cc-agentic-framework 1.14.1

package/framework/modules/writer/skills/writer/writing-prose/WORLD-BUILDING-RULES.md

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+# World-Building Rules: Consistency and Revelation
+
+> **DEPRECATED:** This content has been migrated to the **building-worlds** skill with significant enhancements.
+>
+> See the new skill at: `framework/modules/writer/skills/writer/building-worlds/`
+> - [SKILL.md](../building-worlds/SKILL.md) - Main skill overview
+> - [CONSISTENCY-PILLARS.md](../building-worlds/CONSISTENCY-PILLARS.md) - The Five Pillars (expanded)
+> - [REVELATION-CHECKLIST.md](../building-worlds/REVELATION-CHECKLIST.md) - Information pacing (expanded)
+>
+> This file is retained for backwards compatibility and will be removed in a future version.
+
+---
+
+This document provides frameworks for building coherent fantasy worlds without exposition dumps, maintaining internal consistency, and revealing history organically.
+
+## Core World-Building Principles
+
+### The Iceberg Principle
+
+**Rule:** Show 10%, imply 90%. The world should feel deeper than what's on the page.
+
+**Above Water (Visible to Reader):**
+- Current events and immediate conflicts
+- Physical details of present locations
+- Active characters and their relationships
+- Surface-level cultural practices
+- Direct plot-relevant information
+
+**Below Water (Implied, Never Fully Shown):**
+- Deep history and past ages
+- Distant lands and their politics
+- Complete magical theory
+- Economic systems and trade networks
+- Religious doctrine and philosophy
+- Language evolution and etymology
+- Geological/geographical formation
+- Previous wars and their causes
+
+**Application:**
+
+**Bad (Info-Dump):**
+```
+The Pattern of Amber was created ten thousand years ago by
+Dworkin Barimen, a mysterious figure who may have been one of
+the Lords of Chaos or perhaps a son of the Unicorn itself,
+though scholars disagree on this point. He used the blood of
+the Unicorn to inscribe the Pattern into the fabric of reality,
+creating Amber as the one true city from which all shadow
+worlds are mere reflections. The Pattern grants those of the
+blood of Amber the ability to walk between these shadows,
+traveling to infinite variations of reality. However, walking
+the Pattern is dangerous and has killed many who attempted it.
+```
+
+**Good (Iceberg):**
+```
+"Your father walked the Pattern," she said.
+
+I looked at my hands. The burns were still visible, even
+after three weeks.
+
+"So did I."
+
+She went very still. "You survived."
+
+"Apparently." I flexed my fingers. They still ached when it
+rained. "Dworkin's legacy. The gift that keeps on taking."
+
+"He was mad, you know. When he drew it."
+
+"That would explain a lot."
+```
+
+**Why It Works:**
+- Pattern exists (shown through burns)
+- It's dangerous (survived implies others didn't)
+- It's old (Dworkin is historical figure)
+- It has costs (burns, aching)
+- Characters know more than they say (iceberg below)
+- Reader learns through dialogue, not lecture
+
+## The Five Consistency Pillars
+
+### 1. Magic Has Costs
+
+**Rule:** Every use of power requires payment. No free lunch.
+
+**Cost Types:**
+- **Physical:** Exhaustion, injury, aging, death
+- **Mental:** Sanity, memory, personality changes
+- **Social:** Reputation, relationships, political standing
+- **Material:** Rare components, artifacts consumed
+- **Temporal:** Time required, missed opportunities
+- **Moral:** Ethical compromises, corruption
+
+**Application:**
+
+**Bad (Consequence-Free):**
+```
+I waved my hand and healed her wounds. Then I teleported us
+both to safety. After that, I summoned a storm to destroy our
+enemies. Magic was convenient like that.
+```
+
+**Good (Costs Applied):**
+```
+Healing her would take everything I had left. And probably some
+I didn't have. The Pattern's power wasn't free—it took payment
+in blood and will and pieces of yourself you didn't always get
+back.
+
+I knelt beside her and placed my hands on the wound. The power
+flowed. So did the pain.
+
+By the time I finished, I was on my back staring at the sky,
+wondering if I'd ever feel my fingers again. Worth it, though.
+She was breathing.
+
+Teleporting was out of the question. We'd walk. Slowly.
+```
+
+**Consistency Check:**
+- Same power costs roughly the same each time
+- Stronger effects cost proportionally more
+- Costs are meaningful to character
+- Reader can anticipate consequences
+- Temptation to use power is real (otherwise why have costs?)
+
+### 2. Geography Matters
+
+**Rule:** Distance, terrain, and environment are real constraints.
+
+**Geographic Elements:**
+- **Distance:** Travel takes time, impacts logistics
+- **Terrain:** Mountains, rivers, forests affect movement
+- **Climate:** Weather and seasons are consistent
+- **Resources:** Locations have specific advantages/scarcities
+- **Borders:** Natural and political boundaries exist
+
+**Application:**
+
+**Bad (Ignored Geography):**
+```
+We traveled from the northern mountains to the southern desert.
+It took about a day. Then we went to the eastern islands, which
+took another day or so.
+```
+
+**Good (Geography Constrains):**
+```
+"The desert is three weeks south. In summer. If we don't hit
+storms." She studied the map. "Winter travel? Five weeks minimum,
+and that's if the passes stay clear."
+
+"We don't have five weeks."
+
+"Then we don't have the desert. Geography doesn't negotiate."
+
+She was right. We'd have to find another way. The world didn't
+rearrange itself for convenience, no matter how urgent the need.
+```
+
+**Consistency Check:**
+- Same journey takes similar time each instance
+- Terrain affects difficulty and duration
+- Characters plan for logistics (food, water, supplies)
+- Seasons impact travel options
+- Geography influences culture and politics
+
+### 3. History Has Weight
+
+**Rule:** Past events cast long shadows. Consequences persist.
+
+**Historical Impact:**
+- **Physical:** Ruins, modified landscape, remaining artifacts
+- **Political:** Current borders reflect old conflicts
+- **Cultural:** Traditions echo historical events
+- **Personal:** Family histories shape present characters
+- **Linguistic:** Place names carry historical meaning
+
+**Application:**
+
+**Bad (History Ignored):**
+```
+There was a great war a thousand years ago. Nobody really
+remembers it now, and it doesn't affect anything in the present.
+```
+
+**Good (History Persists):**
+```
+The border followed the river. It had followed the river for
+three hundred years, ever since the Treaty of Ashenfell ended
+the Succession Wars.
+
+"Wars" plural. It had taken four tries before everyone was
+tired enough to stop. The river had run red so many times they'd
+renamed it. Blood Water. Subtle.
+
+The older generation still wouldn't cross it without iron in
+their hands. Couldn't blame them. Some memories don't fade just
+because the signing parties are all dead.
+```
+
+**Consistency Check:**
+- Major historical events have lasting consequences
+- Characters reference history naturally
+- Physical evidence supports historical claims
+- Cultural attitudes reflect past trauma/triumph
+- Timeline is internally consistent
+
+### 4. Cultures Have Internal Logic
+
+**Rule:** Every custom, belief, and practice exists for a reason.
+
+**Cultural Elements:**
+- **Practical origins:** Most traditions start with survival
+- **Environmental factors:** Climate shapes culture
+- **Historical events:** Traumas create taboos
+- **Resource distribution:** Scarcity drives values
+- **Belief systems:** Religion explains what science can't
+
+**Application:**
+
+**Bad (Random Customs):**
+```
+The northern people always wore blue on Thursdays and never
+ate fish. Nobody knew why. It was just tradition.
+```
+
+**Good (Logical Customs):**
+```
+The northern clans wore blue. Always. It was the color of ice,
+and ice was sacred—it was what protected them from the things
+that lived in the deep forests. Wear the ice's color, carry the
+ice's protection.
+
+Made sense, in a superstitious kind of way. But then again,
+I'd seen what lived in those forests. Maybe it wasn't superstition.
+
+Fish, though. They didn't eat fish. That one was practical. The
+fish in the northern rivers carried parasites that could kill
+you in three days. Tradition was just "don't eat the deadly fish"
+wrapped in cultural packaging.
+```
+
+**Consistency Check:**
+- Customs can be traced to practical origins
+- Beliefs reflect environment and history
+- Taboos usually prevent real dangers
+- Values align with survival needs
+- Different cultures have different logic, all internally consistent
+
+### 5. Power Has Limits
+
+**Rule:** No character is omnipotent. Everyone has weaknesses.
+
+**Limitation Types:**
+- **Scope:** Can affect X but not Y
+- **Duration:** Effect lasts limited time
+- **Range:** Must be close/can work at distance
+- **Knowledge:** Doesn't know how to do something
+- **Permission:** Not allowed by rules/society/magic itself
+- **Personal:** Moral lines they won't cross
+
+**Application:**
+
+**Bad (Omnipotent Character):**
+```
+The wizard could do anything. He reshaped reality with a thought,
+traveled through time, raised the dead, and knew everything that
+would happen. But he chose not to interfere because... reasons.
+```
+
+**Good (Limited Power):**
+```
+"Can't you just teleport us out?" she asked.
+
+"To where? I need to know the destination. Precisely. Down to
+the foot. Teleporting blind is a great way to end up inside a
+wall."
+
+"Then scry for a safe location."
+
+"Scrying takes an hour and a clear mind. We have neither." I
+checked the door. Still locked, but that wouldn't last. "We're
+walking. Fast."
+
+"What good is magic if you can't use it when you need it?"
+
+"That's what everyone asks. Right before they die trying."
+```
+
+**Consistency Check:**
+- Powerful characters have defined limitations
+- Limitations create tension and challenge
+- Can't solve every problem with same solution
+- Power's absence must be justified in-world
+- Weaknesses are real, not just plot convenience
+
+## Revelation Strategies
+
+### First Third: Fragments and Mysteries
+
+**Goal:** Establish that the world is deeper than surface. Create questions.
+
+**Techniques:**
+- Partial information through dialogue
+- Contradictory accounts of history
+- References to events/places without explanation
+- Characters withhold information naturally
+- Physical evidence of unknown origins
+
+**Example:**
+```
+"The old kingdom fell three ages ago," the scholar said.
+
+"Five ages," the warrior corrected. "My people remember."
+
+They both looked at the statue. It was older than either estimate.
+I didn't mention that. Wasn't my argument to settle.
+
+But I made note. Someone's history was wrong. Or incomplete.
+Possibly both.
+```
+
+**Effect:** Reader knows there's more to learn. Mysteries established.
+
+### Second Third: Connections Form
+
+**Goal:** Start answering questions. Reveal patterns. Create new questions.
+
+**Techniques:**
+- Information from multiple sources converges
+- Historical parallels to current events become clear
+- Earlier clues gain new meaning
+- Characters piece together implications
+- Reader stays one step ahead or behind POV
+
+**Example:**
+```
+The border followed the river. That much I'd known. What I
+hadn't known was why the river bent in that unnatural curve
+near Ashenfell.
+
+"They redirected it," she said, pointing to the map. "After
+the third war. Dammed it here, cut a new channel there. Changed
+the border without changing the treaty."
+
+I stared at the map. "That's—"
+
+"Brilliant? Insane? Both?" She traced the new river path. "It
+gave them three hundred miles of territory the treaty said
+belonged to their enemies. All perfectly legal."
+
+The statue. The one that was older than either history claimed.
+It stood in the river bend. The old river bend.
+
+"Someone remembers," I said quietly.
+
+"Someone always does."
+```
+
+**Effect:** Earlier mystery (statue age) connects to new information (redirected river). Pattern emerges.
+
+### Final Third: Full Picture Revealed
+
+**Goal:** Deliver payoff. Answer major questions. Provide satisfying resolution.
+
+**Techniques:**
+- Direct revelation from authoritative source
+- POV assembles all clues into complete picture
+- Historical flashback (used sparingly)
+- Document/artifact provides missing piece
+- Enemy explains their perspective
+
+**Example:**
+```
+"You want to know why the histories disagree?" The ancient
+looked at me with eyes that had seen centuries. "Because they're
+all true. And all false."
+
+I waited. Ancient beings loved their dramatic pauses.
+
+"The kingdom fell three ages ago. Political collapse. The warrior
+peoples remember five ages because that's when the war started—
+the war that led to the collapse. The statue predates both because
+it wasn't built for that kingdom. It was built for the one before."
+
+"How many—"
+
+"Kingdoms? Seven. That we know of. Possibly more." He gestured
+at the valley. "All in this same place. Building on the ruins of
+what came before. Rewriting the histories to make themselves the
+first. The only. The true."
+
+"So our kingdom—"
+
+"Will fall, like all the others. Something will rise in its place.
+They'll find our statues and argue about how old they are. The
+cycle continues."
+
+"That's bleak."
+
+"That's time. Whether you're ready or not."
+```
+
+**Effect:** Complete answer to earlier questions. But opens new ones (seven kingdoms? more?). Satisfying while maintaining mystery.
+
+## World-Building Through Different Elements
+
+### Through Objects
+
+**Technique:** Artifacts tell stories without exposition.
+
+**Example:**
+```
+The sword was older than the kingdom. You could tell by the
+metalwork—too fine for modern forges, too simple for ancient
+ones. Middle period. Third Age, maybe Fourth.
+
+The blade had been reforged. Multiple times. You could see the
+layers if you knew where to look. Each generation had reshaped
+it slightly, adapting the balance to new fighting styles. But
+the core remained. Somebody's great-great-grandfather had carried
+this.
+
+Now it was mine. That came with weight. The physical kind, and
+the other kind.
+```
+
+**What It Reveals:**
+- Multiple historical periods exist
+- Craftsmanship quality varies by age
+- Fighting styles have evolved
+- Family legacy matters
+- Inheritance carries obligation
+
+### Through Language
+
+**Technique:** Names, phrases, and speech patterns encode history.
+
+**Example:**
+```
+"The Scar." That's what she called it. Everyone from the north
+called it that.
+
+Everyone from the south called it "the Redemption Valley."
+
+Same place. Two names. Two very different memories of the same
+war. The north remembered losing. The south remembered winning.
+
+I called it "the border" and tried not to pick sides. Hard to
+stay neutral when language itself had chosen teams.
+```
+
+**What It Reveals:**
+- Major conflict in past
+- Different cultural perspectives persist
+- Language reflects bias
+- Border has symbolic weight
+- Neutrality is difficult
+
+### Through Character Knowledge
+
+**Technique:** What characters know/don't know reveals social structure.
+
+**Example:**
+```
+"You can't read this?" She stared at me like I'd admitted to
+not knowing which end of a sword was pointy.
+
+"It's Old Tongue. Nobody speaks Old Tongue anymore."
+
+"Nobles do. It's part of our education." She looked at the text
+again. "You really can't read any of this?"
+
+"I really can't."
+
+That shifted something in how she saw me. Lower class. Common
+born. It shouldn't have mattered, but it did. Education was
+privilege, and privilege was power.
+
+I could kill her twelve different ways without using a weapon.
+But I couldn't read her grandfather's diary.
+
+Priorities were funny things.
+```
+
+**What It Reveals:**
+- Class divisions exist
+- Education stratified by status
+- Old language preserved by elite
+- Combat skill vs. academic knowledge
+- Character's background and biases
+
+### Through Environment
+
+**Technique:** Physical world reflects magical/historical forces.
+
+**Example:**
+```
+The trees near the Pattern grew wrong. Twisted. Branches bent
+at angles that shouldn't work, shouldn't support their own weight.
+But they did. Because the Pattern said they did.
+
+Reality was negotiable this close to the source. Physics became
+suggestions. The air tasted electric, like before a storm that
+never broke.
+
+Animals avoided it. Smart animals. The ones that didn't avoid
+it changed. Got stranger. Sometimes got dangerous.
+
+We walked through quickly. You didn't linger near the Pattern
+unless you had business there. And business with the Pattern
+usually ended badly.
+```
+
+**What It Reveals:**
+- Magic affects physical world
+- Pattern is powerful and dangerous
+- Animals respond to magic
+- Characters respect/fear the power
+- World follows rules (reality negotiable near source)
+
+## Common World-Building Mistakes
+
+### Mistake 1: The Exposition Dump
+
+**Problem:**
+```
+"As you know," the professor lectured, "our world was created
+by the ancient gods who descended from the celestial realm to
+forge reality from chaos. They established the seven kingdoms,
+each ruled by one of their chosen bloodlines. The magic system
+works by channeling ambient energy through crystalline focuses
+that must be aligned with the planetary conjunctions. The Great
+War of 1247 changed everything when..."
+```
+
+**Solution:**
+Reveal information through conflict, discovery, or necessity. Never "as you know."
+
+**Fixed:**
+```
+"Where'd you learn to do that?" she asked.
+
+I looked at the crystal. It was still glowing faintly. "Family
+trick. My grandfather could channel without a focus, but I'm not
+that good."
+
+"The alignment's wrong." She pointed at the stars. "Junction's
+not for another week. You shouldn't be able to—"
+
+"I know." That was the problem. Either I was getting stronger,
+or the rules were changing.
+
+Neither option was reassuring.
+```
+
+### Mistake 2: Cultures Without Logic
+
+**Problem:**
+```
+The Northerners always wore purple on the third Tuesday of every
+month and refused to touch copper. Nobody knew why. It was just
+their weird culture.
+```
+
+**Solution:**
+Every custom has origin. If you don't know it, character shouldn't mention it.
+
+**Fixed:**
+```
+The Northerners wore purple in winter. Made sense when you
+thought about it—purple dye came from the frost lichen that
+only grew in snow. Wearing it was displaying wealth, proof you
+could afford something that only existed for three months a year.
+
+The copper thing was practical. Northern water had high copper
+content. They'd evolved resistance, but copper tools still poisoned
+their food. So they used iron. Different tools, different cooking,
+different taste.
+
+Culture was just survival with better marketing.
+```
+
+### Mistake 3: Inconsistent Magic
+
+**Problem:**
+```
+Chapter 3: "Magic is very difficult and exhausting."
+Chapter 15: [Character uses magic constantly with no fatigue]
+Chapter 27: "I'm too exhausted to use magic."
+```
+
+**Solution:**
+Establish costs early. Apply them consistently. Track usage.
+
+**Fixed:**
+Establish in Chapter 3: "Small magic—lights, minor illusions—that I could do all day. Healing, teleportation, combat magic? That took pieces of me I didn't get back easily."
+
+Apply in Chapter 15: "I'd lit our way for three hours. It was taking a toll—headache building behind my eyes, fingers starting to numb. Small magic, but sustained. I'd pay for it tomorrow."
+
+Apply in Chapter 27: "I'd already healed twice and teleported once today. Another use of the Pattern's power and I'd be unconscious for a week. If I was lucky."
+
+### Mistake 4: History Without Consequences
+
+**Problem:**
+```
+"There was a huge devastating war 20 years ago that killed
+half the population."
+[Everyone lives in perfect cities, no signs of war, economy
+thriving, population normal]
+```
+
+**Solution:**
+Major events leave marks. Show them.
+
+**Fixed:**
+```
+The city was half empty. After the war, people just... never
+came back. The population was a third of what it had been. You
+could see it in the empty buildings, the streets too wide for
+the current traffic.
+
+The orphan generation was coming of age now. Twenty years old,
+give or take. No parents. Raised by whoever had survived. They
+had a look—not broken, exactly, but hard. Like they'd learned
+early that nothing was permanent.
+
+The economy had adapted. Fewer people meant fewer workers meant
+higher wages. That meant more automation, more magic use, more
+desperate innovation. Silver linings, if you squinted.
+
+But you couldn't rebuild trust. That took generations.
+```
+
+## World-Building Checklist
+
+Before publishing any world-building details:
+
+- [ ] Information revealed through action or necessity, not lecture
+- [ ] Characters never explain what they both know
+- [ ] Magic system has clear costs, consistently applied
+- [ ] Geography affects travel, logistics, culture, politics
+- [ ] Historical events have lasting visible consequences
+- [ ] Cultural practices have logical origins (even if not explained)
+- [ ] All powerful characters have meaningful limitations
+- [ ] Mysteries established early connect to later revelations
+- [ ] 10% shown, 90% implied (iceberg principle)
+- [ ] Different cultures have distinct but internally logical worldviews
+- [ ] Artifacts, language, environment reveal history organically
+- [ ] No exposition dumps disguised as dialogue
+- [ ] World serves story, not the reverse
+
+## World-Building Depth Template
+
+Use this template for major world elements:
+
+```
+ELEMENT: [Magic system/Culture/Historical event/Geography/etc]
+
+SURFACE (What Reader Sees):
+- [Immediate visible effects]
+- [How characters interact with it]
+- [Direct plot relevance]
+
+MIDDLE (What Reader Infers):
+- [Implied origins]
+- [Logical extensions]
+- [Connections to other elements]
+
+DEEP (What You Know But Don't Tell):
+- [Complete history]
+- [Full mechanical explanation]
+- [Long-term implications]
+- [Exceptions and edge cases]
+
+REVELATION PLAN:
+- First third: [What hints to drop]
+- Second third: [What connections to make clear]
+- Final third: [What full explanations to provide]
+
+CONSISTENCY RULES:
+- [Non-negotiable facts that never change]
+- [How it interacts with other world elements]
+- [What costs/limits apply]
+```
+
+---
+
+**Next:** See [examples/](./examples/) directory for extended annotated examples of Zelazny style, Tolkien style, and blended accessible prose.