Story
Chapter 4: Threading
The first composite, Headwind: Repel into Gale. In-world, a composite is a thread: both thumbs stay down from one spell into the next, so the Glass never closes (Story Bible section 7). The code already lets any two learned spells chain; this chapter is the lesson and the first named thread.
The first thread
- Where: [Twinhold first] Lanternfall, a practice floor below the Giving Steps (marker
Event_thread_rook). [Lanternfall first] The wind pass summit, among the windmills (markerEvent_thread_dace). - When:
spell.learned.gale== 1 and, in route A,lanternfall.stage>= 4; in route B,long_road.stage== 4. Setsthread.taught(1 Rook, 2 Dace). - Who: route A: Rook, with Tamsin watching. Route B: Dace, with Rook watching.
- What happens: [Twinhold first] Rook shows how he casts with one arm: he draws one half, holds it open in the Glass, and draws the other half with the same hand. Threading is the same trick between two spells: don't let the Glass close. He threads Repel into Gale with one hand, slowly, and the push lands and then the wind carries the target further back. Tamsin says that's not a Facet trick, the Waymakers do it; Rook says the Waymakers got it from somewhere. [Lanternfall first] Dace teaches it the Waymaker way: what moves keeps its course, so don't stop. Dace draws Repel and runs straight on into Gale without lifting. Rook, watching, says "Huh. That's how I do it with one hand." In both routes, if the player has already threaded something on their own, the teacher notices ("You've done this. Who showed you?" "Nobody." "Course not.") and the lesson is shorter.
- Player does: watch; draw Headwind (Repel into Gale) three times on a practice target, then win a short spar using it.
- Content to make: Yarn
Act2_Thread_Rook,Act2_Thread_Dace,Act2_Thread_Already. Composite dataheadwind.json(Headwind, Repel then Gale; per the spell roadmap: 30 damage, 4 s stagger, the push lands and then the wind carries the target further back; 1,020 ms). Encountersthread_practice_rook(enemycut_glass_dummy) andthread_practice_dace(enemysail_dummy), easy, canLose false. Flagsthread.practiced1 after the spar;composite.known.headwind1 the first time it's cast. - Art and audio: Headwind VFX: Repel's L-shockwave, then Gale's wind blades in the same motion, the target sliding back further than either spell alone. A one-armed casting animation for Rook (one hand, two halves, a held glyph hanging in the air). Practice dummies: a cut-glass post (Lanternfall) and a sail on a frame (the pass). A short "two motifs joined" sting: the Repel brass figure running into the Gale fiddle figure.
- Screens used: glyph prompt (Cast, with a thread guide that shows Repel joined to Gale, (Idea)); Battle; Spell Book (a composites page lists Headwind once found).