# The eleven voices

One sheet per skill. A skill in this game is a **character**, not a stat: it wants something for
you, and it is wrong about something. Both halves matter — the wrongness is what makes it a
voice instead of a hint system.

## These files are generated — and they are still the source of truth for the prose

Each sheet has two halves, with truth flowing in opposite directions:

| Half | Direction | Who edits it |
|---|---|---|
| The **prose** — domain, what it wants, what it's wrong about, register, tics, voice samples | `.md` → `skill_bible.json` | **you** |
| The **machine fields** table | `skill_bible.json` → `.md` | an engineer, in the JSON |

So: edit the prose here, freely. Then run, from the repo root:

```bash
python3 tools/writing/sync_voices.py --to-json
```

That folds your words into `Assets/Skills/skill_bible.json`, which Unity turns into the
`SkillDefinition` assets the game reads. Never edit the JSON prose directly — the markdown wins,
and your JSON edit would be overwritten the next time anyone syncs.

To check without changing anything:

```bash
python3 tools/writing/sync_voices.py --check
```

The EditMode suite runs the same check (`VoiceSheetSyncTests`), so drift fails the build rather
than quietly shipping a voice that no longer matches its sheet.

Hard-wrapping a paragraph is fine — lines within a section are rejoined on sync.

## The cast

Four opposed pairs plus three specialists. Opposed pairs are a writing engine: fire both halves
with contradictory readings and the scene generates its own friction.

| Pair / group | Voice | Voice | The argument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reason | [PROVENANCE](provenance.md) | [CONFLUENCE](confluence.md) | Is the world legible? |
| Body | [HOUSE POUR](house_pour.md) | [THE LONG SHIFT](long_shift.md) | What do we owe the flesh? |
| Social | [FACEWORK](facework.md) | [PLACEMENT](placement.md) | Is understanding others care, or leverage? |
| Self | [AMNESTY](amnesty.md) | [STANDING ORDER](standing_order.md) | Should we keep doing this? |
| Specialist | [UNDISCLOSED](undisclosed.md) | [THE FLOAT](the_float.md) | — |
| Specialist | [ROOM TONE](room_tone.md) | | — |

**Budget scene outputs against eight, not eleven.** CONFLUENCE, AMNESTY and STANDING ORDER
generate almost no clues by design — they are the interior register and the deduction engine.
The clue-producing cast is the other eight.

## Writing a voice well

- It **advocates**, it does not report. Even when it is right, the line is its own biased reading.
- Respect its forbidden domains. Each sheet ends with the domains that voice must not comment on.
  PROVENANCE does not discuss appetite. That is characterisation, not bookkeeping.
- A failing voice sounds exactly like a succeeding one. See `../STYLE.md` §4.
- Passive lines are 1–3 sentences and carry most of the personality — aim for 60–70% of all
  skill text to be passive.