VALOIS PROTOCOL

Your Purpose · Your First Expedition

The wider game: choose how you want to build your legacy. Rise by building Valence and climbing the Peerage. Lead by joining a Great House, contesting territory, and shaping shared projects. Discover by exploring the Capital Cities, taking on objectives, and investigating mysteries. These ambitions can overlap; there is no single required path or final victory condition.

Start here: reach the Echo Chamber, recover all three violet traces, then record a reading in WORLD & PROGRESS → ECHO ARCHIVE. This first expedition is solo-friendly and does not require House membership. Helping restore the Chamber is optional; join a House only if you want to contribute to the shared project.

Movement & Combat

House War Raid

• The Hollow Sovereign appears during a House War Window. Any player can join; House membership is not required.
• Follow the red RAID marker on the compass, or press M and follow the red marker on the sector map. The compass distance and raid panel update as you travel.
• Get within 45m of the boss. Use Space on keyboard, A/Cross on a gamepad, or tap BLAST on mobile. Hits are limited to one every 0.9 seconds.
• Help defeat it before the House War Window ends to earn raid rewards. The panel shows remaining health and the top damage contributors.
• Use HIDE to dismiss the raid details without leaving the raid. Choose RAID STATUS · OPEN to show them again; the compass, map marker and boss remain active.

Interface

The World

• The Oracle — Gold-lit landmark at the world centre (0, 0). Follow the top-centre Oracle pointer; the E prompt appears within 20m. The red raid target at the Echo Chamber is not the Oracle.
• The Unfinished Signal — Your first expedition is to reach the Echo Chamber, recover all three violet traces with E or the context prompt, and record a reading in WORLD & PROGRESS → ECHO ARCHIVE. It is solo-friendly; House membership is not required. Together the traces establish the safeguard: keep divergent versions separate. The author, protected versions and cause remain unknown. Revise your reading at any time; shared response totals do not change the safeguard. The Field Record also shows the server-recorded Echo restoration progress, House contributions, milestones and recent chronicle. Helping restore the Chamber is optional; join a House only if you want to contribute.
• Capital Cities — 4 domains at ±5000m: The Mint (East), The Foundry (West), Echo Chamber (North), The Colosseum (South). Each grants bonuses to the controlling House. Step within 8m of a portal ring to travel; the rings are just outside the Oracle's interaction area.
• Obsidian Shards — Floating rocks scattered around the central hub.
• Void Fractures — White space-cracks that appear around the world. Walk into one to earn V-Credits and XP; it implodes if unclaimed.
• Valence Droplets — Gold spheres dropped by gameplay events. Walk through them to collect V-Credits.

Territory Warfare

• Press P to build a Monolith — costs ◆500 V-Credits. You must be in a House first (U → join).
• Monoliths claim a 100m radius sector for your House and generate V-Credit income.
• Each Monolith has 10 HP. Use SPACE (Vibe Blast) near a rival Monolith to damage it.
• Press C at a Capital City to channel the Dominion Pillar and contest control.
• Sectors are revealed as you explore. Press M to see the Sector Map.
• While the Echo Chamber project is active, the map shows a gold dotted bearing and distance to the Echo Chamber. It indicates direction, not a safe or unobstructed route.

Artifacts

• The Scholar's Discover ability can find artifacts. View and activate artifacts you own in the House Dashboard.
• When two players have matching active Legendary artifacts within 30m, both gain 2 Valence every 5 seconds.
• Active Legendary artifact holders display orbiting shards around their avatar.

Peerage — Rank Hierarchy

• Citizen — 0+ Valence. Starting rank.
• Chevalier — 101+ Valence. Rank shown in chat & above your avatar.
• Patrician — 501+ Valence. Unlocks Platinum Mask & rare Boutique items.
• High Archon — 2001+ Valence. Unlocks the Void Crown.

Your rank appears in the HUD and next to your name for all to see.

Land Ownership

• Purchase an Estate Deed from the Boutique for ◆2,000 V-Credits.
• Stand in your chosen location and click 🏡 SECTION OFF ESTATE HERE (or confirm the prompt).
• Your estate is a 50m×50m Private Estate — any player who enters receives a TRESPASSING alert.
• One estate per Citizen. Persists across sessions.

Gamepad Controls

Plug in any standard gamepad — detected automatically. Left stick uses analog sensitivity for a viscous feel.

Mobile Controls

• Virtual Joystick (bottom-left) — drag to move in any direction.
• ⚡ SPRINT badge (top-left) — tap to toggle sprint on/off.
• ◈ BLAST button (bottom-right) — tap to Vibe Blast.
• 🏛 HOUSE button — opens the House Dashboard.
• ◉ CHAT button — opens the chat input.
• Open ACTIONS, then tap BOUTIQUE.

Touch controls appear automatically on touch-screen devices only.