{ "edition": "A2-CH05-20260926-R1", "chapter": 5, "title": "The Heir", "status": "published_novel_chapter", "word_count": 4075, "chapter_url": "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/", "prose_hash": "5beb36bc15eebff734ed6241de21fbb8e86aff83ebdb911b59b83e48ad62620d", "entities": [ { "id": "A2-CHAR-MARIAN", "name": "Marian Vale", "kind": "Character", "fact": "Thirty-four; brought up in the former school and supported by a remaining family settlement. She answers identity questions but does not accept the estate, appoint the return office or acquire a public office. Security for her home is a genuine temptation, not merely a burden.", "paragraphs": [ 1, 12, 44, 100, 114 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p001", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p012", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p044", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p100", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p114" ], "art": "Existing Heir portrait is a symbolic character study, not a literal depiction of this morning. Its costume, scroll and ruins are not new scene facts." }, { "id": "A2-CHAR-LEDA", "name": "Leda Fenn", "kind": "Character", "fact": "Marian’s housemate for six years. Her repairs business supports household upkeep. She wants security for the terrace, attends the inquiry with Marian’s consent and insists that the immediate needs of the displaced guests continue to matter. Their relationship is not further classified.", "paragraphs": [ 8, 23, 70, 101 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p008", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p023", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p070", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p101" ], "art": "No new portrait approved. Show a practical repair worker in a domestic setting, not another courtly character on a balcony." }, { "id": "A2-CHAR-EDE", "name": "Tomas Ede", "kind": "Character", "fact": "Civil-register clerk accompanying the district guide. He checks the identity entries, explains the limits of his authority and witnesses Marian’s specific reply. He neither installs an heir nor brings an acceptance instrument with the initial inquiry.", "paragraphs": [ 12, 30, 34, 104 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p012", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p030", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p034", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p104" ], "art": "No new portrait approved. Visitor seated at the old school table with a narrow case; no general’s costume." }, { "id": "A2-CHAR-KEST", "name": "Iona Kest", "kind": "Character / voice over receiver", "fact": "The examiner confirms the limited purpose of the identity questions and the unresolved scope of succession. She advises independent assistance and prevents a failure to answer being represented as consent.", "paragraphs": [ 74, 80, 86 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p074", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p080", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p086" ], "art": "Present through the wall receiver; no physical visit or new likeness established." }, { "id": "A2-PLACE-SCHOOLROOM", "name": "The Former Schoolroom", "kind": "Place", "fact": "A room in a leased house once owned by a banker and then used as a school. The table’s compass marks and the mother’s cupboard remain. Displaced guests use the house; it is not a palace acquired through the succession.", "paragraphs": [ 22, 23, 118 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p022", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p023", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p118" ], "art": "A future place illustration should show a working household, damaged window, reused table and bedding; no invented royal emblems." }, { "id": "A2-PLACE-TERRACE", "name": "The Terrace Gate", "kind": "Place", "fact": "The boundary between the domestic inquiry and public expectations. Neighbours gather without established organised affiliation. The guard remains outside and is still watching the gate after the visitors leave.", "paragraphs": [ 59, 107, 116 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p059", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p107", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p116" ], "art": "Ensemble or threshold composition. Do not depict a coronation, an armed siege or a vast rally." }, { "id": "A2-OBJ-FAMILY-TIN", "name": "The Family Certificate Tin", "kind": "Artifact / evidence", "fact": "Contains family certificates, the mother’s stopped watch and a blue ribbon from the school’s final morning. The certificates help answer local identity questions; the keepsakes do not themselves prove succession.", "paragraphs": [ 33, 34, 115 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p033", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p034", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p115" ], "art": "Object still life; keep inscriptions unreadable unless established. No complete invented genealogy." }, { "id": "A2-OBJ-IDENTITY-REQUEST", "name": "Identity Inquiry Only", "kind": "Record", "fact": "The initial written request and case ask for identity information. Participation is distinct from accepting property or public authority; no acceptance instrument is brought in the first case.", "paragraphs": [ 21, 30, 74 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p021", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p030", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p074" ], "art": "Controlled typography must preserve the distinction between inquiry and consent." }, { "id": "A2-OBJ-HOLDINGS-LIST", "name": "The Principal Holdings List", "kind": "Record", "fact": "Lists assets administered through the estate, including the company holding the terrace lease. It is not an adjudicated list of assets which Marian inherits; the public-use question remains open.", "paragraphs": [ 42, 43, 52 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p042", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p043", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p052" ], "art": "An editorial layout may list the named categories without invented values, corporate names or holdings." }, { "id": "A2-OBJ-CONTINUITY-PROPOSAL", "name": "The Continuity Proposal", "kind": "Record", "fact": "A separate return-office proposal to manage any interest later established for Marian. It would permit subordinate representatives and responses to claims. Marian leaves the appointment unsigned and asks about authorisation, payment and discretion.", "paragraphs": [ 90, 96, 102 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p090", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p096", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p102" ], "art": "A conceptual blank signature field, not a finished historical instrument; names and legal terms must come from the prose." }, { "id": "A2-OBJ-RENT-DEMAND", "name": "The Neighbour’s Rent Demand", "kind": "Record / artifact", "fact": "A neighbour seeks relief concerning a demand issued by the company on the holdings list. Marian promises to ask and deliver the answer, not to waive charges or assert ownership.", "paragraphs": [ 64, 66, 113 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p064", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p066", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p113" ], "art": "Do not invent a price, an account number, a debt amount or a promise of cancellation." }, { "id": "A2-OBJ-MARIAN-REPLY", "name": "Marian’s Limited Reply", "kind": "Record", "fact": "Signed correspondence asks questions about the proposed appointment and withholds authority for the return office to act meanwhile. Ede witnesses the enclosures and the unsigned appointment; this is not a blanket renunciation of succession.", "paragraphs": [ 102, 105, 109 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p102", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p105", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p109" ], "art": "Typeset companion with separate fields for what was signed and what was not." }, { "id": "A2-OBJ-SCHEDULE9-COPY", "name": "The Schedule Evidence Packet", "kind": "Record", "fact": "Probate’s new evidence and qualifications reach the house. They constrain how the estate may be described, without settling ownership of each asset or solving supply failures.", "paragraphs": [ 52, 55, 91 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p052", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p055", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p091" ], "art": "Reuse the exact Chapter 4 clause only with its evidence status. No claim that the whole estate transfers immediately." }, { "id": "A2-EVENT-PUBLIC-NAMING", "name": "Called Heir Before Acceptance", "kind": "Event", "fact": "The public label spreads during the identity inquiry. Marian recognises that her requests may travel farther before any lawful inheritance is settled. Her denial does not erase that practical advantage.", "paragraphs": [ 59, 109, 112 ], "source_links": [ "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p059", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p109", "/after-the-sleeper/05-the-heir/#p112" ], "art": "A domestic threshold encounter, not a triumphant acceptance ceremony." } ], "boundary": "Original Sleeper Archive fiction. TCG candidates are untested design ideas, not changes to game rules.", "tcg": { "status": "Untested candidates. No approved costs, power, rarity or rules text; V0.3 remains unchanged.", "candidates": [ { "id": "A2-C05-F01", "name": "Leda Fenn, Keeping the House", "type": "Figure", "affinity": [ "Infrastructure", "Influence" ], "source_entities": [ "A2-CHAR-LEDA", "A2-PLACE-SCHOOLROOM" ], "direction": "Helps maintain a friendly Place during disruption by committing a Figure or another limited resource. Domestic work has a cost, rather than producing unlimited shelter value.", "open_question": "Can the benefit use existing exhaustion and repair timing without creating a new permanent protection layer?" }, { "id": "A2-C05-F02", "name": "Tomas Ede, Limited Commission", "type": "Figure", "affinity": [ "Knowledge", "Authority" ], "source_entities": [ "A2-CHAR-EDE", "A2-OBJ-IDENTITY-REQUEST" ], "direction": "Makes the target and scope of one Record interaction explicit. Establishing identity must not transfer ownership or make unrelated statements true.", "open_question": "Which existing Verify or Dispute effects are eligible, and what prevents repeated free verification?" }, { "id": "A2-C05-P01", "name": "The Former Schoolroom", "type": "Place", "affinity": [ "Influence", "Infrastructure" ], "source_entities": [ "A2-PLACE-SCHOOLROOM", "A2-CHAR-LEDA" ], "direction": "Offers bounded refuge or recovery at the cost of capacity for another use. It should matter that a shared room cannot do everything simultaneously.", "open_question": "Define one benefit and a clear opportunity cost rather than a universal safe zone." }, { "id": "A2-C05-R01", "name": "The Family Certificate Tin", "type": "Record", "affinity": [ "Knowledge" ], "source_entities": [ "A2-OBJ-FAMILY-TIN" ], "direction": "Provides a preserved source for a later verification. Possessing the source is distinct from resolving the whole succession.", "open_question": "Should it recover one Record or enable one check? Test only one role before assigning statistics." }, { "id": "A2-C05-R02", "name": "Principal Holdings", "type": "Record", "affinity": [ "Authority", "Knowledge" ], "source_entities": [ "A2-OBJ-HOLDINGS-LIST", "A2-OBJ-SCHEDULE9-COPY" ], "direction": "Tests a claim over a named asset which remains open to challenge with contrary evidence. Listing an asset must not confer immediate permanent control.", "open_question": "Clarify the declaration-and-hold timing and the way an opposing Record can challenge the claim." }, { "id": "A2-C05-E01", "name": "Withhold the Mandate", "type": "Event", "affinity": [ "Knowledge", "Authority" ], "source_entities": [ "A2-OBJ-CONTINUITY-PROPOSAL", "A2-OBJ-MARIAN-REPLY" ], "direction": "Interrupts one proposed delegation or copying effect while leaving unrelated permissions intact. A refused appointment is not a citywide cancellation.", "open_question": "Limit eligible effects and duration so that a cheap Event cannot negate every opponent action." }, { "id": "A2-C05-E02", "name": "The Name at the Gate", "type": "Event", "affinity": [ "Influence" ], "source_entities": [ "A2-EVENT-PUBLIC-NAMING", "A2-OBJ-RENT-DEMAND" ], "direction": "Explores influence acquired before a formal claim is verified, with a visible liability if the promised outcome cannot be supported.", "open_question": "Keep the liability readable and playable; do not equate popular attention with permanent Authority." } ] }, "continuity_locks": [ "Marian answers an identity inquiry, not a summons, and does not accept inheritance or public office in this chapter.", "The first visiting delegation carries no acceptance instrument. The continuity proposal arrives later from the return office, not as an order from Kest.", "Marian signs her limited reply but leaves the proposed appointment unsigned. This is not her final renunciation or the later execution of Schedule Nine.", "The house is leased with support from her existing family settlement and Leda’s repair income. Ownership is not established by the succession inquiry.", "Leda and Marian share the house. Do not invent a kinship or romantic status from their closeness.", "The preceding chapter’s evidence notice reaches Ede during the visit. Chapter 5 overlaps that morning; it does not relocate the discovery or claim that Schedule Nine settles every asset.", "No numerical size or market valuation of the estate is established. No payments or rents are waived.", "The gathering consists of neighbours and onlookers; no assassinations, organised movement or marriage proposals are established here.", "Marian retains the family originals. The visitors depart with copies. The unnamed guard’s continued presence is not an instruction from Marian.", "The existing Heir image is a symbolic character concept. Its ceremonial costume, scroll, ruins and emblem are not evidence of a coronation or the literal schoolroom scene.", "Chapter 6 must establish its own time clearly; the earlier short outline is not binding chronology. The general supply and transport crises remain unresolved." ], "records": [ { "id": "A2-009", "title": "Marian Vale", "url": "/after-the-sleeper/records/009-marian-vale/", "paragraphs": [ 12, 30, 109, 112 ], "copy": "A named succession candidate receives an inquiry at home. Her ability to obtain attention changes before any lawful ownership is settled; she does not accept the estate in this chapter." }, { "id": "A2-010", "title": "The Crown of Contracts", "url": "/after-the-sleeper/records/010-the-crown-of-contracts/", "paragraphs": [ 42, 96, 102, 105 ], "copy": "The return office offers a mandate to manage prospective interests. Marian signs a limited reply but leaves that appointment unsigned. The title describes the temptation of delegated power, not a literal crown." } ] }