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Example — The Three Stones Spring

This example shows a Situation small enough to prepare in a few minutes, yet dense enough to generate play without prescribing scenes or solutions.

In the Wastes, a Lunar work party escorted by Sables is preparing a water station for the road to Moonbroth. Work begins at dawn and, according to the surveyor, requires moving one of the three stones that guard the spring.

The Sables are acting on behalf of Paak the Cunning, Khan of their tribe and an ally of the Lunars. Paak has promised the Empire that the Sables will escort the work party and help it find a spring for this station.

The animals already refuse to drink. The local spirit, Mother-of-Reeds, tolerates drinking from the spring, but not touching the stones. If the great stone is moved, she will leave or take revenge.

The Situation therefore exists before anyone knows which Protagonists will encounter it, or whether they will care about it at all.

Vector​

At dawn, the project moves from surveying to construction. If nothing transforms the Situation, the great stone will be moved and the spring will change.

The Vector does not tell the Protagonists what to do. It simply describes the world's current movement.

Forces​

  • Ostar Varenis, surveyor from the Moonbroth garrison. He wants a water station for the Imperial road. He is not malicious: he does not perceive the spirit and sees an inconvenient stone where an animist might perceive a presence.
  • Hirrak and the Sable escort. They want to honor Paak's word and receive the promised money. Hirrak gave his word before the Khan.
  • Mother-of-Reeds. She tolerates drinking, but not touching the stones. If the stone is moved, she will leave or take revenge.
  • The other tribes. The spring is shared under Praxian custom. A guarded Lunar cistern would change who may drink there.

None of these Forces is designated as the "enemy." Their incompatibility is enough to place the world under tension.

Pressures​

  • Work begins at dawn.
  • The animals already refuse to drink.
  • It is the full moon. On this night alone, an old tradition tied to the spring may manifest.

If no Protagonist intervenes, the porters move the stone in the morning. The spring turns foul for days, and a neighboring tribe accuses the Sables of defiling a spirit place.

What might matter depending on the Protagonists​

Preparation may remind Time of a few truths without turning them into Bets in advance. Their relevance depends entirely on who encounters the Situation and what they are trying to accomplish.

  • A Sable Rider or someone who knows the customs of Prax will know that the three stones are sacred and that the spring is governed by shared tribal customs.
  • An animist, shaman, or someone able to sense spirits may perceive Mother-of-Reeds directly. For others, her existence remains indirect: the animals refuse the water, the water changes, something is wrong.
  • A personal taboo against defiling a spirit place could become a Frame Factor. It does not belong to the Situation until a Protagonist brings it with them.
  • A relationship with Paak, Hirrak, the Sables, the Empire, or the Lunar army may give very different truths weight.
  • A relationship with the Red Moon may make the Full Moon relevant and allow Lunar Influence to pass through a Worldview.
  • A Protagonist concerned with trade, logistics, or usage rights may instead look first at the road, the cistern, the convoy detour, or the future sharing of water.
  • A personal obligation tied to this night — rite, oath, rendezvous, departure — may add a Pressure specific to a Protagonist, but it is not prepared for them in advance.

None of this is a balance yet. The Focus will decide what truly matters, and for which outcome.

Promise​

Under the full moon, tradition says Mother-of-Reeds sometimes shows two moons in the water: the red and a white one. No one knows what the second means.

This Promise belongs to the world, not to the Protagonists. It would remain remarkable whoever stood at this spring that night.

Time therefore does not need to lead the Protagonists toward the image. It only needs to know the image exists if the fiction gives it room to appear.

See what the Situation became​

This Situation was actually played once. Adventures in Prax — The Three Stones Spring shows one possible transformation of this material: the play Verbatim and Time's Backstage allow preparation and emergence to be compared directly. It is not the "solution" to the Situation.