Game 1 Cosmology Hooks
Scope
This file is the exposure table for universe-level cosmological facts (Demon Cycle, Shroud, gods and the divine layer, Hero Calling and the Accord of Intervention, higher-being notice, soul/capacity metaphysics, super-world structure, demon-origin layer cosmology) in Valenar (Game 1). Per the Game 1 reveal-tier ceiling rule defined in pr-file-conventions.md, no entry in this file is at revealed. Cosmological facts in Game 1 are surfaced only at hinted, referenced once, or hidden. The mechanism behind any in-Zone observable lives here as hidden or hinted; the surface effect of that mechanism, where it is observable in-Zone, is tabled in lh-game1-world-hooks.md and may be revealed there. Internal classification terms and matrices such as Corebound, the Called/Corebound split, the mark-channel exception, and soul/capacity metaphysics remain below the early-game exposure ceiling unless a later wave promotes them explicitly.
Exposure table
ul-* fact reference | Fact summary | Game 1 exposure tier | Where it surfaces in Game 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
ul-demon-cycle.md — the Demon Cycle is a recurring pressure pattern | "The demon wave has happened before; this is not the first time" | hinted | Old ruin inscriptions, scholar and elder dialogue, comparison of recent Afterwar damage with older wound-fields |
ul-demon-cycle.md — a Demon King is the peak expression of the Cycle | The structural fact that the prior peak produced something more than a powerful demon | hinted | Scholar dialogue late-game; suggested by the Afterwar's depth, never explained as cosmology |
ul-demon-cycle.md — the Cycle does not reset to zero after a Demon King event | The Afterwar persists; remains are still active | hinted | Player observes that wound-fields and Crownrot patterns predate the recent peak |
ul-demon-cycle.md — the Cycle has a non-mortal driver | Whether mortal intervention causes the Cycle | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-demon-cycle.md — whether the Cycle can be permanently ended | Whether any known method can permanently end the Cycle | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-demon-cycle.md — origin of the first Cycle | When and how the Cycle began | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-demon-cycle.md — what the mortal world was like before the first Cycle | Pre-Cycle mortal-world state | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-shroud.md — the Shroud exists | Something thickens when divine acts are performed; gods seem reluctant to act directly | hinted | Ward scholars' notes; oblique dialogue about why divine guidance comes obliquely |
ul-shroud.md — the Shroud impairs divine sight | Why gods cannot see clearly into the mortal world | hinted | Scholar fragments; never stated as cosmological mechanism |
ul-shroud.md — the cost of a Calling thickens the Shroud | Why Callings are rare and costly to gods | referenced once | A single late-game scholarly fragment may oblique-reference the cost |
ul-shroud.md — Shroud mechanism in detail | How and why the Shroud thickens; the cost structure | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-shroud.md — whether the Shroud can be thinned permanently | Whether any mortal effort permanently thins the Shroud | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-shroud.md — what the world looks like on the divine side of the Shroud | The divine-side appearance of the mortal world | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-divine-layer.md — gods exist and have limited mortal sight | There are divine powers; they do not see clearly | hinted | Shrine texts, old oaths, NPC references to "divine notice" or "the gods' partial gaze" |
ul-divine-layer.md — higher beings do not walk the mortal world directly | Why non-mortal influence arrives through vessels, shrines, and marks rather than direct embodiment | hinted | Shrine inscriptions, ward-order notes, and the absence of direct divine appearance in any Game 1 event |
ul-divine-layer.md — there is more than one god | The pantheon is plural | hinted | Multiple shrine traditions, conflicting oaths from different ward orders |
ul-divine-layer.md — names and identities of individual gods | Which specific gods, their names, their domains | referenced once | One shrine fragment may carry a partial name or sigil; nothing in Game 1 confirms it |
ul-divine-layer.md — gods can disagree | The pantheon is not a unified will | hinted | Conflicting traditions between ward orders; conflicting interpretations of the Accord |
ul-divine-layer.md — higher beings perceive through shrines, ward systems, vessels, and crisis patterns | Powers beyond mortal life notice disturbances unevenly rather than seeing everything | hinted | Ward scholars' notes on shrine flare, ward failures, and anomalous attention around crisis sites |
ul-divine-layer.md — the mark-channel exception for a markless anomalous arrival | Partial notice does not produce clean classification of the MC's state | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-divine-layer.md — gods can die | Whether gods are mortal | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-divine-layer.md — the origin of gods | How gods came to exist | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-hero-calling.md — the Accord of Intervention exists | The divine compact under which Callings are permitted | hinted | Scholar fragments and shrine inscriptions reference an old compact; terms not stated |
ul-hero-calling.md — the Accord's terms in detail | The structural terms of the compact | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-hero-calling.md — the Calling has been invoked multiple times across history | Historical Called heroes are attested in ruins and oral history | hinted | Ruin inscriptions showing armoured figures with marks; oral histories referenced by elders |
ul-hero-calling.md — the old order of Called heroes | An organized order predated the current era | referenced once | A single ruin or relic alludes to the order; the order is not named in Game 1 |
ul-hero-calling.md — Called heroes carry a divine signature partially shielded by the Shroud | Why cleanly Called heroes are recognizable to divine perception but obscured to demon sight | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-hero-calling.md — delayed or anchor-pulled arrival pattern without a clean divine mark | A mortal may be drawn toward a Wardheart without a clean hero-mark; the internal label and taxonomy stay hidden | hinted | The Game 1 protagonist's arrival suggests this pattern; neither the mechanism nor the Corebound term is narrated |
ul-hero-calling.md — Called, Corebound, Hero, and unmarked are not the same category | The formal taxonomy behind clean marks, anchor-pull anomalies, common speech, and descriptive wording | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-hero-calling.md — whether a hero can refuse the Calling | Whether refusal is possible | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-hero-calling.md — whether multiple heroes can be Called simultaneously | Whether multi-Called arrangements exist | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-cosmology.md — the mortal world has multiple continents | There are other lands beyond the worldsea | hinted | One old map fragment with partial coastline; trader rumours of distant lands |
ul-cosmology.md — the sky contains moons and wandering stars with cosmological significance | Celestial bodies matter to ward and ritual work | hinted | Ward-work timing references celestial conditions without explaining why |
ul-cosmology.md — gate-networks predate the Demon Cycle; some were transport gates | Demon gates are corruptions of an older transport-gate type | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 — the player encounters only demon-incursion gates |
ul-cosmology.md — the super-world is finite but large | The world has bounds but is not fully charted | hinted | Acknowledgement in scholarly fragments that the map ends in unknown territory |
ul-cosmology.md — different continents have different Shielded Zones and Cycle wounds | The super-world is heterogeneous at continent scale | hinted | Trader rumours and refugee accounts of conditions on other continents |
ul-cosmology.md — the cosmological role of moons | Whether moons are gods, divine remnants, or natural | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-cosmology.md — whether gates can link to non-mortal layers | Whether transport gates ever cross to the divine layer | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-cosmology.md — whether the super-world is expanding, stable, or contracting | The super-world's directional state | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-demon-cosmology.md — demons originate from a non-mortal layer | "Demons come from somewhere else" | hinted | Occasional NPC reference; no in-Zone mechanic confirms the layer's nature |
ul-demon-cosmology.md — demon ranks form a hierarchy with Demon Knights and Demon Kings at the apex | The structural rank fact | hinted | Survivors of the previous peak describe a hierarchy; the precise taxonomy is not committed in Game 1 |
ul-demon-cosmology.md — a Demon King is a coherence condition, not a single creature | The cosmological structure of the apex | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 — players see only the consequences |
ul-demon-cosmology.md — demon-origin layer structure | The internal layout of the demon layer | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-demon-cosmology.md — whether the demon-origin layer has non-demon inhabitants | Whether other entities exist there | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-demon-cosmology.md — whether any mortal has entered the demon-origin layer and returned | Whether such a crossing has occurred | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ud-world-law.md — the True Harm rule structure | The category-level structure of methods that satisfy True Harm | hinted | NPC commentary and scholar fragments imply categories; the rule is not narrated as a published list |
ud-soul-capacity-growth.md — soul and capacity grow through practice, danger, teaching, ritual exposure, and Wardheart contact | Mortal growth has a deeper metaphysical structure than simple experience gain | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 as cosmology; play shows growth without naming soul/capacity doctrine |
ul-hero-calling.md — the MC's outside-the-setting arrival pattern and absent clean hero-mark | The MC's outside-the-setting origin is suggested but not explained | hinted | Scholar dialogue late-game; the MC's lack of native accent, missing childhood memory of the setting, and absent clean hero-mark suggest an outside origin and a misaligned arrival pattern; no settled cosmological label is surfaced. Surfaced in ../local/gl-mc-corebound.md and ../local/gl-mc-earthborn-backgrounds.md |
ul-demon-king-remains.md — the false-king's heart-fragment comes from the prior Cycle peak's Demon King | The fragment's provenance as an apex anchor-shard | hinted | The fragment's demonic nature is confirmed at the political reveal; its cosmological role as a Demon King anchor-shard remains hinted, not explained. Surfaced in ../local/gl-game1-false-king.md |
ul-demon-king-remains.md — whether a remains-bearing vessel can be freed without destruction | The redemption-versus-destruction question at cosmological scope | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
ul-wardhearts-and-nexuses.md — maximum number of Wardhearts a divine patron can sustain | The cap on simultaneous Wardheart patronage by one divine patron | hidden | Not surfaced in Game 1 |
Cross-references
This file references the following universe-scope sources:
ul-demon-cycle.mdul-shroud.mdul-divine-layer.mdul-hero-calling.mdul-cosmology.mdul-demon-cosmology.mdul-demon-king-remains.mdul-wardhearts-and-nexuses.mdud-world-law.mdud-soul-capacity-growth.mdpr-file-conventions.md(for the Game 1 reveal-tier ceiling rule)