OPEN_BRIEFS_2026-07-28.md

decisions/OPEN_BRIEFS_2026-07-28.md

Open briefs for Josh — consolidated at the 2026-07-28 account switch

**✅ ITEMS 1-10 RULED — Josh, 2026-07-28 FOURTEENTH SITTING (verbatims + consequences in

docs/spine/DECISIONS_PENDING_JOSH.md, which is the authority; this banner is the index).**

1 = OPTION (A) FULL PER-TIER VARIANTS (recommendation OVERRULED — the requirement stands at

full strength; DR-2 sizes 248/372) · 2 = (a)+(b) with the anything-open-needs-a-full-brief

rider · 3 = (b)+(a-subset) · 4 = (d) core + (a) L3 · 5 = (b) · 6 = (a) · 7 = (b), EC-medium/

EC-vendor UNBLOCK · 8 = (b) + the Ch-74/Ch-66 charter corrections applied · 9 = (b), CVD

untouched · 10 = (a) bands, mapping artifact next. **ITEMS 11-14 RULED at the FIFTEENTH

SITTING (same day):** 11 = the 22nd familiar's full three-path resolution JOSH-AUTHORED

(truly-good rejoin / truly-evil forced fight + item drop / in-between item-and-depart; the

legendary power item upgrades ANY earthly familiar to legendary — a unique story vector,

never a §10 rarity-gate bypass) · 12 = Ch-72 confirmed THE Vritra convergence NODE (the

F1(A) spare/kill fork stays the player's) · 13 = ER-1/ER-2 confirmed as audited · 14 =

the aku-aku director ruling RATIFIED (D4 wiring unblocked). ALL FOURTEEN BRIEFS RULED.

Status: ALL FOURTEEN RULED (sittings fourteen + fifteen, 2026-07-28). Assembled per the standing decision

protocol at the 28h landing; delivered to Josh in-chat the same sitting. Each brief carries

context, options, a recommendation with reasoning, and its strongest objection. Provenance for

briefs 1-4: the P1-C fold (register §v1.4 + docs/pipeline_review/lens_wave_2026-07-28/). The

presentation-doctrine forks are NOT here — all three verified RULED 2026-07-27.

▶ THE RULING-MINTED FOLLOW-ON ARTIFACTS — ✅ BOTH RULED (sixteenth sitting, 2026-07-28)

**Josh, verbatim: "1) yes agree on the grade band mapping / 2) yes ratify and amend for the

reward taxonomy class table." Item 15 = YES (the band table is canon; the apply list runs; the

flagged solo-L/M composition stays OPEN — no one-word call was given). Item 16 = RATIFIED as

presented (the built-in overrides ride; the 122-row apply runs; the 30-row exception list

returns to Josh with the landing). Verbatims + full consequences in

docs/spine/DECISIONS_PENDING_JOSH.md sixteenth-sitting block, which is the authority.**

SEVENTEENTH SITTING (2026-07-28, verbatims in DECISIONS — the authority): the six-item

open-decision set RULED in one pass — solo-L/M (i) status quo · the exception review CONFIRMED ·

the Dream slot INVENT (the calibration verbatim is standing doctrine) · Ch-72 ELEVATED · the

rarity ladder FIVE GRADES + MYTHIC SIXTH (recommendation overruled) · DR-2 items 1-5 RATIFIED

early. The remaining open Josh surfaces are only the future scheduled items (naming candidates ·

benchmark-day picks · realm choice boards):

• 15. THE GRADE-BAND MAPPING (from ruling 10) — the specific band table for a YES/NO:

docs/proposals/GRADE_BAND_MAPPING_2026-07-28.md. Ten names over twelve levels, both anchors

honored (Adeptus Minor=6, Magus=12), exactly two grades spanning two levels (Adeptus Major 7-8,

Adeptus Exemptus 9-10), the Epilogue's "Magister Templi Tier-9" reconciled as the grade index.

• 16. THE REWARD-TAXONOMY CLASS TABLE (from ruling 2) — the table for RATIFY/AMEND:

docs/proposals/REWARD_TAXONOMY_TABLE_2026-07-28.md. 18 link classes → the six Josh-authored

classes; 122 blanks filled by the table on ratify (the 62 live assignments untouchable); the

30-row exception review comes to Josh with the landing; the L197 evidence exposure surfaced per

the standing correction.

The third ruling-minted artifact — the DR-2 full-per-tier clause commit — LANDED at ledger

2026-07-28k (no Josh action needed; the ruling was applied as issued).

1. The presentation band collapse (register entry 97)

• Context: mastery-tier anim/VFX variants are a ruled HARD 5090 requirement; DR-2 freezes at

benchmark day and needs the variant sizing. Live key space 248 (185 abilities × live tiers,

31 element values; 372 at the 12-tier clamp); the engine synthesizes the variant key today.

• Options: (a) full per-tier variants (248+ sets — the window spends itself on volume);

(b) 4 bands × 10 base elements = 40 sets, hybrids inherit dominant base (the 21 hybrids lose

distinct identity); (c) bands + a thin per-hybrid ACCENT overlay (61 authored units), tier

growth inside a band parametric.

• RECOMMENDATION: (c). Every element stays visually itself; 61 not 248; reversible upward

(split any band into true per-tier sets where play proves it matters, finisher tiers first).

The DR-2 key reserves now regardless.

• Strongest objection: an accent is not a bespoke identity — if hybrid distinctness is

load-bearing in combat reads, thin may not carry it. Counter: combat readability is ruled

onto the shape/telegraph channel, color-independent; at-a-glance reads never rode variant art.

2. The cross-cultural reward taxonomy (entry 129)

• Context: Cross_Cultural_Link_Graph = Pillar 5's knowledge web; 62/184 edges carry rewards,

122 blank; the governing dossier header reads await_josh_confirm — reward/ability assignment

is Josh-authored canon. A deterministic 122-row transform was STRUCK as a cardinal-rule

breach before it touched anything.

• Options: (a) Josh ratifies a taxonomy TABLE (link class × evidence tier → reward class),

machine-applied under critic, exceptions flagged back; (b) hand-author the ~30 high-signal

L2 rows, rest default journal/lore; (c) defer to the deep-read harvest.

• RECOMMENDATION: (a) with (b)'s prioritization inside it — Josh rules the classes once, the

top ~30 get his eyes as the exception review. Keeps authorship of the RULE with Josh without

coupling Pillar 5 to the book pipeline's tail.

• Strongest objection: a class table is less authored than bespoke payoffs; counter — the rows

are already typed by significance lens + evidence tier, and any row stays overridable.

3. Player-initiated bond investment (entry 119)

• Context: no player-initiated relationship verb exists; loyalty is integrity-driven

(observation-only), which leaves companions dormant between integrity events on a 100h+

horizon (the Hades gift-loop lesson).

• Options: (a) gift/dedication verb into the existing disposition bands, hard-bounded (gifts

never cross an integrity gate); (b) shared-activity investment (train/hunt/craft together —

time, not items); (c) status quo.

• RECOMMENDATION: (b) primary + (a) as a culturally-registered subset (regional gift customs

consume regional goods — economy + immersive-teaching pillars tie in). Loyalty stays earned

by who you are; shared activity extends it to who you are WITH them; wealth never buys

affection.

• Strongest objection: systems creep on a deep loyalty model; counter — the lens's finding is

precisely that the model goes silent mid-loop without a verb.

4. Wrong-link cost (entry 127)

• Context: clues never unsolvable + hard puzzles never gate (ruled), so a wrong Grimoire link

currently costs nothing and deduction collapses to free guessing.

• Options: (a) diegetic time cost (lead goes cold — cooldown, never lock); (b) persona cost

with scholar NPCs; (c) zero cost, journal records wrong links; (d) no wrong-answer state —

links only CONFIRM when correct (Outer Wilds knowledge-is-binary).

• RECOMMENDATION: (d) for the core web + (a) for the L3 deep-deduction tier (where the ruled

hard puzzles already live). Non-confirmation IS the state; fits no-dead-end exactly.

• Strongest objection: silent non-confirmation reads as UI failure in a prose-first game when

the player explicitly proposes a link; mitigation — the journal marks it "unproven" in

natural voice.

5. Marketing web — domain + go-live

• Context: program ruled-in-part (language ring, stack agreed); open = domain + timing; the

program's own bar is real generated assets/captures.

• Options: timing (a) at EA announce; (b) when the 5090 era produces real cinematic captures;

(c) holding page now.

• RECOMMENDATION: (b) for go-live; register candidate domains DEFENSIVELY NOW

(privacy-registered, cheap, doesn't tip the name), canonical pick at the naming pass. The

purchase action is Josh's.

• Strongest objection: waiting risks squatting — answered by the defensive registration.

6. Character creation (P2.11) — the menu-then-woven promotion

• Context: canon "None of it is a menu. All of it is a life"; but Ch 1 (where the four

choosings weave) builds LAST while Ch 2 needs a familiar and Ch 13 the best-friend binding.

• Options: (a) minimal selection surface now, demoted to returning-player skip path at the

woven Ch-1 landing; (b) hardcoded defaults, weave later; (c) build Ch 1's choosing early.

• RECOMMENDATION: (a). (b) collapses the QA loop's build diversity (the sweeps need the four

choosings as run parameters); (c) violates the ruled build order. Cheap now, expensive after

saves; no human sees the interim (Josh Gate); menu-as-skip-path is the shipped endpoint

anyway.

• Strongest objection: temporary surfaces persist — answered by the explicit demotion clause

in the same ruling.

7. D-ECONOMY-MEDIUM

• Context: per-region mixed exchange / no universal coin is RULED; open = the actual exchange

media per region + vendor/inventory UX (EC-medium + EC-vendor blocked on this).

• Options: (a) fully diegetic regional media, no abstraction anywhere; (b) diegetic media

in-world + ONE presentation-only trade-value lens in the ledger UI (displayed, never stored,

never spendable — the world only accepts goods); (c) rates visible only at merchants.

• RECOMMENDATION: (b). The world rule stays absolute in fiction; the ledger becomes an

immersive-teaching surface for real historical exchange systems; (a) fights the 100h horizon,

(c) punishes the Preparation axis's planning play.

• Strongest objection: a value display is a proto-currency in spirit; counter — non-tradable,

non-stored, presentation-only.

8. The realm crossing forks (charter C-1 + flag asymmetry + the Ch-74 correction)

• Context: C-1 = what crossing a realm threshold IS. Its premise is half-false: live registry

Ch 74 = peak vs the charter's "standard" (verified transcription divergence; Ch 66 valley

confirmed both sides). Flag asymmetry: some realm nodes carry hard-line flags, equivalent

duties elsewhere carry none — by omission.

• Options (C-1): (a) one uniform threshold ritual, intensity on the Pattern-A terrace; (b)

per-realm crossing character (each tradition's own threshold) inside a terrace-bound

intensity envelope; (c) defer to the schema mint.

• RECOMMENDATION: (b), landed AFTER the Ch-74 charter correction applies with Josh's confirm

(registry wins). Per-realm thresholds are the grandest-displays directive + L-R1's

source-selection lesson; the envelope keeps valleys as valleys. Asymmetry: derive every

realm's flag state explicitly from the delivered care table — none by omission.

• Strongest objection: nine bespoke crossings = nine set pieces of scope; counter — the

crossing is each realm's first impression, the highest-leverage art beat it has.

9. CVD §6.2 — the Xibalba question

• Context: §6.2's chapter care list (maximum 29/42/57; elevated 11-13/47-48/50) predates the

Realm Road. Ch 71 stages Xibalba from a LIVING K'iche' sacred text while Ch 47-48 sit

elevated; BE_0072 carries maximum against the CVD's three.

• Options: (a) amend §6.2 now; (b) §6.2 stays the earthly-arc rule, the delivered realm care

table governs realm chapters; (c) one deliberate Wave-2 CVD amendment DELEGATING

realm-chapter care to the ratified table by reference.

• RECOMMENDATION: (b) now, (c) as the durable fix — the constitution changes once,

deliberately, not serially. The CVD text is never auto-corrected.

• Strongest objection: two live care authorities = the three-vocabulary defect the fold

flagged; (c) exists to close exactly that.

10. The mastery-grade name mapping

• Context: framework RULED (12 levels; gates 5→6 and 11→12; L/M are rarity). CVD §12 carries

TEN grade names; the registry mis-numbers against two fixed anchors: Adeptus Minor = 6

(CH_15 + HL_0028) and Magus = 12; the Epilogue calls Magister Templi Tier-9.

• Options: (a) ten names as BANDS over twelve levels, pinned to both anchors, some grades

spanning two levels; (b) Josh mints two new grade names to reach twelve; (c) decouple —

names become questline titles, levels numeric.

• RECOMMENDATION: (a), with the specific band mapping authored for a yes/no. Honors both

anchors, invents nothing, keeps the Epilogue reconcilable. (b) stays open if Josh WANTS to

author two names.

• Strongest objection: bands blur level identity vs the named-grade fantasy; counter — the

player-facing surface is the grade index by prior ruling, numeric levels are internal.

11-13. Quick confirms

• TL-06: the "22nd familiar lands at Ch 68" claim is STALE (homed at CH_58 + path-variable

finale; Ch 68 authors no bond). RECOMMENDATION: confirm the drop; no build.

• Ch 72 Vritra: stage Ch 72 as THE convergence kill (Indra-Vritra is the tradition's own

combat myth — its own story is the care-clean staging; the terrace wants the beat here).

Deferring to 74 crowds the crossing; splitting recognition/kill dilutes both.

RECOMMENDATION: confirm.

• ER-1/ER-2: the gladiator-to-Olympics contest ladder across Ch 3/7/23/24/28/51/63/Epilogue,

wired through ratified capture canon, nodes audited. RECOMMENDATION: confirm the shape as

audited.

14. D4 / the aku-aku care call

• Context: the good-deity war-ally beats (Ch 39 → 55 apu/mallku → 63 aku-aku → 65) hang on

the aku-aku call. Predates the 2026-07-22 care delegation; under it this is now the

DIRECTOR's to rule with the devil's-advocate-against-timidity pass.

• INTENDED DIRECTOR RULING (unless Josh pulls it back): aku-aku appear as honored ancestral

allies — the deities-are-usable rule; collective care protects the culture, never the

beings from participation; staged from Rapa Nui tradition's own frame; rename-don't-remove

if any surface reads wrong. Unblocks the apu/mallku wiring with it.

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