---
creative_pillar: world
always_load_for: [discuss, plan, draft, continuity-check]
authority: project
---

# World

*The setting rules that constrain everything. If it's not in here, don't assume it exists.*

---

## Geography

**Scale:** {{SCALE}} (city, region, continent, planet, multiverse)
**Key locations:**
{{LOCATIONS}}

**Maps/spatial notes:**
{{SPATIAL_NOTES}}

---

## Culture

**Societies:** {{SOCIETIES}} (a high-level list; profile each distinct people in `PEOPLES.md` where it applies)
**Social structure:** {{SOCIAL_STRUCTURE}}
**Languages:** {{LANGUAGES}}
**Customs and traditions:** {{CUSTOMS}}
**Religion/belief systems:** {{BELIEFS}}

---

## Technology / Magic

**Tech level:** {{TECH_LEVEL}}
**Key technologies:** {{KEY_TECH}}
**Magic system (if applicable):** {{MAGIC_SYSTEM}}
**Rules/limitations:** {{RULES}}
**Cost of magic/tech:** {{COST}}

---

## Rules and Laws

**Governing systems:** {{GOVERNMENT}}
**Laws that matter to the story:** {{LAWS}}
**Enforcement:** {{ENFORCEMENT}}
**What's forbidden:** {{FORBIDDEN}}
**What's common but surprising to outsiders:** {{SURPRISING}}

---

## History

**Timeline of events relevant to the story:** {{TIMELINE}}
**Key historical events:** {{EVENTS}}
**How the past shapes the present:** {{PAST_TO_PRESENT}}
**Historical conflicts still active:** {{ACTIVE_CONFLICTS}}

---

## Atmosphere and time

**Climate and seasons:** {{CLIMATE}} (and how the season constrains the story: travel, food, light)
**Weather that matters:** {{WEATHER}}
**Time of day as a rule:** {{TIME_RULES}} (what changes at dawn, dusk, or midnight: gates that close, dangers that wake)

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## Setting as antagonist

How the setting opposes the protagonist. A place can function as a character: the desert that drains, the city that watches, the house that resists.

**What the setting resists or denies:** {{SETTING_OPPOSITION}}
**Obstacles the place itself creates:** {{SETTING_OBSTACLES}}

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## World consistency (internal rules)

What is invented and must stay internally consistent, versus what is assumed from the real world. Readers grant a willing suspension of disbelief only while the world keeps its own rules.

**World type:** {{WORLD_TYPE}} (real-world-grounded, alternate history, or secondary world)
**Invented rules that must never break:** {{SPECULATIVE_RULES}} (magic costs, altered physics, social laws unique to this world)
**Assumed real-world defaults:** {{REAL_DEFAULTS}} (what the reader may take for granted unless stated otherwise)
**The willing-suspension contract:** {{SUSPENSION_CONTRACT}} (the one or two big asks; everything else stays consistent)

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*Update this file as the world develops. Build progressively -- seed questions first, then refine with `/scr:build-world --area <area>`.*