldbuilding rather than a real spiritual claim. Start with morning, small, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A fictional everyday benefit","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A welcoming custom","words":["Door","Welcome"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A small assistance","words":["Step","Guide"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared remembrance","words":["Light","Keep"]}],"brief":"Choose a small, comprehensible benefit inside the invented world and identify who believes in or observes it. A social practice can support the title without making real spiritual, medical, or financial promises.","pitfall":"Avoid suggesting a generated phrase guarantees a real outcome.","surface":"a fictional ceremony note, a greeting, and a village custom","story":"A visitor follows the village custom and finds someone willing to offer directions, but receives three different suggestions. The imagined benefit supplies a willing guide rather than a guaranteed correct route. A public phrase remains on the welcome sign, while residents use an ordinary short name. The limitation makes the fictional custom believable and prevents a poetic title from becoming an absolute promise of success."}},{"slug":"potions","label":"Potions","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"traenke","stems":["Amber","Cloud","Willow","Silver"],"ends":["Drop","Draft","Swirl","Bottle"],"rule":"Keep ingredients and effects clearly imaginary rather than usable recipes.","hook":"An imaginary potion lets a character recall a color from a forgotten dream.","description":"Keep ingredients and effects clearly imaginary rather than usable recipes. Start with amber, cloud, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An imaginary effect","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A remembered color","words":["Dream","Amber"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A narrow perception","words":["Window","Echo"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changing appearance","words":["Swirl","Prism"]}],"brief":"Use an entirely fictional effect and keep its rule separate from the name. A bottle label should identify the imagined item clearly, while the story explains limits without supplying usable ingredients, doses, or preparation instructions.","pitfall":"Avoid turning a naming prompt into real ingestion advice.","surface":"an imagined bottle label, an inventory row, and a story description","story":"A character drinks an imaginary draft in a story and remembers a color from a forgotten dream, but not the dream’s people or events. A companion tries to infer more from the bottle’s title than its stated rule permits. A clearer label keeps the name evocative while the description preserves the limit. No real ingredients, doses, or preparation steps are needed for the naming exercise."}},{"slug":"elixirs","label":"Elixirs","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"elixiere","stems":["Apricot","Quiet","Glass","Morning"],"ends":["Gleam","Essence","Tonic","Dew"],"rule":"Avoid suggesting real health benefits in a fantasy item description.","hook":"An invented elixir makes ink briefly resemble the handwriting of its first reader.","description":"Avoid suggesting real health benefits in a fantasy item description. Start with apricot, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A careful fictional promise","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A writing effect","words":["Ink","Trace"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A dream association","words":["Dawn","Memory"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A visible transformation","words":["Gleam","Glass"]}],"brief":"Name an imagined effect that can be demonstrated in a story rather than a real health benefit. A restrained label and a precise description work better than borrowing the language of treatment or guaranteed improvement.","pitfall":"Avoid wellness, longevity, or treatment claims about real substances.","surface":"an invented product label, a journal note, and an item description","story":"The invented ink effect resembles the first reader’s handwriting, and a customer mistakes that resemblance for proof of authorship. The seller adds a plain explanation beside the poetic bottle name. A remembered signature now becomes a clue that must be interpreted with other evidence. The scene supports a specific fictional title while avoiding claims about treatment, longevity, real chemistry, or a verified practical preparation."}},{"slug":"poisons","label":"Fictional poisons","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"gifte","stems":["Velvet","Glass","Silent","Paper"],"ends":["Shade","Veil","Trace","Ink"],"rule":"Use non-actionable invented names with no ingredients, doses, or instructions.","hook":"A mystery writer needs a completely imaginary substance that erases ink rather than harming anyone.","description":"Use non-actionable invented names with no ingredients, doses, or instructions. Start with velvet, glass, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Non-actionable mystery fiction","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An erased record","words":["Ink","Margin"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A disappearing mark","words":["Trace","Veil"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A fictional puzzle","words":["Paper","Shade"]}],"brief":"Keep the substance fully invented and describe only its narrative role. A mystery can use erased ink or an altered record as its effect, allowing distinct names without ingredients, quantities, delivery methods, or real-world harm instructions.","pitfall":"Avoid resemblance that could be mistaken for a practical recipe.","surface":"a mystery clue, a fictional label, and a plot outline","story":"The mystery’s imaginary substance removes one line of ink but leaves the paper untouched. A suspect’s dramatic nickname for it makes the effect sound broader than the story actually allows. The investigator records a more precise working label and tests the missing line against another document. The plot uses an entirely invented, non-actionable mechanism, without describing harmful ingredients, quantities, administration, or real-world toxic effects."}},{"slug":"crystals","label":"Crystals","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"kristalle","stems":["Amber","Cloud","Prism","Quiet"],"ends":["Shard","Facet","Prism","Spire"],"rule":"Choose an optical property without claiming a real healing effect.","hook":"A crystal repeats the color of the last sunset seen by its holder.","description":"Choose an optical property without claiming a real healing effect. Start with amber, cloud, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Visible behavior in the fiction","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A retained color","words":["Prism","Sunset"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A repeated image","words":["Mirror","Facet"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changing light","words":["Cloud","Gleam"]}],"brief":"Choose an optical behavior or observed surface that distinguishes the crystal. The name can suggest an invented story function while a description explicitly avoids presenting the material as a real treatment, energy source, or verified mineral.","pitfall":"Avoid unsubstantiated healing or scientific claims.","surface":"a collection label, an inventory row, and a light description","story":"The crystal repeats the color of a sunset its current holder never witnessed. An earlier caretaker’s notebook offers one explanation, but a small painted mark suggests another. The collection label distinguishes the visible behavior from that speculation. The title can preserve an imagined optical association without pretending that a naming suggestion identifies a real mineral, creates a treatment, or proves an extraordinary scientific property."}},{"slug":"gems","label":"Gemstones","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"edelsteine","stems":["Apricot","Glass","Silver","Rain"],"ends":["Facet","Heart","Prism","Stone"],"rule":"Make invented trade names distinguishable from real mineral classifications.","hook":"A jeweler labels stones by the weather during which they were found.","description":"Make invented trade names distinguishable from real mineral classifications. Start with apricot, glass, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Trade nickname and classification","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A weather memory","words":["Rain","Amber"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A maker’s cut","words":["Facet","Measure"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A collector’s story","words":["Keep","Index"]}],"brief":"Separate an invented trade nickname from any real mineral classification. A weather record, cut, or ownership story gives the name a use in fiction without implying valuation, provenance certification, or scientific identification.","pitfall":"Avoid treating a poetic name as an authenticated gemstone category.","surface":"a fictional jeweler label, a collection card, and an inventory row","story":"A jeweler finds that the stone’s weather-based trade name refers to the day it was recorded, not the day it was found. A family has built a different story around the label. The new catalog keeps the familiar nickname and a separate factual note within the fiction. The distinction lets the story question provenance without presenting a poetic name as an authenticated mineral classification or valuation."}},{"slug":"ores","label":"Ores","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"erze","stems":["Copper","Slate","Ember","Pale"],"ends":["Vein","Stone","Ore","Seam"],"rule":"Distinguish an invented material from factual geology.","hook":"A fictional ore produces different colors in the surveyor’s notebook and on the shelf.","description":"Distinguish an invented material from factual geology. Start with copper, slate, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A fictional survey vocabulary","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A visible seam","words":["Copper","Vein"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A local nickname","words":["Slate","Old"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An imagined property","words":["Prism","Trace"]}],"brief":"Name the imagined material and its local survey context without claiming a real deposit or measured property. Keep a field nickname separate from a formal fictional catalog label if both appear in the story.","pitfall":"Avoid real extraction, identification, or safety instructions.","surface":"a survey notebook, a fictional sample label, and a world map","story":"A surveyor’s sketch shows a bright color absent from the sample on the shelf. The work ledger uses a local seam nickname, while a later catalog supplies a formal invented material name. A single index entry connects both. The unexplained difference can drive the fictional investigation without claiming a real deposit, measured material property, extraction method, or safety conclusion."}},{"slug":"alloys","label":"Alloys","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"legierungen","stems":["Brass","Cloud","Amber","Soft"],"ends":["Blend","Metal","Weave","Temper"],"rule":"Use invented properties without giving a real manufacturing recipe.","hook":"A fantasy alloy remembers the shape of the first mold it touched.","description":"Use invented properties without giving a real manufacturing recipe. Start with brass, cloud, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A material with an invented rule","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A remembered shape","words":["Mold","Return"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A maker series","words":["Blend","Mark"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A visible texture","words":["Weave","Cloud"]}],"brief":"Choose one fictional material behavior and the workshop convention used to name it. A readable trade label can be short, while a longer record explains the imagined constraint without providing a real manufacturing formula.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting invented properties as tested engineering data.","surface":"a workshop sample, a fictional specification heading, and an inventory label","story":"A repaired object returns to the shape of its first mold rather than the form its current owner requested. The workshop’s series name does not explain whose first impression the material remembers. A maker’s note supplies a narrower working description beside the title. The imagined behavior becomes a useful limitation without offering a real manufacturing formula or presenting fictional performance as tested engineering data."}},{"slug":"herbs","label":"Fictional herbs","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"kraeuter","stems":["Thimble","Copper","Lantern","Silver"],"ends":["Leaf","Sprig","Root","Bloom"],"rule":"Keep invented plants separate from botanical or medical advice.","hook":"A fictional herb folds its leaves when someone nearby tells the same story twice.","description":"Keep invented plants separate from botanical or medical advice. Start with thimble, copper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An invented plant identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A visible response","words":["Fold","Leaf"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A seasonal habit","words":["Dawn","Sprig"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local story","words":["Lantern","Root"]}],"brief":"Use a botanical-looking form only as invented worldbuilding and provide a visible behavior the story can show. A common nickname and an archive label may differ without implying real identification, edibility, or treatment value.","pitfall":"Avoid suggesting real medicinal uses or safe consumption.","surface":"an imagined herbarium label, a garden note, and an item description","story":"The invented plant folds its leaves when a gardener repeats a familiar story, but a visiting child gets a different response. The garden label names the visible habit rather than a claimed medical effect. A field note records the uncertainty and the speaker’s context. The scene gives an imaginary species a specific role without becoming a guide to real identification, edibility, treatment, or cultivation."}},{"slug":"mushrooms","label":"Fictional mushrooms","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"pilze","stems":["Paper","Amber","Cloud","Little"],"ends":["Cap","Shelf","Gill","Button"],"rule":"Avoid edible or poisonous identification claims about real fungi.","hook":"A storybook mushroom grows in neat circles around abandoned picnic blankets.","description":"Avoid edible or poisonous identification claims about real fungi. Start with paper, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A storybook growth pattern","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A circular gathering","words":["Ring","Button"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An abandoned object","words":["Paper","Picnic"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changing surface","words":["Cloud","Shelf"]}],"brief":"Choose a fictional growth pattern or visible context rather than borrowing a real identification claim. The name should help a reader recognize the imagined object while the surrounding text stays clear that it is not a foraging guide.","pitfall":"Avoid edible or poisonous identification of real fungi.","surface":"an invented field sketch, a garden scene, and a collection label","story":"The storybook ring grows around an abandoned picnic blanket even after the blanket is moved. A gardener names the patch from the remembered gathering, while a sketchbook uses a more formal invented label. A small note connects the names. The phenomenon can suggest memory or habit inside the fiction without telling a reader how to identify, consume, or judge the safety of real fungi."}},{"slug":"seeds","label":"Seeds","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"saatgut","stems":["Apricot","Silver","Willow","Little"],"ends":["Kernel","Promise","Seed","Pod"],"rule":"Name an imagined crop without making horticultural guarantees.","hook":"A packet of fictional seeds produces a plant shaped like its gardener’s favorite letter.","description":"Name an imagined crop without making horticultural guarantees. Start with apricot, silver, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The promise of an imagined crop","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shape association","words":["Letter","Pod"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered season","words":["Spring","Keep"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A gardener’s custom","words":["Parcel","Seed"]}],"brief":"Give the imaginary crop a visible rule and distinguish the packet’s trade name from the plant’s everyday nickname. A short label can suggest the rule while the description avoids untested growing instructions or real agricultural guarantees.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting invented seeds as a real product or reliable crop.","surface":"a seed packet, a garden journal, and a fictional market stall","story":"An imaginary seedling forms the first letter of a name the gardener has not spoken aloud for years. The packet’s friendly trade name had suggested a predictable decorative shape, so the gardener adds a private note about the difference. The naming decision separates product-style wording from the story’s uncertain effect, without offering real growing instructions or a guarantee about an actual crop."}},{"slug":"food","label":"Fictional dishes","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"gerichte","stems":["Orchard","Amber","Market","Little"],"ends":["Feast","Parcel","Crust","Bowl"],"rule":"Describe a fictional food’s social role without inventing nutrition claims.","hook":"A harbor dish is named after the basket used to carry it between ships.","description":"Describe a fictional food’s social role without inventing nutrition claims. Start with orchard, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Social role of a fictional dish","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A portable serving","words":["Parcel","Basket"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared occasion","words":["Table","Feast"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A local livelihood","words":["Harbor","Orchard"]}],"brief":"Name the imagined dish through the occasion, vessel, or work that gives it meaning. A readable menu title and a longer household story can coexist without claiming tested preparation, nutrition, safety, or an authentic cultural origin.","pitfall":"Avoid using a fictional dish description as dietary advice.","surface":"an imagined menu, a household conversation, and a market notice","story":"A harbor family serves the fictional dish in a basket no longer used by the current ferry crews. An apprentice proposes a new menu name, while an older cook wants the former serving custom remembered. They choose a short public title and a separate household note. The dish acquires social meaning through a scene without claiming an authentic real-world origin, tested recipe, or nutritional benefit."}},{"slug":"drinks","label":"Fictional drinks","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"getraenke","stems":["Copper","Fig","Morning","Cloud"],"ends":["Cup","Fizz","Steep","Swirl"],"rule":"Use sensory worldbuilding without promising a health effect.","hook":"A café serves a fictional drink that changes color when its story is retold.","description":"Use sensory worldbuilding without promising a health effect. Start with copper, fig, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An invented serving ritual","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A café habit","words":["Morning","Cup"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A changing appearance","words":["Prism","Fizz"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A traveling custom","words":["Road","Steep"]}],"brief":"Choose a fictional service ritual or visible effect, then keep the menu wording easy to request aloud. A story association can make the drink memorable without borrowing real wellness claims or presenting a tested recipe.","pitfall":"Avoid health benefits or implied suitability for every visitor.","surface":"a café board, a spoken order, and an invented label","story":"The imagined café drink changes color when the customer retells its story with a different ending. A regular assumes the menu title promises the same appearance every time, but the server points to the stated fictional rule. A revised label keeps the memorable image and clarifies the experience. The scene supplies a name and a ritual without turning the drink into a health claim or a real tested preparation."}},{"slug":"recipes","label":"Recipe titles","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"rezepte","stems":["Sunday","Orchard","Traveler","Little"],"ends":["Table","Parcel","Pot","Plate"],"rule":"Treat these as title ideas rather than tested cooking instructions.","hook":"An imaginary family cookbook organizes chapters by who used to arrive for dinner.","description":"Treat these as title ideas rather than tested cooking instructions. Start with sunday, orchard, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The title’s organizing idea","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A household occasion","words":["Sunday","Table"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A traveling version","words":["Road","Parcel"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered maker","words":["Keep","Pot"]}],"brief":"Treat the output as a title for an imaginary or independently developed recipe, not as proof that a preparation has been tested. A family occasion or serving context can explain the name without invented culinary authority.","pitfall":"Avoid implying tested cooking instructions where none are supplied.","surface":"a fictional cookbook contents page, a chapter heading, and a family note","story":"The family cookbook places one familiar dish in two chapters named for different visitors. A new editor wants to merge the entries, but the notes describe different occasions rather than duplicate instructions. The contents page receives a short readable title and a note connecting the variants. The naming exercise concerns memory and organization, not a claim that the site has tested the actual cooking process."}},{"slug":"tools","label":"Tools","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"werkzeuge","stems":["Brass","Little","Willow","Ink"],"ends":["Caliper","Key","Clamp","Rule"],"rule":"Let the name reveal a workshop job without obscuring the object type.","hook":"A bookbinder’s tool has a nickname inherited from the person who misplaced it most often.","description":"Let the name reveal a workshop job without obscuring the object type. Start with brass, little, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A task that stays recognizable","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A specific craft","words":["Clamp","Rule"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A maker nickname","words":["Brass","Mark"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered repair","words":["Second","Mend"]}],"brief":"Keep the ordinary tool type visible and add one distinguishing mark or nickname. A tray label needs faster recognition than a legend page, so reserve the longer personal history for a description or workshop anecdote.","pitfall":"Avoid a poetic title that hides the tool’s basic job.","surface":"a tray label, a work order, and a maker inventory","story":"A bookbinder finds a small tool in the drawer where an earlier worker repeatedly misplaced it. The nickname on the tray records that habit, while the inventory uses the plain object type. A new apprentice learns both through a repair request. The title can then carry a personal story without forcing anyone to guess which tool is needed or implying technical capabilities the fiction has not established."}},{"slug":"blueprints","label":"Blueprints","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"bauplaene","stems":["Folded","Copper","Paper","Open"],"ends":["Plan","Diagram","Pattern","Scheme"],"rule":"Keep revision identifiers outside the memorable project name.","hook":"An architect’s abandoned plan includes a room that has appeared in several dreams.","description":"Keep revision identifiers outside the memorable project name. Start with folded, copper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Project and revision identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared objective","words":["Open","Plan"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A visual feature","words":["Fold","Glass"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An unfinished commission","words":["Margin","Second"]}],"brief":"Choose a memorable project name and keep its revision number in a separate field. A changed plan can retain the same public identity while the records distinguish which version a scene or puzzle refers to.","pitfall":"Avoid hiding essential version information inside decorative wording.","surface":"a drawing title block, a commission note, and a project list","story":"The abandoned plan includes a room that several characters recognize from separate dreams. One drawing uses the project’s public title, while another is marked with a later revision code. The architect keeps those fields separate before comparing the layouts. A name can preserve the project’s continuity, leaving the version marks to explain what changed and the mysterious room to supply the story question."}},{"slug":"machines","label":"Machines","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"maschinen","stems":["Spindle","Clock","Amber","Paper"],"ends":["Engine","Press","Sorter","Mill"],"rule":"Name the primary task before adding a model number.","hook":"A machine sorts mail into places people need to go rather than places written on envelopes.","description":"Name the primary task before adding a model number. Start with spindle, clock, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A clear primary task","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Sorting","words":["Parcel","Index"]},{"id":"f2","label":"Repeating a signal","words":["Relay","Bell"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A repair function","words":["Mend","Brace"]}],"brief":"Name the primary task before choosing a model designation or affectionate nickname. A service label, workshop number, and public nickname can coexist if the first interaction makes their different jobs explicit.","pitfall":"Avoid an impressive technical title with no understandable function.","surface":"a control label, a maintenance log, and a fictional announcement","story":"The mail sorter sends a properly addressed parcel to a place its recipient has avoided for years. A technician first checks the machine’s service label and then the public nickname printed above it. The difference reveals an old commission with a narrower rule. Naming the actual task and its limit makes the invented machine more interesting than a general claim that it understands everything a person needs."}},{"slug":"vehicles","label":"Vehicles","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"fahrzeuge","stems":["Amber","Clover","Swift","Willow"],"ends":["Runner","Cart","Drifter","Carrier"],"rule":"Test a short call sign and a longer registration form separately.","hook":"A town vehicle carries a noticeboard that gathers messages at every stop.","description":"Test a short call sign and a longer registration form separately. Start with amber, clover, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Call sign and registration","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A familiar route","words":["Loop","Road"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared landmark","words":["Willow","Harbor"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A public service","words":["Parcel","Relay"]}],"brief":"Separate the vehicle’s name from registration, route number, and service type. A repeated stop or distinctive duty can explain the nickname while the public display keeps destination information easy to distinguish.","pitfall":"Avoid mixing a destination and a vehicle identity without labels.","surface":"a route display, a registration list, and a radio call","story":"The noticeboard on the town carrier accumulates messages from stops removed from the route. A driver uses the vehicle’s familiar name, while a dispatcher initially mistakes it for a destination because the display fields were merged. Separating vehicle, route, and stop names resolves the ordinary confusion. The unexplained messages can then lead the story forward without requiring the audience to struggle with an inconsistent timetable."}},{"slug":"ships","label":"Ships","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"schiffe","stems":["Paper","Wayward","Amber","Silver"],"ends":["Heron","Promise","Compass","Tide"],"rule":"Use a ship’s own name in a departure announcement.","hook":"A riverboat delivers letters to docks that were removed from the official timetable.","description":"Use a ship’s own name in a departure announcement. Start with paper, wayward, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A name spoken on departure","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A delivery custom","words":["Parcel","Return"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A waterway image","words":["Heron","Tide"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared promise","words":["Vow","Welcome"]}],"brief":"Read the vessel’s name in a departure announcement and keep the harbor’s name structurally different. A crew custom or remembered delivery can justify a personal title without requiring every ship to carry a grand naval epithet.","pitfall":"Avoid a ship name that sounds like the next destination.","surface":"a departure board, a vessel manifest, and a crew introduction","story":"A riverboat receives a letter addressed to a dock absent from the current timetable. The captain remembers the landing’s old name, while a new crew member recognizes only the vessel’s public route number. A spoken departure links ship, route, and destination as separate labels. The name becomes part of a delivery decision rather than another impressive water metaphor detached from the boat’s daily work."}},{"slug":"airships","label":"Airships","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"luftschiffe","stems":["Apricot","Cloud","Willow","Paper"],"ends":["Drift","Skylark","Envelope","Orchard"],"rule":"Picture the name painted on a hull rather than in a lore encyclopedia.","hook":"An airship’s passenger lounge contains a tree planted before its first flight.","description":"Picture the name painted on a hull rather than in a lore encyclopedia. Start with apricot, cloud, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A silhouette with a daily life","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A carried garden","words":["Orchard","Leaf"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A postal duty","words":["Envelope","Parcel"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A traveling image","words":["Cloud","Skylark"]}],"brief":"Picture the wording painted on the hull and spoken in a timetable. A public lounge, carried tree, or delivery role gives the craft an identity beyond flight itself, while a registration code remains a separate technical field.","pitfall":"Avoid stacking every sky metaphor into the same vessel name.","surface":"a hull sign, a route timetable, and a boarding announcement","story":"The lounge tree drops its first leaf during a journey away from the town where it was planted. Passengers give the craft an affectionate nickname based on the tree, while the boarding list preserves its registered vessel name. The conductor introduces the connection before using either form again. A small daily event lets the ship’s identity grow from shared life rather than an oversized claim about flight."}},{"slug":"spacecraft","label":"Spacecraft","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"raumschiffe","stems":["Relay","Amber","Paper","Quiet"],"ends":["Arc","Surveyor","Drift","Beacon"],"rule":"Keep the vessel name distinct from its mission identifier.","hook":"A survey craft returns with one extra seat listed on its inventory.","description":"Keep the vessel name distinct from its mission identifier. Start with relay, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Vessel and mission separation","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A survey role","words":["Arc","Survey"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A maintenance duty","words":["Relay","Brace"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A crew-chosen image","words":["Paper","Beacon"]}],"brief":"Keep the vessel’s own name distinct from the mission and destination. A concise radio form can connect to a fuller registry entry, while a crew custom supplies a human reason for choosing it.","pitfall":"Avoid a sequence of nearly identical system and vessel codes.","surface":"a mission manifest, a radio call, and a vessel plaque","story":"The extra seat on the inventory has a nameplate bearing the vessel’s earliest working title. A crew member thinks it identifies a missing passenger, while a maintenance note suggests it commemorates a canceled commission. The manifest distinguishes craft, mission, and individual seats before the investigation continues. The naming hierarchy lets an ordinary discrepancy carry a speculative mystery without pretending to establish real spaceflight specifications."}},{"slug":"drones","label":"Drones","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"drohnen","stems":["Pip","Relay","Little","Copper"],"ends":["Scout","Loop","Dot","Beacon"],"rule":"Prefer a concise display name that does not resemble an emergency command.","hook":"A fictional delivery drone gathers undeliverable addresses into a map of forgotten shortcuts.","description":"Prefer a concise display name that does not resemble an emergency command. Start with pip, relay, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A small repeated identifier","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A delivery role","words":["Parcel","Loop"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A survey role","words":["Scout","Dot"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A familiar nickname","words":["Pip","Patch"]}],"brief":"Choose a short display identity and a distinct service code. A recurring delivery habit can explain a nickname, while the interface continues to identify the fictional device type without implying real technical capabilities.","pitfall":"Avoid names confused with alerts or emergency commands.","surface":"a route screen, a maintenance tag, and a short spoken call","story":"The delivery drone returns with a map of shortcuts connecting addresses the public system no longer recognizes. A dispatcher first calls it by its service code, then a neighborhood child uses the familiar nickname. A small maintenance tag connects both identities. The story can explore the omitted routes while the interface keeps device, route, and destination names distinct, without claiming any actual autonomous-navigation capability."}},{"slug":"implants","label":"Fictional implants","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"implantate","stems":["Prism","Soft","Amber","Signal"],"ends":["Link","Thread","Loop","Interface"],"rule":"Do not present imagined devices as real medical products.","hook":"A speculative memory aid bookmarks moments but cannot explain why its owner saved them.","description":"Do not present imagined devices as real medical products. Start with prism, soft, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An explicitly speculative function","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A memory bookmark","words":["Trace","Index"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A fictional interface","words":["Link","Thread"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A limited signal","words":["Loop","Prism"]}],"brief":"Name a clearly imagined device and state what its fictional interface can and cannot reveal. The title should not be mistaken for a real medical product, approved treatment, or claim about human performance.","pitfall":"Avoid medical-device efficacy, safety, or treatment assertions.","surface":"a speculative inventory label, a story description, and an interface heading","story":"A speculative memory bookmark highlights a quiet afternoon rather than the major event the character wanted to retrieve. The device’s invented name had suggested an archive, but its rule supplies only a marker. A clearer interface label distinguishes saved moments from their interpretation. The scene gives the fictional technology a useful limitation without presenting it as a real approved medical device or promising a treatment outcome."}},{"slug":"technologies","label":"Technologies","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"technologien","stems":["Lumen","Paper","Quiet","Relay"],"ends":["Mesh","Protocol","Array","Weave"],"rule":"Describe the fictional use in plain language before naming the platform.","hook":"A city adopts a technology that lets public clocks negotiate a shared afternoon break.","description":"Describe the fictional use in plain language before naming the platform. Start with lumen, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Plain use before platform language","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared network","words":["Mesh","Relay"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public protocol","words":["Open","Accord"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An imagined record","words":["Index","Trace"]}],"brief":"Write the use in a plain sentence, then choose a short platform identity. Keep the invented mechanism, version identifier, and public name separate so a reader can follow the story without accepting unsupported technical claims.","pitfall":"Avoid using jargon to conceal an undefined fictional function.","surface":"a product-style heading, a fictional civic notice, and a glossary","story":"The public clocks agree to pause for a shared afternoon break, but a newly installed clock continues alone. A council notice gives the network’s platform name and its current protocol separately. A technician discovers that the late arrival has inherited an older naming convention. The practical mismatch explains the imagined system without using jargon as a substitute for a defined function or claiming actual engineering validation."}},{"slug":"abilities","label":"Abilities","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"faehigkeiten","stems":["Small","Second","Silver","Open"],"ends":["Step","Notice","Turn","Echo"],"rule":"Make the action and limitation easier to understand than the title.","hook":"A game ability reveals the last object a character moved but not why they moved it.","description":"Make the action and limitation easier to understand than the title. Start with small, second, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Action and constraint","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An observation","words":["Notice","Trace"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A limited movement","words":["Step","Turn"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A returned effect","words":["Echo","Again"]}],"brief":"State what the player does and what the ability reveals or changes. A title can be poetic if the adjacent explanation supplies the rule, the limit, and any relevant distinction from neighboring abilities.","pitfall":"Avoid naming an effect more broadly than the game actually allows.","surface":"an ability menu, a tooltip, and a turn-by-turn story example","story":"The game ability identifies the last object moved in a room but cannot explain the mover’s intention. A player-facing label that promises complete knowledge would undermine the later mystery. The revised short name points toward noticing a trace, while the tooltip states the limit plainly. A demonstration scene teaches the rule, making the title memorable through fair use rather than exaggerated power language."}},{"slug":"combat-moves","label":"Fictional techniques","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"kampftechniken","stems":["Heron","Turning","Paper","Copper"],"ends":["Step","Arc","Feint","Form"],"rule":"Keep names theatrical and avoid real-world training or injury guidance.","hook":"A stage combat school names its invented routines after changes in the weather.","description":"Keep names theatrical and avoid real-world training or injury guidance. Start with heron, turning, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An invented theatrical form","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A stage image","words":["Heron","Arc"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A rhythm change","words":["Second","Turn"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A school convention","words":["Paper","Form"]}],"brief":"Use an invented performance or game-move identity and keep the exercise at the level of naming. A recognizable image and short form can serve a fictional menu without becoming real combat, injury, or training instruction.","pitfall":"Avoid real-world technique explanations or performance guarantees.","surface":"a fictional move list, a stage program, and a menu label","story":"The fictional theater school changes the name of a routine after a performer notices it resembles a weather pattern from home. The program records the old and new labels together so returning students recognize the same invented form. The naming exercise remains about rhythm, imagery, and a menu-sized title. It supplies no real training sequence, injury guidance, or promise about physical effectiveness."}},{"slug":"summons","label":"Summons","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"beschwoerungen","stems":["Paper","Little","Silver","Willow"],"ends":["Visitor","Echo","Helper","Companion"],"rule":"Specify the summoned presence’s role without borrowing a real ritual.","hook":"A spell summons a tiny clerk who can find any misplaced receipt except its own.","description":"Specify the summoned presence’s role without borrowing a real ritual. Start with paper, little, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The visitor’s limited role","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A practical helper","words":["Clerk","Page"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered presence","words":["Echo","Return"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A small companion","words":["Button","Guide"]}],"brief":"Name the imagined presence and the single role it can perform. A narrow task, such as finding a misplaced receipt, makes the summon distinct without promising an unlimited solution or invoking a real ritual.","pitfall":"Avoid borrowing real sacred claims to validate the invented presence.","surface":"a spell description, a visitor introduction, and a task request","story":"The tiny clerk finds every misplaced receipt except the one needed to explain its own appointment. A frustrated character asks for a broader search, but the invented rule applies only to objects another person has set aside. The summon’s short name remains friendly while the description states the task and limit. The resulting question can carry a story without treating the name as a genuine ritual or supernatural guarantee."}},{"slug":"portals","label":"Portals","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"portale","stems":["Amber","Quiet","Folded","Mirror"],"ends":["Door","Arch","Window","Threshold"],"rule":"Name the destination rule as well as the visible doorway.","hook":"A portal opens only onto places where its traveler has left something unfinished.","description":"Name the destination rule as well as the visible doorway. Start with amber, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The destination rule","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An unfinished task","words":["Return","Door"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered place","words":["Mirror","Window"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared permission","words":["Open","Accord"]}],"brief":"Define where the portal may lead and what it refuses to connect. A name tied to that condition gives the player a fair basis for inference while an adjacent label can identify the visible doorway itself.","pitfall":"Avoid a title that promises unrestricted travel when the rule is narrow.","surface":"a map marker, a doorway inscription, and a failed attempt","story":"The doorway opens onto an unfinished garden rather than the destination requested by the traveler. An old inscription gives a formal title, while residents use a plain nickname based on what the threshold actually does. A failed attempt establishes the rule before the next choice. The name can then suggest return or obligation while the story keeps the destination condition fair and observable."}},{"slug":"treasure-chests","label":"Treasure chests","group":2,"category":"Objects & magic","legacy":"schatztruhen","stems":["Cedar","Brass","Paper","Little"],"ends":["Coffer","Box","Cache","Trunk"],"rule":"Use the container’s provenance rather than promising a generic reward.","hook":"A chest contains a different household object for each person who opens it.","description":"Use the container’s provenance rather than promising a generic reward. Start with cedar, brass, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Container, contents, and expectation","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An ordinary provenance","words":["Cedar","Trunk"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A personal memory","words":["Keep","Button"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changing inventory","words":["Parcel","Index"]}],"brief":"Name the container’s provenance or rule rather than promising generic riches. Keep the object type visible, then let the opening scene reveal why a household object or missing record matters to this particular story.","pitfall":"Avoid a misleading reward promise that the contents never support.","surface":"an inventory icon, an inspection description, and an opening scene","story":"Two visitors open the same chest and find different ordinary household objects. The container’s inventory name is stable, but their private names for it depend on what they recognize. A label under the lid mentions the former owner without promising riches. The scene turns the discovery into a question about memory and expectation, allowing a modest title to become significant through use."}},{"slug":"guilds","label":"Guilds","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"gilden","stems":["Copper","Paper","Open","Willow"],"ends":["Circle","Company","Hands","Guild"],"rule":"Connect membership to a shared practice that can appear in play.","hook":"A courier guild admits members only after they successfully return a parcel to its sender.","description":"Connect membership to a shared practice that can appear in play. Start with copper, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Why members stay","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared practice","words":["Parcel","Hands"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public service","words":["Bridge","Open"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A founding promise","words":["Vow","Keep"]}],"brief":"Choose a practical membership purpose, then a name that could appear on a charter and an ordinary sign. Let different members disagree about the founding promise instead of treating the group as a single personality.","pitfall":"Avoid a grand title with no understandable activity.","surface":"a guild charter, a shop sign, and a member introduction","story":"A recruit returns a parcel successfully but discovers the sender no longer wants it. The membership rule says return, while the recipient asks for a conversation instead. The charter uses a formal collective title; working couriers use a shorter sign name. Linking those forms lets the naming decision preserve an obligation while showing that members can disagree about what fulfilling it actually requires."}},{"slug":"clans","label":"Clans","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"clans","stems":["Alder","Thistle","Amber","Reed"],"ends":["Branch","Hearth","Kin","House"],"rule":"Give the fictional group internal variety rather than one inherited personality.","hook":"A clan keeps its shared name while its households disagree about where home should be.","description":"Give the fictional group internal variety rather than one inherited personality. Start with alder, thistle, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The basis of belonging","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A household connection","words":["Hearth","Branch"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A chosen association","words":["Open","Kin"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered place","words":["Reed","Home"]}],"brief":"Decide whether the fictional group is a family, a voluntary association, or a name shared across households. A common label can preserve belonging while individual members retain distinct jobs, values, and opinions.","pitfall":"Avoid treating ancestry as a fixed moral or personal trait.","surface":"a family record, an introduction, and a shared gathering notice","story":"Two households bring different rugs to the same gathering, each claiming its pattern belongs at the center. A child notices that the worn edges fit a third arrangement preserved in an old sketch. The collective name remains shared while personal household names distinguish the arguments. A chosen seating plan records a compromise, allowing belonging to survive without pretending everyone inherited one opinion or identity."}},{"slug":"orders","label":"Orders","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"orden","stems":["Lantern","Quiet","Brass","Open"],"ends":["Order","Watch","Keepers","Circle"],"rule":"Make the founding duty understandable without several nested titles.","hook":"An order protects public benches because the city’s oldest treaty was agreed on one.","description":"Make the founding duty understandable without several nested titles. Start with lantern, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A duty with a visible task","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A maintained place","words":["Gate","Watch"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public memory","words":["Lantern","Keep"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A continuing agreement","words":["Accord","Hands"]}],"brief":"Name the duty before the institution’s prestige. A specific bench, road, archive, or ritual task can explain the order’s existence and give members a practical reason to use the name in ordinary conversation.","pitfall":"Avoid multiple nested honorifics that obscure the founding task.","surface":"a charter heading, a duty list, and a public announcement","story":"A damaged public bench is moved away from the square where a treaty was once negotiated. Members disagree about whether their duty protects the wood, the location, or the opportunity to meet. The formal order title appears on the repair notice, while residents use an ordinary short name. A specific maintenance decision gives the institution a readable purpose beyond a collection of impressive honorifics."}},{"slug":"fellowships","label":"Fellowships","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"bruderschaften","stems":["Paper","Willow","Small","Amber"],"ends":["Company","Fellowship","Circle","Hands"],"rule":"Choose a voluntary purpose that explains why people stay.","hook":"A fellowship gathers once a month to finish projects left behind by departing neighbors.","description":"Choose a voluntary purpose that explains why people stay. Start with paper, willow, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A voluntary purpose","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An unfinished project","words":["Second","Mend"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared journey","words":["Road","Company"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A recurring meeting","words":["Circle","Table"]}],"brief":"Choose the practice that brings people back after the first meeting. A name can refer to an ordinary shared task, leaving room for different members to join for different reasons and disagree without losing the association.","pitfall":"Avoid implying that friendship eliminates all internal disagreement.","surface":"a meeting invitation, a member list, and a project notice","story":"The monthly meeting receives an unfinished project from someone who has not left town but simply changed their mind. Members debate whether completing it would honor the original maker or disregard their choice. The group’s familiar name stays on the invitation, while a revised charter explains the narrower purpose. The naming decision becomes a way to preserve cooperation without pretending every abandoned task must be finished."}},{"slug":"mercenary-companies","label":"Mercenary companies","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"soeldnertruppen","stems":["Copper","Road","Canvas","Heron"],"ends":["Company","Banner","Contract","March"],"rule":"Describe a fictional organization without recruitment or real tactical guidance.","hook":"A company is hired to escort a traveling theater through towns that have banned its final act.","description":"Describe a fictional organization without recruitment or real tactical guidance. Start with copper, road, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The contract and the boundary","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A fictional escort","words":["Road","Canvas"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared standard","words":["Banner","Copper"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered refusal","words":["Measure","Open"]}],"brief":"Define the fictional work and one boundary the company will not cross. A charter or contract identity should differ from a crew nickname, and the name must not replace a credible account of its role.","pitfall":"Avoid real recruitment, operational guidance, or glorification of harm.","surface":"a fictional contract, a company roll, and a theater escort notice","story":"The traveling theater reaches a town that welcomes the performers but refuses the old ending of their play. The fictional escort contract guarantees a safe arrival, not the troupe’s preferred reception. A company signature and crew nickname appear separately on the notice. The next scene concerns negotiation and responsibility, giving the collective name a boundary without offering practical real-world operations or recruitment."}},{"slug":"armies","label":"Fictional armies","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"armeen","stems":["Laurel","Slate","Amber","Outer"],"ends":["Banner","Guard","March","Watch"],"rule":"Focus on fictional institutions and avoid glorifying real violence.","hook":"A ceremonial army’s oldest tradition is rebuilding the roads after the spring thaw.","description":"Focus on fictional institutions and avoid glorifying real violence. Start with laurel, slate, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An invented public institution","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A civic responsibility","words":["Road","Bridge"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A ceremonial identity","words":["Laurel","Standard"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered change","words":["Second","Accord"]}],"brief":"Focus the name on an invented institution, civic duty, or commemorated event. Distinguish official self-description from personal accounts, and keep the human consequences of fictional conflict more visible than exaggerated prestige.","pitfall":"Avoid real-world military endorsement or practical tactical detail.","surface":"a fictional proclamation, a civic record, and a personal letter","story":"The spring road project exposes stones from a route absent from the ceremonial map. An official wants a single dedication, while workers ask the repair record to name every town involved. The fictional institution retains its formal title and adds plain local references to the public ledger. Its name can frame a civic obligation without making every personal account of the institution identical or glorifying real violence."}},{"slug":"fleets","label":"Fleets","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"flotten","stems":["Paper","Silver","Orchard","Relay"],"ends":["Flotilla","Fleet","Convoy","Line"],"rule":"Use a collective name distinct from each vessel’s call sign.","hook":"A mail fleet keeps one empty berth for ships that appear on obsolete charts.","description":"Use a collective name distinct from each vessel’s call sign. Start with paper, silver, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Collective and individual identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A postal service","words":["Parcel","Relay"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared route","words":["Loop","Line"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A crew tradition","words":["Paper","Heron"]}],"brief":"Choose a collective name that does not resemble another vessel on the manifest. A route, service, or shared custom can unite very different ships while each keeps a distinct radio name and registration field.","pitfall":"Avoid using one repeated noun for fleet, ship, and station.","surface":"a fleet manifest, a route announcement, and a shared service mark","story":"An empty berth appears on every manifest even when the postal schedule is full. A new clerk proposes filling it with a vessel whose name resembles the fleet’s collective title. The mistake reveals why collective, ship, and berth labels need separate fields. An old letter then explains the empty reservation, letting the story ask about an awaited return instead of relying on a confusing list of similar names."}},{"slug":"rebels","label":"Rebel groups","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"rebellen","stems":["Open","Paper","Morning","Amber"],"ends":["Circle","Voices","Assembly","Hands"],"rule":"Give a fictional movement a specific civic goal rather than borrowed real slogans.","hook":"A group campaigns to put every neighborhood’s unofficial name back on the public map.","description":"Give a fictional movement a specific civic goal rather than borrowed real slogans. Start with open, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The precise civic demand","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A public map","words":["Name","Open"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared access","words":["Door","Bridge"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changed record","words":["Second","Page"]}],"brief":"Give the fictional movement a specific goal rather than borrowed real slogans. A public name, a private nickname, and a label assigned by opponents may differ; establish which speaker uses each and why.","pitfall":"Avoid real extremist symbols or unexamined claims of unanimous support.","surface":"a fictional petition, a public notice, and a private meeting","story":"The public map is revised to include a neighborhood’s unofficial name, but residents disagree about the spelling chosen by the fictional movement. A petition records several local forms rather than claiming one leader speaks for everyone. The movement’s title remains distinct from its immediate campaign. The naming conflict exposes a limited civic goal and a question about representation without borrowing real slogans or making unsupported political claims."}},{"slug":"cults","label":"Fictional cults","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"kulte","stems":["Glass","Quiet","Turning","Paper"],"ends":["Circle","Choir","Keepers","Assembly"],"rule":"Keep the group invented and separate from claims about real communities.","hook":"A secretive club believes every misplaced bookmark predicts a future meeting.","description":"Keep the group invented and separate from claims about real communities. Start with glass, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An invented shared belief","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An ordinary omen","words":["Bookmark","Page"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A private gathering","words":["Seventh","Room"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An unfinished question","words":["Quiet","Margin"]}],"brief":"Design a clearly invented belief and the social routine that sustains it. Distinguish the group’s own title from an outsider’s description, without implying that a real faith or community shares the fictional behavior.","pitfall":"Avoid turning real religious identity into shorthand for danger.","surface":"a fictional invitation, a meeting note, and an outsider’s account","story":"A misplaced bookmark appears in a library book that the private group has never borrowed. One member treats it as a prediction; another traces the lending record. The group’s own name is introduced beside the outsider label used in rumors. The invented belief can then be examined through a social disagreement, without implying that a real religious community shares the fictional behavior or possesses supernatural authority."}},{"slug":"secret-societies","label":"Secret societies","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"geheimbuende","stems":["Margin","Brass","Empty","Seventh"],"ends":["Room","Circle","Seal","Key"],"rule":"Let the public cover identity be as believable as the hidden title.","hook":"A society conceals its invitations inside routine library renewal notices.","description":"Let the public cover identity be as believable as the hidden title. Start with margin, brass, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Cover identity and hidden purpose","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A public club","words":["Library","Table"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A private task","words":["Key","Margin"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared signal","words":["Seal","Second"]}],"brief":"Make the harmless public identity as believable as the hidden name. A recurring library notice or meeting custom can connect the two, giving the audience a fair clue without explaining real concealment techniques.","pitfall":"Avoid copying actual organizations or implying real affiliation.","surface":"a public club list, a fictional invitation, and a reveal scene","story":"A renewal notice contains an invitation for someone who has never belonged to the public reading club. The recipient attends an ordinary meeting before learning the fictional private title. An old catalog card links the two names openly enough for the audience to follow. The mystery concerns why the invitation was sent, not a set of real concealment instructions or an unsupported claim about an actual organization."}},{"slug":"trading-houses","label":"Trading houses","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"handelshaeuser","stems":["Fig","Copper","Orchard","Willow"],"ends":["House","Exchange","Ledger","Company"],"rule":"Make the commercial signature short enough for a crate stencil.","hook":"A trading house deals in replacement parts for machines nobody has yet invented.","description":"Make the commercial signature short enough for a crate stencil. Start with fig, copper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A commercial signature","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A material network","words":["Copper","Canvas"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared ledger","words":["Scale","Mark"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A family establishment","words":["Fig","House"]}],"brief":"Choose a trading identity short enough for a crate mark and distinct from its proprietor. A route, material, or ledger custom can support a broader history without pretending the fictional business is registered or operating.","pitfall":"Avoid real commercial endorsement or unsupported superiority claims.","surface":"a crate stencil, a receipt heading, and a market introduction","story":"A crate of replacement parts arrives for a machine no workshop admits to designing. The receipt bears a family trade signature, while the catalog uses a broader house name. A clerk connects both through the shipment record before comparing the parts to a sketch. The commercial identity supports a specific mystery without claiming real registration, availability, quality certification, or business success."}},{"slug":"dynasties","label":"Dynasties","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"dynastien","stems":["Alder","Laurel","Glass","Amber"],"ends":["Line","House","Branch","Crown"],"rule":"Separate a family’s chosen name from historians’ later label.","hook":"A dynasty is remembered for a public orchard rather than its abandoned palace.","description":"Separate a family’s chosen name from historians’ later label. Start with alder, laurel, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The label across generations","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An inherited place","words":["Alder","Hall"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public project","words":["Orchard","Bridge"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A later historian","words":["Index","Memory"]}],"brief":"Separate the family’s own name from a label later historians give it. A remembered public project can unite generations while the story preserves disagreements, changes of policy, and members who reject the family’s reputation.","pitfall":"Avoid assigning identical personality or legitimacy to every descendant.","surface":"a family chronicle, a public dedication, and an outside history","story":"A public orchard survives long after the family’s palace has become an archive. A historian proposes naming the whole period after the orchard, while a descendant prefers the old regnal title. The chronicle records whose label each is rather than presenting either as a neutral verdict. The dynasty’s name can connect generations while leaving room for different members and neighbors to judge its legacy differently."}},{"slug":"noble-houses","label":"Noble houses","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"adelsfamilien","stems":["Heron","Thistle","Copper","Willow"],"ends":["House","Hall","Branch","Crest"],"rule":"Choose one heraldic anchor and resist listing every ancestor.","hook":"A noble house replaces its crest with an image drawn by a local school each year.","description":"Choose one heraldic anchor and resist listing every ancestor. Start with heron, thistle, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A recognizable public emblem","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A single crest","words":["Heron","Thistle"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A civic obligation","words":["Gate","Keep"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A revised identity","words":["Open","New"]}],"brief":"Choose one emblem and one public obligation rather than a list of ancestors. A formal house name and ordinary family forms should remain distinguishable, allowing individual members to relate differently to the shared title.","pitfall":"Avoid using ancestry as proof of personal worth or authority.","surface":"a heraldic caption, an invitation, and a family conversation","story":"The school’s new crest drawing omits the familiar heraldic bird and replaces it with the bridge the family is expected to maintain. A formal invitation keeps the house name, while the public ceremony explains the revised emblem. An individual family member objects for personal reasons. The scene makes a shared identity a public obligation and a private argument rather than proof of inherited personal worth."}},{"slug":"tribes","label":"Fictional tribes","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"staemme","stems":["Reed","Cloud","Alder","Amber"],"ends":["People","Kin","Circle","Hearth"],"rule":"Invent a specific community without borrowing stereotypes from living peoples.","hook":"A fictional community carries its meeting place as a set of rugs that fit together.","description":"Invent a specific community without borrowing stereotypes from living peoples. Start with reed, cloud, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A specific fictional community","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A meeting practice","words":["Circle","Table"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared route","words":["Cloud","Reed"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A chosen affiliation","words":["Open","Hearth"]}],"brief":"Invent a particular community with its own daily work and internal variety. A meeting place or shared route can explain a collective name without borrowing generalized stereotypes from living Indigenous peoples or real cultures.","pitfall":"Avoid treating an invented community as one timeless personality.","surface":"a fictional gathering notice, a route account, and a self-introduction","story":"The meeting rugs are carried to a new camp where their usual arrangement does not fit the ground. Members propose different layouts according to their work and household ties. The fictional community’s shared name remains on the gathering notice, while the scene preserves those distinctions. A practical choice gives the identity specific daily life without borrowing stereotypes or claiming to describe a real Indigenous tradition."}},{"slug":"peoples","label":"Fictional peoples","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"voelker","stems":["Aven","Orren","Tessa","Veyra"],"ends":["Kin","People","Folk","Community"],"rule":"Distinguish self-identification from names assigned by outsiders.","hook":"An island community keeps a record of the different names sailors have given it.","description":"Distinguish self-identification from names assigned by outsiders. Start with aven, orren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Self-description and outside labels","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared language","words":["Word","Voice"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A place relationship","words":["Shore","Root"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A chosen common name","words":["Open","Kin"]}],"brief":"Distinguish a community’s self-description from labels assigned by visitors. Show a practical context for each form, and allow individuals to disagree about which collective identity matters in a particular scene.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting an outsider label as everyone’s accepted identity.","surface":"an atlas note, a community introduction, and a visitor’s record","story":"A visitor’s old chart gives the island community a name nobody uses in an introduction. A resident explains the local self-description and preserves the foreign label in the archive as evidence of an earlier encounter. The two forms are linked before the visitor’s next journey. The name becomes a question about viewpoint and consent to description, while individuals keep different relationships to the collective identity."}},{"slug":"alliances","label":"Alliances","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"allianzen","stems":["Bridge","Open","Orchard","Silver"],"ends":["Accord","Pact","League","Union"],"rule":"Name the shared obligation rather than suggesting total agreement.","hook":"Three towns agree to maintain a road while each insists it leads somewhere different.","description":"Name the shared obligation rather than suggesting total agreement. Start with bridge, open, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The actual shared obligation","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A maintained crossing","words":["Bridge","Accord"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A common service","words":["Well","Hands"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A temporary objective","words":["Open","Season"]}],"brief":"Name the precise promise that members share. An alliance can maintain a road or service without agreeing on every policy, so its formal title should not erase the disagreements that keep the relationship interesting.","pitfall":"Avoid equating a joint agreement with permanent universal harmony.","surface":"a pact heading, a civic notice, and a negotiating scene","story":"A repaired stretch of road now leads more directly to one member town than the others. The maintenance compact remains useful, but its public title sounds to some residents like a promise of equal benefit. A council note states the actual obligation and keeps each town’s name visible. The alliance can continue through disagreement, giving the title a precise promise rather than a claim of complete harmony."}},{"slug":"federations","label":"Federations","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"foederationen","stems":["Amber","Seven","Coastal","Open"],"ends":["Federation","Union","Compact","Assembly"],"rule":"Make the political scale clear in a fictional setting.","hook":"A federation shares one calendar but lets every member choose the name of spring.","description":"Make the political scale clear in a fictional setting. Start with amber, seven, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Scale and member autonomy","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared calendar","words":["Season","Union"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public network","words":["Relay","Open"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A limited compact","words":["Accord","Assembly"]}],"brief":"Choose the shared function and the decisions that remain with members. A federal title should differ from a capital, party, or single province, helping a reader identify the political level before learning its detailed history.","pitfall":"Avoid implying a fictional constitutional form is legal advice.","surface":"an atlas legend, an assembly notice, and a local announcement","story":"A shared calendar arrives with one member’s preferred name for spring printed as the default. The assembly keeps the common dates while adding a field for each local season name. A public notice distinguishes the federation from its current meeting city. The naming system makes shared infrastructure and local autonomy visible without pretending that a fictional constitutional arrangement supplies legal guidance for real institutions."}},{"slug":"corporations","label":"Fictional corporations","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"konzerne","stems":["Copper","Relay","Lumen","Paper"],"ends":["Works","Group","Systems","Company"],"rule":"Keep fictional corporate identities distinguishable from real brands.","hook":"A company selling navigation services discovers its oldest route leads to its first office.","description":"Keep fictional corporate identities distinguishable from real brands. Start with copper, relay, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An invented operating identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A practical service","words":["Relay","Works"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public image","words":["Lumen","Open"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A changed business","words":["Second","Paper"]}],"brief":"State the fictional service in plain language before choosing a corporate-style label. Keep a product, division, and parent identity separate, and avoid a title so close to a real brand that it implies association.","pitfall":"Avoid claiming real registration, certification, or commercial availability.","surface":"a fictional invoice, a service notice, and a company directory","story":"The oldest navigation route leads to a former office that now houses a public repair room. A customer mistakes the product name on an old receipt for the current company title. A clear archive entry links product, division, and corporate identity before the route’s history is investigated. The invented business gains continuity without claiming real registration, sponsorship, technical validation, or a measured commercial result."}},{"slug":"syndicates","label":"Syndicates","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"syndikate","stems":["Brass","Quiet","Canal","Paper"],"ends":["Exchange","Network","Ledger","Circle"],"rule":"Use an invented network and avoid real criminal instructions.","hook":"A mystery’s trading network communicates through corrections to a public timetable.","description":"Use an invented network and avoid real criminal instructions. Start with brass, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A network with distinct roles","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared exchange","words":["Ledger","Canal"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A coordination task","words":["Relay","Thread"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A mystery account","words":["Margin","Quiet"]}],"brief":"Define the fictional network’s activity and the roles within it. A public trading label and a story’s private designation can coexist without suggesting that the generator provides real criminal instructions or verified organization names.","pitfall":"Avoid real operational advice or references that impersonate an actual network.","surface":"a fictional ledger, a timetable clue, and a plot summary","story":"A timetable correction matches the wording of a private ledger entry, but the public exchange does not use the network’s internal title. An investigator first identifies which record refers to the service and which refers to the group. The distinction makes the fictional clue legible without offering real operational advice. A narrow public activity supplies the name’s context, while the hidden relationship remains a story question."}},{"slug":"gangs","label":"Fictional gangs","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"banden","stems":["Canal","Copper","Paper","Thistle"],"ends":["Crew","Circle","Pack","Club"],"rule":"Give a fictional street group a local identity without real gang symbols.","hook":"A neighborhood crew argues over who is allowed to repaint a much-loved alley mural.","description":"Give a fictional street group a local identity without real gang symbols. Start with canal, copper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A local fictional identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared place","words":["Canal","Alley"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public art project","words":["Paint","Wall"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A chosen crew","words":["Open","Patch"]}],"brief":"Ground the invented group in a specific neighborhood activity or relationship. Distinguish self-description from labels used by outsiders, and give members varied motivations instead of treating a group name as a complete moral judgment.","pitfall":"Avoid real gang symbols, recruitment, or practical instructions.","surface":"a fictional mural caption, a neighborhood account, and a meeting scene","story":"A fictional neighborhood crew repaints a mural that another group remembers helping to create. The public name on the wall does not list every participant, and a meeting reveals that the dispute concerns credit rather than a simple division into good and bad people. A revised caption keeps the shared project distinct from the crew identity, avoiding real gang symbols, recruitment, or instructions."}},{"slug":"sports-teams","label":"Sports teams","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"sportteams","stems":["Copper","Amber","Orchard","Heron"],"ends":["Runners","Comets","Kites","Foxes"],"rule":"Check how the name sounds in a short chant.","hook":"A fictional town team takes its name from the birds nesting above its playing field.","description":"Check how the name sounds in a short chant. Start with copper, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A chant and a local connection","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared landmark","words":["Orchard","Bridge"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A visible mascot","words":["Heron","Kite"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A playing style","words":["Loop","Relay"]}],"brief":"Test the team identity in a short chant, schedule row, and ordinary introduction. A local landmark or shared origin can supply context while a mascot gives the sign something clear to depict.","pitfall":"Avoid implying actual league membership, sponsorship, or verified results.","surface":"a fictional fixture list, a banner, and a short crowd chant","story":"The birds above the playing field leave before the town’s imaginary final match. A new banner could replace the mascot, but players choose to keep the name and add a small note about the empty nests. The schedule uses the short team form, while a ceremony uses the local club’s fuller title. A modest identity can hold a season’s memory without claiming real league results or sponsorship."}},{"slug":"esports-teams","label":"Esports teams","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"e-sport-teams","stems":["Prism","Relay","Paper","Amber"],"ends":["Orbit","Signal","Arc","Loop"],"rule":"Favor a readable handle over punctuation that changes across platforms.","hook":"An imaginary team chooses a name based on the map where its members first met.","description":"Favor a readable handle over punctuation that changes across platforms. Start with prism, relay, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A readable competitive handle","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared map memory","words":["Arc","Orbit"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public style","words":["Prism","Signal"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A team origin","words":["Relay","First"]}],"brief":"Keep the display form readable without special punctuation and distinguish it from player handles. A shared match memory can explain the identity, while platform availability and conflicts require independent checks outside generation.","pitfall":"Avoid claiming real tournament results, sponsorship, or handle availability.","surface":"a fictional bracket, a stream-style overlay, and a spoken introduction","story":"The team’s first shared map is removed from the fictional game’s rotation. One member wants the identity updated, while another thinks the old name remembers why they started playing together. They choose a readable display form and separate the season label from it. The naming decision supports continuity without pretending a handle is available, a platform has endorsed it, or actual competitive results have occurred."}},{"slug":"adventuring-parties","label":"Adventuring parties","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"abenteurergruppen","stems":["Wayward","Paper","Little","Copper"],"ends":["Company","Compass","Circle","Parcel"],"rule":"Name the shared mishap or purpose rather than every member’s class.","hook":"An adventuring party forms because each member received the same undeliverable letter.","description":"Name the shared mishap or purpose rather than every member’s class. Start with wayward, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The reason these people travel together","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared letter","words":["Parcel","Address"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An early detour","words":["Wayward","Turn"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A chosen promise","words":["Company","Vow"]}],"brief":"Name the shared incident, purpose, or problem that keeps the party together. The collective should remain distinguishable from its members and its current quest, leaving room for companions to join or depart.","pitfall":"Avoid listing every member’s class in the group title.","surface":"a party roster, an introduction, and a campaign journal","story":"Each member opens the same undeliverable letter and finds a different personal reason to follow its route. The party’s collective name comes from the shared arrival, not a list of professions. Individual names and the current quest title remain different on the journal page. A first disagreement over the next stop gives the group an evolving purpose rather than an assumption that a matching envelope creates permanent agreement."}},{"slug":"expeditions","label":"Expeditions","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"expeditionen","stems":["Orchard","Far","Amber","Paper"],"ends":["Survey","Journey","Traverse","Passage"],"rule":"Make the destination or research question visible.","hook":"An expedition follows a sequence of benches marked on a century-old walking map.","description":"Make the destination or research question visible. Start with orchard, far, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The question and the route","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An observation","words":["Survey","Measure"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered journey","words":["Road","Return"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An uncertain destination","words":["Far","Open"]}],"brief":"Name the destination or research question without pretending the fictional journey has already succeeded. Separate the expedition from its lead vessel, sponsor, and final report so the audience can follow changes in the plan.","pitfall":"Avoid inventing real scientific credentials or verified discoveries.","surface":"a fictional proposal, a route manifest, and a field journal","story":"The first mapped bench has been moved, but an old repair mark matches the next location on the walking route. The fictional expedition’s title names its question, while a vessel, sponsor, and report use separate identities. A dated field note records the uncertainty. The journey can change its working explanation without implying that the name itself proves a real discovery or professional credential."}},{"slug":"research-teams","label":"Research teams","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"forschungsteams","stems":["Lumen","Quiet","Willow","Copper"],"ends":["Collective","Survey","Group","Lab"],"rule":"Use an invented project identity without implying real scientific credentials.","hook":"A fictional research team studies why a public clock keeps gaining one extra minute on Tuesdays.","description":"Use an invented project identity without implying real scientific credentials. Start with lumen, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A narrow invented inquiry","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A repeated observation","words":["Clock","Measure"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared method","words":["Index","Glass"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An unanswered question","words":["Open","Margin"]}],"brief":"Choose a clearly fictional research question and a plain group identity. Distinguish the team, project, and laboratory, and do not let a professional-looking name imply real qualifications, evidence, or independent scientific validation.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting invented findings as actual research results.","surface":"a fictional project list, a lab notice, and a report heading","story":"The extra Tuesday minute appears on a household clock that was never connected to the public network. One fictional researcher proposes a dramatic team title based on the apparent anomaly; another asks for an ordinary working name until they understand the observation. The project, group, and report receive different labels. Their disagreement makes careful attribution visible without claiming real evidence, expertise, or scientific validation."}},{"slug":"missions","label":"Missions","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"missionen","stems":["Lantern","Paper","Amber","Quiet"],"ends":["Relay","Return","Passage","Signal"],"rule":"Keep a mission’s objective separate from its secret operational details.","hook":"A space mission must return a library book borrowed before the station opened.","description":"Keep a mission’s objective separate from its secret operational details. Start with lantern, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Objective and recognizable identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A delivery","words":["Return","Parcel"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An observation","words":["Signal","Survey"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A practical repair","words":["Relay","Brace"]}],"brief":"Name the task at the level a reader needs to understand. Keep a mission identifier distinct from the vessel and destination, while a compact title can leave room for uncertainty about how the objective will be achieved.","pitfall":"Avoid implying real operational orders or revealing every story outcome.","surface":"a mission list, a fictional briefing, and a status heading","story":"The overdue library book is returned to a station built after the original loan date. The mission title names the delivery, while the craft and destination keep distinct entries on the manifest. A librarian discovers a note explaining the book’s route through several private collections. The objective remains understandable even as the story changes what completing it means, without announcing every later revelation in the mission name."}},{"slug":"quests","label":"Quests","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"quests","stems":["Missing","Last","Paper","Unfinished"],"ends":["Letter","Bell","Map","Promise"],"rule":"Frame an unanswered question rather than revealing the ending.","hook":"A player must discover why every address on a parcel’s label has been crossed out.","description":"Frame an unanswered question rather than revealing the ending. Start with missing, last, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The unanswered question","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A missing object","words":["Letter","Bell"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A disputed place","words":["Address","Map"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An unfinished promise","words":["Vow","Return"]}],"brief":"Choose the question the player is invited to investigate, not the ending the writer already knows. A readable quest title can identify the task while preserving a later change in what the player thinks the problem means.","pitfall":"Avoid putting a hidden culprit or solution in the title.","surface":"a quest log, a dialogue offer, and a completion note","story":"The crossed-out addresses all point to places that have changed names rather than vanished. A courier can finish the task only by connecting public maps with household memories. The quest title identifies the unanswered question, while individual locations keep their own labels. A final recipient challenges the assumption that delivery requires leaving the parcel behind, allowing a short title to acquire a second meaning without spoiling the solution."}},{"slug":"campaigns","label":"Campaigns","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"kampagnen","stems":["Paper","Amber","Copper","Wayward"],"ends":["Routes","Seasons","Atlas","Letters"],"rule":"Choose a title broad enough to contain several kinds of session.","hook":"A campaign begins when a city receives mail from all of its possible futures.","description":"Choose a title broad enough to contain several kinds of session. Start with paper, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The repeating play experience","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Connected deliveries","words":["Routes","Letters"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A changing landscape","words":["Atlas","Seasons"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared public problem","words":["City","Accord"]}],"brief":"Name the activity and emotional question broad enough to hold several sessions. The title should differ from an opening quest and remain appropriate when the party changes location or discovers a different side of the initial problem.","pitfall":"Avoid promising only one encounter when the campaign has a wider scope.","surface":"a campaign pitch, a session index, and a group introduction","story":"One future letter asks the city to preserve a market, while another describes that market as a garden. The party cannot treat every envelope as an instruction. The campaign title names the repeated activity of connecting accounts, and opening quests retain narrower titles. The shared naming system leaves room for different kinds of session while keeping the central question about public memory and choices visible."}},{"slug":"chapters","label":"Chapters","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"kapitel","stems":["Last","Small","Unfinished","Quiet"],"ends":["Arrival","Window","Parcel","Turn"],"rule":"Match the chapter’s narrative job without spoiling its reversal.","hook":"A chapter starts with an empty delivery cart and ends with a room full of unopened doors.","description":"Match the chapter’s narrative job without spoiling its reversal. Start with last, small, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The chapter’s narrative job","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An arrival","words":["Door","Parcel"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A reconsideration","words":["Second","Turn"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An incomplete account","words":["Margin","Letter"]}],"brief":"Choose the chapter’s immediate function and the information a reader already has at its opening. A title can gain a second meaning afterward without announcing the reversal or introducing a name the scene has not yet explained.","pitfall":"Avoid revealing a late answer in the chapter heading.","surface":"a contents page, a scene opening, and a reading bookmark","story":"The empty delivery cart contains labels for doors that have not appeared in earlier chapters. The opening heading points toward arrival rather than revealing which label will matter. As the scene closes, one ordinary room gains an additional doorway. A short chapter title can then be reread with a new association, while a separate quest name continues to identify the task the character believes they are performing."}},{"slug":"expansions","label":"Expansions","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"erweiterungen","stems":["Beyond","Under","Across","After"],"ends":["Orchard","Tide","Spire","Gate"],"rule":"Show what changes in the play experience rather than just announcing more.","hook":"An expansion opens the service tunnels beneath a city whose streets players already know.","description":"Show what changes in the play experience rather than just announcing more. Start with beyond, under, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What changes in the experience","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A new route","words":["Beyond","Passage"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A changed perspective","words":["Under","Second"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A continued promise","words":["After","Return"]}],"brief":"Name the new place, perspective, or repeatable action rather than a vague promise of more. Keep the expansion title connected to the base project without making the two names indistinguishable on a menu or announcement.","pitfall":"Avoid implying a real product release, price, or available feature.","surface":"a fictional menu, a project outline, and a short announcement","story":"The service tunnels reconnect streets that the audience already knows, but maintenance staff use older route names. The fictional expansion title promises a changed perspective rather than merely more locations. A menu keeps the base project and expansion names distinct. A repaired sign links one old tunnel label to a familiar street before the first puzzle requires the player to recognize both."}},{"slug":"game-titles","label":"Game titles","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"spieltitel","stems":["Paper","Amber","Quiet","Wayward"],"ends":["Routes","Orchard","Atlas","Letters"],"rule":"Test a title beside its one-sentence premise and research conflicts separately.","hook":"A fictional game follows a courier deciding which lost addresses deserve a second delivery.","description":"Test a title beside its one-sentence premise and research conflicts separately. Start with paper, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The promise of the premise","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A repeating action","words":["Routes","Return"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A central object","words":["Atlas","Letters"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An emotional question","words":["Quiet","Home"]}],"brief":"Write the player’s repeated action and central uncertainty in one sentence. Compare titles that point toward action, object, and atmosphere, then research existing uses separately before treating a working title as a public brand.","pitfall":"Avoid assuming a generated title is available, exclusive, or registered.","surface":"a pitch sentence, a browser tab, and a small title image","story":"A prototype begins with finding a lost address, then becomes a story about deciding whether a returned promise should still be fulfilled. The most urgent early working title now promises a faster experience than the game offers. A new shortlist compares action, object, and atmosphere against the revised premise. The chosen draft remains provisional until the team conducts independent audience, interface, and rights checks appropriate to publication."}},{"slug":"game-studios","label":"Game studios","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"spielstudios","stems":["Fig","Paper","Little","Copper"],"ends":["Room","Workshop","Works","House"],"rule":"Avoid implying a real studio’s endorsement or a verified business registration.","hook":"An imagined two-person studio builds games about everyday objects with complicated histories.","description":"Avoid implying a real studio’s endorsement or a verified business registration. Start with fig, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A working creative identity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A material image","words":["Paper","Copper"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared space","words":["Room","Workshop"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A personal scale","words":["Little","Fig"]}],"brief":"Choose a studio-style identity that can be spoken and printed plainly. A working brand should fit the imagined team’s focus without borrowing another studio’s recognizable identity or implying a verified company registration.","pitfall":"Avoid invented partnerships, awards, or business credentials.","surface":"a fictional project credit, an email signature, and a studio sign","story":"The imagined two-person team finishes a game whose most recognizable object is an ordinary repair tag. One proposed studio name sounds like a large technical company, while another reflects the intimate scale of the work. The credits and email signature test both without invented awards or partnerships. A modest working identity can fit the creative focus while actual registration and name conflicts remain separate matters to research."}},{"slug":"game-servers","label":"Game servers","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"spielserver","stems":["Orchard","Amber","Willow","Quiet"],"ends":["Hub","Landing","Harbor","Room"],"rule":"Keep the name distinct from rules, region labels, and version numbers.","hook":"A fictional community server names each season after a shared building project.","description":"Keep the name distinct from rules, region labels, and version numbers. Start with orchard, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A community label with room for rules","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared place","words":["Harbor","Room"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A seasonal project","words":["Orchard","Build"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A meeting identity","words":["Open","Hub"]}],"brief":"Keep the community name separate from region codes, rules, game version, and season numbers. A concise identity can remain stable while those practical fields change, helping returning members recognize the same place.","pitfall":"Avoid a name that promises unverified uptime, safety, or moderation.","surface":"a fictional server list, a community notice, and a season heading","story":"A fictional community completes its shared garden just before a new version changes the building tools. The season subtitle records the project, while the stable community name remains on the server list. Rules and region information stay in separate fields. Returning members can recognize the same gathering place without a title pretending to guarantee uptime, safety, moderation quality, or features that have not been verified."}},{"slug":"game-modes","label":"Game modes","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"spielmodi","stems":["Parcel","Relay","Quiet","Copper"],"ends":["Run","Loop","Shift","Round"],"rule":"Choose a name players can connect to the actual rule change.","hook":"A made-up mode asks teams to deliver clues while the destinations rotate each round.","description":"Choose a name players can connect to the actual rule change. Start with parcel, relay, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The rule that changes","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A relay task","words":["Parcel","Loop"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A rotating destination","words":["Turn","Route"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A shared observation","words":["Signal","Notice"]}],"brief":"State the changed rule plainly before selecting a compact mode title. A player should be able to connect the name to the actual action rather than infer an entirely different genre or objective from dramatic wording.","pitfall":"Avoid naming a feature that the fictional rules do not provide.","surface":"a mode menu, a short rule card, and a match introduction","story":"A team delivers its clue correctly but finds that the destination moved at the end of the round. The fictional mode’s short title should prepare players for a rotating route, not suggest a completely different genre. A rule card states the changed condition plainly beside the name. The next attempt tests understanding rather than the ability to guess what an impressive but inaccurate label was intended to mean."}},{"slug":"tournaments","label":"Tournaments","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"turniere","stems":["Copper","Orchard","Paper","Amber"],"ends":["Cup","Open","Series","Invitational"],"rule":"Do not imply real sponsorship, qualification, or prize money.","hook":"A fictional tournament uses a handmade cup that previous winners add a handle to.","description":"Do not imply real sponsorship, qualification, or prize money. Start with copper, orchard, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The actual event format","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared trophy","words":["Copper","Cup"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An open meeting","words":["Orchard","Open"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A recurring series","words":["Relay","Round"]}],"brief":"Name the fictional event and keep format, eligibility, season, and sponsor in separate fields. A local custom can explain the title without implying real prizes, endorsement, qualifications, or a verified competition history.","pitfall":"Avoid unsupported sponsorship, ranking, or prize claims.","surface":"a fictional bracket, an event poster, and a short announcement","story":"The handmade cup has accumulated too many handles to fit its display shelf. Organizers of the fictional event consider renaming it after the latest winner, but the older contributions would disappear from the public account. A stable event title and separate season field preserve the history. Format and eligibility remain explicit, without inventing actual prizes, qualification, sponsors, or a record of competitive success."}},{"slug":"competitions","label":"Competitions","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"wettbewerbe","stems":["Small","Open","Amber","Willow"],"ends":["Challenge","Meet","Trial","Showcase"],"rule":"Make the skill being compared clear without unsupported prestige.","hook":"An invented competition asks entrants to make the clearest map of an imaginary kitchen.","description":"Make the skill being compared clear without unsupported prestige. Start with small, open, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What is being compared","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A creative task","words":["Map","Paper"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A practical challenge","words":["Measure","Trial"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A public showcase","words":["Open","Hands"]}],"brief":"Choose the actual skill or creative task before naming the event. A clear title and plain description should explain what participants do, while the fictional setting supplies character rather than unsupported prestige.","pitfall":"Avoid suggesting a real award, certification, or guaranteed outcome.","surface":"an entry notice, a task card, and a results heading","story":"An entrant submits a map of an imaginary kitchen arranged according to who prepares breakfast, not according to fixed walls. Judges must decide whether clarity means geometric accuracy or useful directions. The fictional event title names the creative task, while the rule card explains the standard. A public heading and plain description keep the exercise honest without claiming an actual award, credential, or guaranteed outcome."}},{"slug":"festivals","label":"Festivals","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"festivals","stems":["Lantern","Apricot","Paper","First"],"ends":["Day","Fair","Evening","Festival"],"rule":"Anchor the event in one shared public activity.","hook":"A festival invites residents to float blank postcards across the old canal.","description":"Anchor the event in one shared public activity. Start with lantern, apricot, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The shared public activity","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A floating message","words":["Paper","Lantern"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A seasonal harvest","words":["Apricot","First"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A meeting custom","words":["Bridge","Open"]}],"brief":"Name the activity that visitors will encounter, then decide how the public event relates to the place that hosts it. A single recurring object can connect signs, announcements, and a remembered local story.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting an invented event as a documented cultural tradition.","surface":"a festival poster, a route sign, and a local announcement","story":"The first blank postcard returns across the canal with a single street name written on it. Residents recognize the address as a meeting place removed from current maps. The festival’s public name continues to describe the shared activity, while a small notice explains the unexpected connection. A recurring object links signs, directions, and the story without claiming that the invented event documents a real cultural tradition."}},{"slug":"holidays","label":"Holidays","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"feiertage","stems":["Mending","First","Little","Open"],"ends":["Day","Evening","Morning","Hour"],"rule":"Create a fictional custom without presenting it as a real cultural tradition.","hook":"A town holiday gives everyone permission to rename one small corner of their home.","description":"Create a fictional custom without presenting it as a real cultural tradition. Start with mending, first, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A specific invented custom","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A day of repair","words":["Mend","Second"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A welcoming practice","words":["Door","Open"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A seasonal observation","words":["First","Spring"]}],"brief":"Create one ordinary custom that explains the fictional day’s name. Distinguish the formal calendar label from a familiar local shorthand, and leave room for residents who observe the day differently or not at all.","pitfall":"Avoid claiming an invented holiday belongs to a real community.","surface":"a fictional calendar, a household plan, and a civic notice","story":"A household uses the fictional naming holiday to rename an overlooked corner after a neighbor who repaired it. Another resident declines to participate and keeps the familiar practical label. The calendar’s formal title and a local shorthand are introduced together. The scene gives an invented custom room for varied participation rather than implying that a community’s identity depends on everyone performing the same observance."}},{"slug":"ages","label":"Ages","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"zeitalter","stems":["Copper","Paper","Glass","Open"],"ends":["Age","Era","Turning","Century"],"rule":"Decide whether inhabitants use the label or historians invent it later.","hook":"An age is named after the first year every village could send a letter to every other.","description":"Decide whether inhabitants use the label or historians invent it later. Start with copper, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Who names the historical period","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared invention","words":["Paper","Relay"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public change","words":["Open","Bridge"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A later summary","words":["Index","Memory"]}],"brief":"Decide whether people living in the period use the label or historians add it later. A measurable fictional change can anchor the name while individual regions retain different experiences of the same broad interval.","pitfall":"Avoid treating a historical label as a universal verdict on everyone.","surface":"a fictional chronology, a chapter heading, and a historian’s note","story":"The first fully connected postal map includes a blank space for a village not yet willing to join the system. Later historians name the period after the network, while residents remember the unfinished invitation. The chronology records the date boundary separately from the evocative age label. The name can frame a public change without pretending every region experienced one uniform transition or shared interpretation."}},{"slug":"eras","label":"Eras","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"epochen","stems":["Orchard","Amber","Long","Quiet"],"ends":["Season","Era","Years","Interval"],"rule":"Choose a measurable social change rather than a vague mood.","hook":"An era begins when the capital agrees to print blank spaces for missing towns on its maps.","description":"Choose a measurable social change rather than a vague mood. Start with orchard, amber, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The boundary between periods","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A civic agreement","words":["Accord","Map"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A changing livelihood","words":["Orchard","Mill"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An inherited calendar","words":["Season","Year"]}],"brief":"Choose the event or practice that starts and ends the period, then identify whose calendar uses that boundary. The name should support a usable chronology without replacing the specific dates or local records the plot needs.","pitfall":"Avoid an evocative period name with no defined narrative boundary.","surface":"a timeline, a civic archive, and a historical introduction","story":"A map agreement prints both names of a disputed town, but the official calendar marks the following year as the start of a single new era. A local archive keeps a different boundary based on the orchard’s first harvest after the agreement. The timeline links both systems. A period title becomes a viewpoint useful for organizing a story, not a substitute for the particular dates the plot requires."}},{"slug":"wars","label":"Fictional wars","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"kriege","stems":["Broken","Paper","Last","Silent"],"ends":["Accord","Border","Winter","Standard"],"rule":"Use restrained fictional history and keep human consequences visible.","hook":"A story remembers a conflict through the towns that later rebuilt a shared railway.","description":"Use restrained fictional history and keep human consequences visible. Start with broken, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"A restrained account of fictional conflict","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A disputed border","words":["Line","Bridge"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A broken agreement","words":["Accord","Paper"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered repair","words":["Road","After"]}],"brief":"Choose a name from a place, agreement, or later memory and identify who uses it. Different communities can retain different labels, while the story keeps consequences, reconstruction, and individual experiences visible.","pitfall":"Avoid glorifying real violence or using graphic spectacle as the label.","surface":"a fictional history, a memorial record, and a personal account","story":"The fictional railway is rebuilt with station signs chosen jointly by towns that once used opposing names for the conflict. A memorial keeps a personal account distinct from the official chronology. The event title names a place or agreement without turning suffering into decorative grandeur. Reconstruction supplies a concrete scene in which the name’s meaning can change, while real tactics, endorsement, and graphic spectacle remain outside the exercise."}},{"slug":"battles","label":"Fictional battles","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"schlachten","stems":["Copper","Old","Seven","Empty"],"ends":["Bridge","Field","Gate","Ford"],"rule":"Name an event from a place or witness rather than graphic spectacle.","hook":"Two fictional histories give different names to the day a bridge changed hands.","description":"Name an event from a place or witness rather than graphic spectacle. Start with copper, old, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Place and witness viewpoint","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A crossing","words":["Bridge","Ford"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public landmark","words":["Gate","Field"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A later remembrance","words":["Second","Memory"]}],"brief":"Name the fictional event from a location or witness perspective rather than a graphic description. If accounts disagree, connect their labels explicitly so the reader can investigate the interpretation without misidentifying the event.","pitfall":"Avoid practical tactics or claims about real military events.","surface":"a fictional chronicle, a memorial caption, and a witness letter","story":"Two family letters describe the same crossing on the same day but give the event different names. A later chronicle initially treats them as separate incidents. A bridge repair record supplies the link, leaving the disagreement about interpretation intact. The fictional title now has a clear viewpoint and location, allowing the audience to investigate memory without needing a graphic description or practical account of combat."}},{"slug":"treaties","label":"Treaties","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"vertraege","stems":["Willow","Open","Copper","Bridge"],"ends":["Accord","Compact","Agreement","Pact"],"rule":"Identify the subject of agreement instead of claiming lasting harmony.","hook":"A treaty guarantees that every public map must show both names of a disputed river.","description":"Identify the subject of agreement instead of claiming lasting harmony. Start with willow, open, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The exact subject of agreement","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A shared river","words":["Reed","Bank"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A maintained route","words":["Bridge","Road"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A public naming rule","words":["Map","Name"]}],"brief":"State the limited obligation the agreement creates. A treaty title can name a place or subject while its plain description explains the promise, allowing later disputes without pretending the original document settled every relationship permanently.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting a fictional agreement as legal guidance.","surface":"a fictional document heading, a civic notice, and a negotiation scene","story":"A new public map shows both river names in a type size too small to read. The fictional treaty technically requires both labels, but a resident argues that unreadable compliance defeats the promise. A revised legend gives each equal practical visibility. The agreement’s title stays tied to its narrow subject, showing that the same name can frame an ongoing responsibility without claiming to settle every political relationship."}},{"slug":"prophecies","label":"Prophecies","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"prophezeiungen","stems":["Last","Paper","Unfinished","Quiet"],"ends":["Line","Promise","Verse","Return"],"rule":"Leave room for interpretation without making a real prediction.","hook":"A prophecy is copied with a blank line that every reader thinks they can complete.","description":"Leave room for interpretation without making a real prediction. Start with last, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"What remains open to interpretation","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"An incomplete line","words":["Margin","Verse"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered return","words":["Again","Letter"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A conditional promise","words":["If","Door"]}],"brief":"Give the invented text a form that supports more than one plausible reading. A title should help the audience retrieve the passage without claiming a real prediction or making an arbitrary final interpretation seem inevitable.","pitfall":"Avoid presenting story invention as a genuine supernatural forecast.","surface":"a fictional verse heading, a journal note, and an interpretation scene","story":"Each reader fills the missing line with the answer they most want, and the copied passages begin circulating as different complete texts. A careful archivist preserves the blank and gives the invented verse a title that identifies its uncertainty. A later scene changes how one image is read without pretending that a generated name forecasts real events or makes the final interpretation inevitable."}},{"slug":"legends","label":"Legends","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"legenden","stems":["Lantern","Wayward","Little","Amber"],"ends":["Keeper","Postman","Bridge","Orchard"],"rule":"Decide which detail changes whenever someone retells the story.","hook":"A town’s legend credits its oldest bench with bringing two former rivals together.","description":"Decide which detail changes whenever someone retells the story. Start with lantern, wayward, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The detail that changes in retelling","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A local helper","words":["Keeper","Bridge"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A remembered object","words":["Bell","Letter"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A disputed ending","words":["Second","Again"]}],"brief":"Choose the stable detail that lets listeners recognize the tale and the variable detail that reveals its teller. A local landmark can connect the legend to ordinary life without presenting the invented account as actual folklore.","pitfall":"Avoid claiming an invented legend is a documented historical source.","surface":"a storyteller introduction, a local guide, and a child’s retelling","story":"A visitor asks who first placed the old bench in the square, and every teller credits a different person. The stable object and meeting place keep the tale recognizable while the changing names reveal local loyalties. A collection title identifies the shared story without certifying its history. The next retelling can revise the ending, giving the legend a living fictional role rather than a false claim of documented folklore."}},{"slug":"myths","label":"Myths","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"mythen","stems":["First","Paper","Silver","Open"],"ends":["Door","Star","Seed","Word"],"rule":"Build an invented explanatory tale without passing it off as real folklore.","hook":"A fictional myth explains dawn as a lamp passed between neighboring worlds.","description":"Build an invented explanatory tale without passing it off as real folklore. Start with first, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The invented explanatory question","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A daily appearance","words":["Dawn","Star"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared custom","words":["Door","Welcome"]},{"id":"f3","label":"An original gift","words":["Seed","Word"]}],"brief":"Define the fictional question the tale explains and the community that tells it. A title can point to its central image while the surrounding story stays distinct from claims about a real culture’s beliefs or recorded oral tradition.","pitfall":"Avoid borrowing a real community’s authority for an invented tale.","surface":"a fictional story collection, a narration heading, and a local saying","story":"A child asks why the imaginary dawn lamp is passed between neighboring worlds instead of being kept in one place. Different households tell endings that emphasize generosity, necessity, or friendship. The invented tale’s title preserves the central image while a narrator identifies whose version is being told. The naming choice allows variation without presenting the story as a record of a real community’s beliefs."}},{"slug":"religions","label":"Fictional religions","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"religionen","stems":["Open","Quiet","Willow","Seven"],"ends":["Path","Light","Way","Keeping"],"rule":"Create respectful fictional beliefs rather than flattening real faiths.","hook":"An invented faith marks important promises by planting ordinary trees in public places.","description":"Create respectful fictional beliefs rather than flattening real faiths. Start with open, quiet, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"An invented practice and institution","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A public promise","words":["Vow","Tree"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A shared gathering","words":["Open","Light"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered duty","words":["Keep","Path"]}],"brief":"Design a respectful fictional practice and distinguish it from the organization that maintains it. Individuals can share a tradition while interpreting its duties differently; a group title should not flatten that variation or impersonate a real faith.","pitfall":"Avoid claims of real sacred authority or universal religious meaning.","surface":"a fictional calendar, a gathering notice, and a personal explanation","story":"A public tree planted for a promise is scheduled for removal to make a new road. Members of the invented tradition disagree about whether the commitment belongs to the tree, the place, or the continuing relationship. The institution’s name remains separate from individual names and titles. A respectful fictional practice becomes visible through a decision, without borrowing real religious authority or treating every believer as identical."}},{"slug":"belief-systems","label":"Fictional beliefs","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"glaubensrichtungen","stems":["Small","Shared","Quiet","Open"],"ends":["Measure","Way","Practice","Promise"],"rule":"Distinguish a daily ethical practice from an institution’s official name.","hook":"A fictional philosophy asks every person to leave one public object in better condition.","description":"Distinguish a daily ethical practice from an institution’s official name. Start with small, shared, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Daily ethics and self-description","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"Care for shared things","words":["Mend","Keep"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A voluntary promise","words":["Open","Measure"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A small daily practice","words":["Step","Hands"]}],"brief":"Choose an ordinary ethical practice before naming the fictional philosophy. Distinguish a public institution from a personal commitment, and allow the name to describe an aspiration rather than declare every adherent consistently virtuous.","pitfall":"Avoid turning a belief label into a verdict on a person’s worth.","surface":"a fictional statement, a daily practice note, and a conversation","story":"A character leaves a public object in better condition but forgets to ask whether someone else still needs the original arrangement. The fictional philosophy’s name expresses an aspiration, while the scene tests what careful improvement means. A personal explanation differs from an institutional statement without becoming a contradiction in identity. The title can guide a question rather than declare every adherent consistently virtuous."}},{"slug":"languages","label":"Constructed languages","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"sprachen","stems":["Aven","Orren","Tessan","Veyra"],"ends":["Tongue","Speech","Script","Hand"],"rule":"Invent sound rules and do not present generated words as real translations.","hook":"A constructed language uses different greetings depending on whether a guest will stay for tea.","description":"Invent sound rules and do not present generated words as real translations. Start with aven, orren, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The naming convention of an invented language","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A contact name","words":["Open","Voice"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A writing practice","words":["Script","Hand"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A speaker community","words":["Kin","Word"]}],"brief":"Give the constructed language its own fictional self-name or a clearly labeled working name. Record sound intentions and naming rules separately, and never treat generated labels as verified translations or evidence about a real language.","pitfall":"Avoid random syllables described as linguistically authenticated.","surface":"a fictional glossary, a language register, and a translator note","story":"A guest uses the greeting meant for a brief visit and is mistakenly shown straight to the door before tea. A host explains the invented convention and offers a contact phrase rather than a lecture about an entire language. The constructed language’s working name stays distinct from its script label. The scene illustrates a designed rule without claiming that generated words are verified translations from a real language."}},{"slug":"currencies","label":"Currencies","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"waehrungen","stems":["Copper","Paper","Amber","Small"],"ends":["Mark","Leaf","Token","Note"],"rule":"Keep a fictional denomination distinct from real investment or exchange advice.","hook":"A town’s fictional currency expires only when its printed orchard is cut down.","description":"Keep a fictional denomination distinct from real investment or exchange advice. Start with copper, paper, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Denomination and issuer","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A local token","words":["Leaf","Mark"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public promise","words":["Note","Accord"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A remembered material","words":["Copper","Paper"]}],"brief":"Separate the fictional denomination from the issuer and any ceremonial nickname. A consistent plural and short display form help an inventory or price board, while economic properties belong in the project’s explicit rules.","pitfall":"Avoid real investment, exchange-rate, or financial-value claims.","surface":"a fictional price board, an inventory count, and an issuer note","story":"A fictional note carries an orchard image that is scheduled to be replaced by a public square. Residents debate whether the issuer’s promise concerns the trees themselves or the shared place they represent. The denomination and issuer remain separate on the price board. A stable short form keeps transactions legible in the story, while no claim is made about real value, exchange rates, investments, or financial outcomes."}},{"slug":"ranks","label":"Ranks","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"rangstufen","stems":["Copper","Lantern","Paper","First"],"ends":["Keeper","Reader","Guide","Steward"],"rule":"Make progression and responsibility legible without piling up superlatives.","hook":"A fictional guild awards its highest rank to the member who teaches a replacement.","description":"Make progression and responsibility legible without piling up superlatives. Start with copper, lantern, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"Responsibility within a system","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A learned task","words":["Reader","Guide"]},{"id":"f2","label":"A public duty","words":["Keeper","Steward"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A teaching role","words":["Second","Hands"]}],"brief":"Define what changes in responsibility before choosing a title. Keep levels distinct in rhythm and opening sound, and let the highest rank describe a useful role rather than another unbounded claim of superiority.","pitfall":"Avoid a progression that differs only through decorative superlatives.","surface":"a fictional roster, a progression menu, and a formal introduction","story":"The highest-ranked guild member is asked to teach a replacement, but the trainee already understands a method the teacher never learned. A promotion list uses clear responsibility titles rather than increasingly grand adjectives. The formal introduction and ordinary work roster show the same person in different roles. The rank name can then identify an obligation to help others instead of asserting unlimited personal superiority."}},{"slug":"achievements","label":"Achievements","group":3,"category":"Groups & stories","legacy":"errungenschaften","stems":["Second","Small","Long","Open"],"ends":["Delivery","Detour","Welcome","Return"],"rule":"Name the player’s meaningful action without revealing hidden story details.","hook":"An achievement rewards returning to a minor character after the main journey ends.","description":"Name the player’s meaningful action without revealing hidden story details. Start with second, small, and a setting of your own.","depth":{"focusLabel":"The action worth remembering","focuses":[{"id":"f1","label":"A return visit","words":["Again","Welcome"]},{"id":"f2","label":"An attentive choice","words":["Notice","Keep"]},{"id":"f3","label":"A meaningful detour","words":["Second","Route"]}],"brief":"Name the player’s action or insight while preserving hidden story information. A compact label can gain meaning after completion, but it should not mislead players about whether a routine task or an exceptional decision is being recognized.","pitfall":"Avoid revealing a secret ending in a visible achievement title.","surface":"a game-style notification, a progress list, and a completion note","story":"After the main journey, a player returns to a minor character and finds that an ordinary promised repair is finally complete. The notification’s title recognizes the return without revealing the hidden conversation in advance. A public achievement list uses a restrained phrase that gains meaning afterward. The name honors an attentive action rather than promising a reward or outcome the game’s actual rules do not support."}}]