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The Living World

Eden's Avatar Image

The land is not a stage. It is a character. It breathes. It remembers. It shapes everything that tries to live upon it.

— Eden

Eden is built on interconnected systems that create emergent behavior. The world doesn't follow a script—it follows rules. And from those rules, stories emerge.

How the World Is Organized​

The world is divided into terrain pods—distinct regions that connect to form the greater landscape.

Terrain Pods​

Think of pods as neighborhoods in a city, or valleys in a mountain range. Each pod:

  • Has its own soil composition (clay, sandy, loam, etc.)
  • Experiences its own weather patterns
  • Contains its own plants and creatures
  • Connects to neighboring pods in four directions
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64
Cells per Pod
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4
Connections
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∞
Possible Pods

This means rain can fall in one pod while another remains dry. A meadow can bloom while a neighboring forest struggles with drought.

Terrain Cells​

Within each pod, the land is divided into cells—the smallest unit of terrain. Each cell has:

  • An elevation (how high or low it sits)
  • A soil type (which affects what can grow)
  • Properties like moisture, fertility, pH, and temperature

These properties change constantly based on weather, time, and what lives there.

The Rhythm of Time​

Time in Eden flows through cycles:

Day and Night​

The sun rises and sets. This affects:

  • Temperature — Cooler at night, warmer during day
  • Evaporation — More water evaporates in afternoon heat
  • Creature behavior — Some animals are nocturnal

Seasons​

The world experiences seasonal shifts:

SeasonCharacteristics
SpringRenewal. Growth accelerates. Rain is common.
SummerAbundance. Plants mature. Heat increases evaporation.
AutumnTransition. Plants seed. Temperatures cool.
WinterDormancy. Growth slows. Some creatures struggle.

Epochs​

An epoch is a longer cycle—a chapter in the world's story. At the end of each epoch, the Codex generates an Epoch Report summarizing what happened.

What Makes the World "Living"​

Eden's world isn't static. Every moment, countless calculations run:

  1. Water evaporates from soil and bodies of water
  2. Moisture rises into the atmosphere
  3. Clouds form when moisture is high enough
  4. Rain falls when clouds can't hold more water
  5. Soil absorbs rainfall based on retention capacity
  6. Plants drink from soil moisture
  7. Creatures drink from water sources
  8. The cycle continues

This is just the water cycle. Similar interconnected processes govern:

  • Soil fertility (affected by plant life and decay)
  • Temperature (affected by sun, clouds, and elevation)
  • Nutrient flow (from dead things to living things)
Eden's Avatar Image

Watch a single raindrop. It falls from a cloud formed by yesterday's evaporation. It soaks into soil that remembers last month's drought. It is drunk by a seedling whose ancestor survived the flood.

— Eden

Connections and Consequences​

Nothing in Eden happens in isolation.

A Drought Story​

  1. Rain stops falling in a pod
  2. Soil moisture drops
  3. Plants grow slower (or stop growing)
  4. Plants produce less pollen
  5. Fewer plants reproduce
  6. Creatures that eat plants find less food
  7. Some creatures migrate to neighboring pods
  8. Those pods now have more competition for resources
  9. Eventually, rain returns
  10. Plants that survived have drought-resistant genetics
  11. Their offspring inherit this trait
  12. The pod is now more drought-resistant overall

This isn't scripted. It emerges from the systems interacting.

A Rain Story​

  1. Heavy rain falls
  2. Soil becomes saturated
  3. Excess water can't be absorbed
  4. Flooding may occur in low-elevation cells
  5. Some plants may drown (roots can't breathe)
  6. But seeds get dispersed by water flow
  7. When waters recede, new plants grow in new places
  8. The landscape has changed

Reading the World​

As a Witness, you can observe these patterns:

Visual Indicators​

  • Lush green — High moisture, good conditions
  • Brown and wilted — Drought stress
  • Pooling water — Recent heavy rain or flooding
  • Bare soil — Competition, poor conditions, or recent disturbance

Atmospheric Signs​

  • Cloud formation — Moisture is rising; rain may come
  • Clear skies — Low atmospheric moisture; evaporation continues
  • Moving clouds — Wind is carrying weather between pods

Your Place in This World​

You observe. You don't control.

The world existed before you arrived. It will continue when you leave. Your role is to pay attention—to learn the language of rain and root, of drought and bloom.

Eden's Avatar Image

Balance is not peace. It is listening without end.

— Eden

Continue exploring:

→ Terrain and Soil Types
→ Weather and Seasons
→ The Water Cycle