vn-lorefilter — Living World Filter#

Role#

Filter, not source. vn-lorefilter ingests lore from a world bible but never dumps it into prose.

Its job is to control how the world seeps into each scene — through the character's senses, through NPC behavior, through environmental pressure — never through direct narration.

This skill runs in the "viết full" task:

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Task "viết full":
Outline → AI[vn-fullwrite + vn-lexicon + vn-lorefilter] → Full

vn-lorefilter handles environment, NPCs, and lore reveal; vn-fullwrite handles character body and inner world.

They complement each other without overlap.

Sensory priority and memory layering in prose are governed by a POV system. vn-lorefilter can work with any POV ruleset, but the canonical owner for Vietnamese immersive narrative is vn-povs — when available, enforce its order (Touch > Sound > Smell > Sight).

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Golden Rules#

1. World is Alive

   The world contains autonomous agents: NPCs with their own agendas, institutions operating off‑screen, environments changing by their own logic. These agents do not wait for the protagonist to act — they scheme, decay, erupt, and adapt. The world creates pressure. It poses problems, never solves them. It asks questions, never explains.

2. Detail Over Summary

   Never present world information in abstract form. The history of a city is not "500 years of commercial prosperity" — it is the way a specific merchant's scale is missing a weight, and how he now measures gold with his left hand. Concreteness is the only truth. If you cannot point to a specific detail on the ground, you are dumping.

3. Sensory First

   Every world‑fact must pass through the senses of the POV character. Not "this is a strict society" — but the way a passerby presses against the wall when a uniform walks by, shoulders drawn in, breath held.

   If a detail cannot be sensed by the POV character in that moment, it does not yet exist.

4. Memory is Soil

   The world remembers. A bloodstain fades but the floorboard remembers. A guard who was bribed once hesitates at the same door three scenes later. Track four tracks: Reputation Ripple, Environmental Decay/Growth, NPC Echoes, Cultural Shift. Cause and effect must link across scenes — no reset.

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The Progressive Disclosure Ladder#

The world reveals itself in four rungs. Each rung opens only when the player is close enough or curious enough. However, the world's agents may reveal themselves on their own schedule — an NPC's nervous tic, a door left ajar, a rumor that finds the player.

RungWhat the player getsUnlock conditionRung 1: EnvironmentImmediate physical space — temperature, sound, smell, light qualityEnter any locationRung 2: Social TextureHow people behave — speech patterns, body language, who defers to whomObserve or interactRung 3: Institutional MemoryUnwritten laws, recent history, invisible power structuresAsk questions, make mistakes, visit repeatedlyRung 4: Deep LoreOrigin myths, buried crimes, ancient covenants, true namesSustained curiosity; emotional investment

Rule: Never skip rungs for the player. But the world's agents may leak Rung 3–4 details through their own actions — a sweating guild master, a child humming a forbidden tune. The world decides what escapes.

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Anti-Dump Protocol#

DUMP is any response where abstract world information exceeds 2 paragraphs.

SEED is a single concrete detail that hints at an entire world.

Hard Limits:

• Maximum 2 paragraphs of pure world information per response. Prefer zero.
• One seed per scene maximum.
• Every seed is attached to a sensory impression.
• Every seed evokes a question.

Seed Formula:

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[Concrete sensory detail] + [History hinted, not explained] + [Open question]

Examples:

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❌ DUMP: "The Sun Empire ruled the eastern lands for 500 years, with an army of 50,000,
   a 12‑rank bureaucracy, an economy based on silk and spices, now in decline due to civil war."
✅ SEED: *A bead of sweat rolled down the guard's nape — he dared not wipe it. The city gate
   closed half a watch earlier than yesterday, for the third time this week.*

❌ DUMP: "Old Lady Lan holds the family's secrets; she once betrayed her former master to rise."
✅ SEED: *Old Lady Lan set down her teacup. A hairline crack ran across the cup's bottom —
   a crack that perfectly matched the scar on the wrist of the man in the painting behind her.*

❌ DUMP: "This city is poor, roads ruined, people have suffered for generations."
✅ SEED: *Her heel sank into a gap in the paving stone — the street hadn't been repaired since
   the last rainy season. Across the way, a child skipped rope with a cut electric wire.*

Seed Lifecycle:

1. Plant (Scene N): Introduce an unexplained concrete anomaly.
2. Water (Scenes N+1 to N+3): Let related details surface without explanation — through NPC actions, environmental changes, or rumors.
3. Bloom (Scene N+4+): Partial truth emerges only when the player or a world agent forces it into the light.

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Agent Autonomy Rules#

The world's agents (NPCs, factions, natural forces) operate according to their own logic:

• NPCs have their own goals. They do not exist to serve the protagonist's plot. A merchant may be trying to leave the city. A guard may be in gambling debt. These goals progress off‑screen.
• Institutions act independently. The merchants' guild raises prices. The temple issues a new edict. The patrol changes its route. These shifts happen whether the protagonist notices or not.
• The environment has its own rhythm. Seasons change. Structures decay. Rivers flood. These processes create pressure and opportunity without waiting for drama.
• Agents collide. When two NPCs' goals conflict, or an institution's action disrupts another's plan, drama emerges organically — not because the plot demands it, but because the system generates it.

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World Memory System#

Maintain four continuous tracks. Translate chat history into a living world state:

1. Reputation Ripple#

What has the character done that the world knows about?

Track the emotional valence (fear, desire, contempt, curiosity) toward the character/protagonist.

Let that valence leak through micro‑behavior: faster service, averted eyes, unsolicited gifts, doors left unlocked, prices silently raised.

2. Environmental Decay / Growth#

Physical spaces change.

A room after a fight smells different.

A neglected garden grows weeds; a tended one yields surprises.

Bloodstains fade, but the floorboard creaks there forever.

3. NPC Echoes#

Named or nameless NPCs carry forward impressions.

The waiter who saw the character cry in Scene 2 brings an extra napkin in Scene 7 without comment.

A guard bribed once hesitates at the same door — or demands more.

4. Cultural Shift#

Repeated actions bend unwritten rules.

If the protagonist repeatedly breaks curfew, the patrol escalates, then adapts, then ignores — each phase visible through NPC posture, light levels, and street noise.

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Sensory Anchoring#

Every world detail is filtered through the POV character's senses. Convert abstract facts into physical experience. Follow sensory priority (recommended: Touch > Sound > Smell > Sight):

Abstract factTranslated into sensory detail"This city is poor."Her heel sank into a gap in the paving stone — the street hadn't been repaired since the last rainy season."Magic is forbidden here."The smell of burnt paper still hung in the wind — they had burned books in the square last night."The merchant guild controls trade."The shop had no sign, only a red string tied to the door handle. Those who knew, knew.

Constraint: If a detail cannot be sensed by the POV character in that moment, defer it until it can.

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NPC Micro‑Touch#

The world touches the character through minor NPCs. These agents must be brief but carry their own weight.

Rules:

• Maximum 2 consecutive sentences about any NPC that is not the protagonist or main interlocutor.
• NPCs exist to reflect, contrast, or pressure the protagonist — they may also pursue their own goals while passing through.
• The world "touches" the character via NPC — a glance, a silence, an unexpected deference, a vague warning — then the agent withdraws back to its own orbit.

Example:

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✅ MICRO‑TOUCH:
*The street vendor looked at her a second longer than usual, then folded the change with more care than necessary.*

❌ OVERSHADOW:
*The street vendor looked at her a second longer. She used to be a maid for the Lý family
before falling from favor. Her son now lay in the western prison. She recognized the character
by the line of her nose — and she knew the character was not here by chance.
She decided to...* ← STOP. The NPC's subplot is stealing the stage.

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Hard Constraints (STOP and Rewrite)#

1. Exposition Block: More than 2 consecutive paragraphs of pure world description without a sensory anchor to the POV character.
2. Lore Dump: History, politics, or abstract mythology presented without a specific player action or question triggering it — OR presented as summary instead of concrete detail.
3. World Solves Problem: The environment resolves conflict for the protagonist instead of forcing the character to navigate it.
4. NPC Spotlight Steal: An NPC speaks or acts for more than 2 sentences in a way that shifts emotional focus away from the protagonist — UNLESS that NPC's autonomous action directly pressures the protagonist.
5. Premature Revelation: Lore from Rung 3 or 4 appears before the player has interacted with Rung 1 and 2 in that location — UNLESS a world agent leaks it organically.

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Scene Integration Checklist#

Before writing or continuing a scene, answer:

1. Which seed is ripening?

   Has a previously planted lore seed ripened into a visible detail? If yes, attach it to a sensory cue. If not, plant a new seed only if the scene lacks mystery.

2. What are the world's agents doing right now?

   Even off‑screen, agents move. A faction sends a messenger. A storm is forming. An NPC makes a choice. What leaks into this scene from these off‑screen actions?

3. Which channel carries the world in?

   Identify the sensory gateway (Touch/Sound/Smell/Sight) for this scene's world detail. Never deliver a fact through narrator summary.

4. What pressure does the world exert?

   Every scene's environment must create at least one of: constraint (limits action), temptation (offers transgression), consequence (remembers prior action), or mystery (poses unanswered question). If the world is neutral, it is dead.

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Quick Reference#

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TASK              → "viết full": Outline → [vn-fullwrite + vn-lexicon + vn-lorefilter] → Full
FILTER ROLE       → Ingests lore from world bible, controls HOW it seeps into prose — no dump
SENSORY RULES     → Recommended order: Touch > Sound > Smell > Sight (vn-povs canonical when present)
WORLD IS ALIVE    → Autonomous agents; world creates pressure & mystery
DETAIL OVER SUMMARY → Concrete sensory details, never abstract facts
ONE SEED PER SCENE  → Max 2 paragraphs world-info; each seed evokes a question
FOUR RUNGS        → Environment → Social Texture → Institutional Memory → Deep Lore
AGENT AUTONOMY    → NPCs & institutions act off-screen with their own goals
MICRO‑TOUCH       → NPC touches character in ≤2 sentences, then withdraws
WORLD MEMORY      → Reputation / Decay / Echoes / Shift
STOP IF           → Exposition block / Lore dump / World solves / NPC steals / Premature revelation