diff --git a/assets/data/contracts.toml b/assets/data/contracts.toml
index b69ed14..aa7a98f 100644
--- a/assets/data/contracts.toml
+++ b/assets/data/contracts.toml
@@ -75,3 +75,684 @@ unknown_hint = "the adept does not know a tinker has been selling counterfeit fr
 floor = 1
 prep_notes = "bring one unidentified item to test; read the posted rules twice; do not touch the rack"
 intent = "the safe-toybox onboarding (docs/03 §3.4 testing chapel): 15cu is pocket money because the real pay is one free identification and every rule demonstrated safely"
+
+# --- Phase 10 workstream 1 additions (56 contracts; 62 total with the slice) ---
+# Tiers (docs/03 §3.7): 1 vermin 20-60cu, 2 hauntings 60-150cu, 3 saints-and-tolls
+# 150-400cu, 4 Works doors 400-900cu, 5 Deep doors 900-2500cu. Every entry keeps
+# the slice shape (poster named + placed, honest known_hazards, NON-EMPTY
+# unknown_hint with an "ask X" gossip hook for the Phase 9 gossip queue, floor
+# 1-12, prep_notes that suffice with §3.3 laws, intent balance comment).
+# Directions are landmark+depth+draft, never compass (docs/03 §3.7).
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "cellar_grate_mother"
+title = "Something nests in the vents"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 35
+poster = "Goodwife Hess of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["a ventilation grate over the cellar stairs", "a lullaby-hum through the grate at night", "small dropped bones on the steps"]
+unknown_hint = "the goodwife does not know a Grate-mother broods above the stairs and drops her young down the shaft; ask the ratcatchers drinking at the Gilded Whetstone, they know that hum"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "never stand under a humming grate; below the kitchen, where the draft pulls cold off the stairwell, first landing: prod the vent from the side with a pole, read its draft with flour, and hold a net for what falls"
+intent = "tier-1 vent tutorial (docs/03 §3.3 law 3 + Grate-mother tell docs/02 §6): 35cu because the hazard is positional and fully avoidable once named"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "tripe_rat_nests"
+title = "Rats in the offal bins"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 20
+poster = "Butcher Soll of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["cable-rats in the offal bins", "blood that pits iron (weak acid)", "chewed bin lids"]
+unknown_hint = "the butcher does not know the nest is inside the hollow chopping block itself; ask his apprentice, who hears skritch from below the block at dawn"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "behind the shambles, where the air tastes of old blood, ground level: bring a pike, iron-shod boots, and a bucket of water to wash the blood off fast"
+intent = "tier-1 floor pay (20cu): teaches cable-rat blood-eats-iron (docs/02 §6) and washing scent (docs/03 §3.3 law 10) on a harmless nest"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "chewed_cable_loft"
+title = "The lights keep dying upstairs"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 30
+poster = "Tinker Vess of the Milthollow tinker stall"
+known_hazards = ["chewed copper runs in the loft", "one live wire, bellies that spark", "ozone smell before they bite"]
+unknown_hint = "the tinker does not know the rats den around a spent aether-cell that still leaks signal and draws them; ask the lampwrights, who logged which loft runs went dark first"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "above the stall, where the draft smells of ozone, loft landing: chalk the wire run first, prod with a dry pole (never copper), and bring a bell to scatter the pack"
+intent = "tier-1 copper-conducts lesson (docs/03 §3.3 law 8): 30cu because a live wire punishes the careless but the ozone tell is free"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "flour_bin_skritch"
+title = "Skritch in the flour bins"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 25
+poster = "Miller Odo of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["rats in the flour bins", "flour-dust in the air (blast risk, no flame)", "chewed sack seams"]
+unknown_hint = "the miller does not know one rat is a bell-ringer's escaped scent-rat that runs from humming; ask the miller's boy, who hums at it through the bin wall"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "below the millstones, where the air is white and sweet, ground floor: no open flame near the dust; bring a hand-bell and hum low, then sack the bins one at a time"
+intent = "tier-1 dust-law tutorial (docs/03 §3.3 law 5 flour/dust): 25cu; the hum trick is the gossip half, the dust rule is the prep half"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "well_bucket_thief"
+title = "The well keeps eating buckets"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 30
+poster = "Reeve Tam of Copperwash Mere"
+known_hazards = ["a flooded wellhead with a frayed rope", "something below that tugs back", "cold black water"]
+unknown_hint = "the reeve does not know a drowned eel has knotted its nest in the bucket chain; ask the reed-cutters, who saw it surface at dusk"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "at the mere edge, where the water smells of iron, surface: bring 10m of good rope, a spare bucket as tribute-bait, and never wrap the line around your wrist"
+intent = "tier-1 rope lesson (docs/03 §3.3 law 9): 30cu; rope discipline taught cheap before flooded shafts (tier 3+) price it in lives"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "hymn_card_pigeons"
+title = "Pigeons ate the hymn-cards"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 22
+poster = "Acolyte Fen of the chapel of the Drowned Saint"
+known_hazards = ["loft pigeons with a taste for punchcard edges", "one card (FLUCTUS) half-eaten and still flexible", "droppings, everywhere"]
+unknown_hint = "the acolyte does not know the half-eaten FLUCTUS card still casts when the loft draft lifts it; ask the choir-deserters sheltering in the dorter, they have seen paper fly uphill"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "above the chapel dorter, where the draft pulls chapel-ward, loft landing: bring a net, a dry sack for the cards, and read each card's condition before touching (heat sets off hymn-cards)"
+intent = "tier-1 hymn handling (docs/03 §3.5 card condition): 22cu errand pay; the still-live card is the deducible-cruelty seed"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "barrowfield_pig_thief"
+title = "Our pig thief is back"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 22
+poster = "Widow Ase of Barrowfield"
+known_hazards = ["a two-legged thief, not a beast", "barrow-field dark, uneven ground", "widows who watch from windows and remember faces"]
+unknown_hint = "the widow does not know the thief is her own nephew feeding the salvage camp; ask at the camp hearth, where the pork has been suspiciously shared"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "past the barrows, where the wind smells of turned earth, surface: bring a lantern with a shutter, rope for tying (not hurting), and a witness from the widows"
+intent = "tier-1 surface mud (docs/02 §1 pig thieves): 22cu; no monster at all — resolution is social, which is itself the lesson"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "toll_gate_rats"
+title = "Rats in the tollhouse"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 28
+poster = "Toll-ward Drok of Gallowgate Toll"
+known_hazards = ["cable-rats in the tollhouse walls", "chewed toll tallies (the Matriarch notices)", "one live bell-wire"]
+unknown_hint = "the ward does not know the rats came up the bridge cable from the Works mouth; ask the night-shift troll, who hears them cross at bell-change"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "under the tollhouse, where the bridge hums through the stone, ground level: chalk the cable run, bring exact change for the troll first (manners before rats), then pole and bell"
+intent = "tier-1 Gallowgate onboarding (docs/02 §3 unionized toll): 28cu; teaches that the troll is scenery to be paid, not a fight to be picked"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "chapel_cellar_damp"
+title = "Damp in the chapel cellar"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 20
+poster = "Acolyte Fen of the chapel of the Drowned Saint"
+known_hazards = ["ankle-deep black water", "drowned hymn-sheets floating face-down", "a bell that rings when nobody touches it"]
+unknown_hint = "the acolyte does not know the bell rings when the mere draft reverses through the floor drain; ask the reed-cutters, who read mere drafts like scripture"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "below the chapel, where the air tastes of copper and old water, first landing: wade with a pole, lift the sheets with a net (read none aloud), and flour the drain to see the draft turn"
+intent = "tier-1 draft-reading seed (docs/03 §3.3 law 3): 20cu; flour-reveals-flow taught where the water is only ankle-deep"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "granary_moth"
+title = "Miller-moths in the seed grain"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 24
+poster = "Miller Odo of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["miller-moths swarming the seed bins", "larvae in the sack seams", "dust that makes torches sputter"]
+unknown_hint = "the miller does not know the swarm nests around a cracked hymn-card (FIAT LUX) warming the bin wall; ask the tinker, who sold him a 'lucky lamp card' last winter"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "in the granary loft, where the air shimmers warm for no reason, upper landing: douse the lamp, smoke the swarm toward the loft vent, and lift the card out with wooden tongs"
+intent = "tier-1 light-and-heat crossover (docs/03 §3.3 laws 1+5): 24cu; warm-wall deduction with a safe answer (smoke, not fire)"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "lampwright_oil_run"
+title = "Oil for the mill lamp"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 40
+poster = "Lampwright Adept Cis of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["a handcart of oil flasks on a rutted lane", "hungry mouths between here and the mill", "oil scrip is legal tender (spilling it is spending it)"]
+unknown_hint = "the adept does not know the lane culvert hides a cable-rat run that smells the oil; ask the coach-drivers, who rattle the culvert grate on purpose"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "along the mill lane, where the ruts run deepest, surface: walk it at dusk with a shuttered lamp, a topped-up cart, and a bell on the axle; rattle the culvert before crossing"
+intent = "tier-1 HAUL seed (docs/03 §3.2: oil as money that burns): 40cu top-of-tier-1 because a spill costs the carrier twice"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "garden_weed_tithe"
+title = "Weeds in the corpse-garden"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 20
+poster = "Corpse-tender Mere of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["holy runoff channels (do not drink, do not dam)", "rust-thistle with barbed seed", "the garden dead, resting (let them)"]
+unknown_hint = "the tender does not know rust-thistle only roots where Audit fine-print ash was dumped; ask the wardens, who burned a lien notice uphill last spring"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "behind the garden wall, where the runoff smells of iron and lilies, surface: bring gloves, a sack, and last-rites words in case you wake a sleeper; weed downhill of the sleepers only"
+intent = "tier-1 curse-triage Wales (docs/03 §3.4 the Corpse-tender is a person): 20cu; introduces holy runoff + owed-ash before Audit liens (tier 3+)"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "warden_post_eaves"
+title = "Gnawing in the warden eaves"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 30
+poster = "Warden Sarella of Copperwash"
+known_hazards = ["rats in the warden-post eaves", "sealed bounty ledgers (chew one and the fine is yours)", "a bored young warden with a crossbow"]
+unknown_hint = "the warden does not know the rats are after the salt in the seal-wax, not the paper; ask the post cook, who sweeps red wax crumbs every morning"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "over the warden post, where the eaves catch the mere wind, roof landing: bring wax-sealed bait (not the ledgers), a net, and a signed note from Sarella so the crossbow stays racked"
+intent = "tier-1 ledger-law comedy (docs/03 §3.6 wardens + ledgers): 30cu; the wax deduction keeps it a puzzle, not a grind"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "reedcutter_pests"
+title = "Pests in the reed beds"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 26
+poster = "Reedwife Oll of Copperwash Mere"
+known_hazards = ["biting mere-flies in clouds", "sinking mud between the beds", "a territorial swan (respect it)"]
+unknown_hint = "the reedwife does not know the flies breed in a drowned tithe-chest leaking old grain; ask the drowned-lantern keeper, who marks where the mere coughs up wreckage"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "out on the mere edge, where the reeds hiss with the evening draft, surface: bring smoke (green reeds burn smoky), planks for the mud, and tribute greens for the swan"
+intent = "tier-1 mere onboarding (docs/02 §3 Copperwash): 26cu; smoke-use + terrain puzzle before flooded work (tier 2+)"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "ledger_mice"
+title = "Mice in the toll tallies"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 45
+poster = "Toll-ward Drok of Gallowgate Toll"
+known_hazards = ["mice nesting in the tally shelves", "the Matriarch audits the tallies weekly (she counts)", "troll tempers, union rules"]
+unknown_hint = "the ward does not know the mice followed a Congregation grain cart that shorted the bridge last month; ask the carters at the Exact Change, they remember the cart"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "in the tally room, where the bridge draft smells of dust and ink, ground level: bring snap-traps, flour to find the run, and a full apology-Rehearsal for the Matriarch's count day"
+intent = "tier-1 social stakes (docs/02 §3 troll memory is long): 45cu high for vermin because the Matriarch's count is the real boss"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "cistern_eels"
+title = "Eels in the cistern"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 35
+poster = "Goodwife Hess of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["drowned eels in the drinking cistern", "slick stone ladder", "one eel big enough to argue"]
+unknown_hint = "the goodwife does not know the eels came up the overflow from the old relay cistern below; ask the lampwrights, who mapped the overflow when the lamps kept going out"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "down the cistern shaft, where the air goes cold and still, first landing: bring a net, a lidded bucket, and chalk to mark the overflow grate for the lampwrights after"
+intent = "tier-1 vertical taste (docs/03 §3.8 Shallows): 35cu; a shaft, a grate, and chalk — the whole game in a water butt"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "straw_man_walks"
+title = "The scarecrow walks at night"
+tier = 1
+pay_cu = 20
+poster = "Widow Ase of Barrowfield"
+known_hazards = ["a straw man seen walking the barrow edge", "frightened sheep, trampled barley", "widows who insist it tips its hat"]
+unknown_hint = "the widow does not know miller-lads wear the scarecrow down the drafty barrow lane on dares; ask the barley crew, who lost a bet and a hat to it"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "along the barrow lane, where the night draft runs downhill, surface: walk it with a shuttered lamp and a friend, call out before touching anything straw, and bring the hat home for proof"
+intent = "tier-1 kindness contract (docs/03 §3.7 ignorable thin thread): 20cu floor pay; sometimes the dark holds only boys — the game says so honestly"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "widow_rennick_husband"
+title = "My husband walks — find him"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 90
+poster = "Widow Rennick of Barrowfield"
+known_hazards = ["plague barrows at night", "the walked dead answer to old names", "barrowfield widows who know exactly what you dig up"]
+unknown_hint = "the widow does not know her husband walks downhill toward the chapel of the Drowned Saint, drawn by its bells; ask the corpse-tender, who has seen the walked answer chapel-ward"
+floor = 3
+prep_notes = "past the barrows, where the turned-earth smell gives way to mere water, third landing where the bell-rope hangs: bring something that knew him, last-rites words, and a silvered charm; try the Lampwright testing chapel first — rehearse the rite on quiet ground before the barrows"
+intent = "MAIN THREAD 1/6 (docs/03 §3.7 Widow Rennick thread): tier-2 because the rite, not the fight, is the price; 90cu grief money; the chapel-ward pull is the thread to drowned_saint_audience"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "rat_king_nest"
+title = "The king in the walls"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 140
+poster = "Warden Sarella of Copperwash"
+known_hazards = ["a rat-king knotted tail-to-tail in the relay walls", "the pack fights as one body while knotted", "live cable through the nest wall"]
+unknown_hint = "the warden does not know the knot loosens when the pack is lured apart with separate baits; ask the ratcatchers at the Gilded Whetstone, who have unknotted one before with tripe and bells"
+floor = 3
+prep_notes = "below the relay, where the ozone smell is strongest, third landing: do NOT meet it knotted — lay tripe baits in three side-rooms, ring bells to split the pack, then burn the empty nest; rehearse fire-discipline in the testing chapel first (oil under doors, smoke through grates)"
+intent = "boss-as-puzzle contract (docs/03 §3.8 rat-king: lure apart, burn nests): 140cu top-of-tier-2 because a knotted pack kills chargers; the prep_notes + trial room ARE the kill"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "millstone_choir"
+title = "The mill sings after midnight"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 100
+poster = "Miller Odo of Milthollow (reluctantly)"
+known_hazards = ["grinding stones that turn with no grain", "a choir-hum in the walls (cover your ears, not your eyes)", "flour-dust (no flame)"]
+unknown_hint = "the miller does not know the hum comes up the meal-spout from a drowned relay clerk still at his desk below; ask the choir-deserters, who know that desk-hymn by its first line"
+floor = 2
+prep_notes = "below the millstones, where the air tastes of copper, second landing by the meal-spout: bring ear-wadding, scrap for the Vendric if it shows (feed the dispense, then leave), and flour to read which way the spout drafts"
+intent = "tier-2 haunting (docs/03 §3.7 millstone/garden dead): 100cu; the clerk is talkable (CARO VALE territory) — violence is the expensive answer"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "garden_dead_restless"
+title = "The garden dead will not lie down"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 85
+poster = "Corpse-tender Mere of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["two garden dead standing at night", "holy runoff channels (do not dam)", "grief, which makes fools of the armed"]
+unknown_hint = "the tender does not know the dead stand because their barrow-tithe was shorted and the Audit holds the lien; ask the toll-wards, who saw the tithe cart turned back at Gallowgate"
+floor = 2
+prep_notes = "behind the garden wall, where the runoff smells of iron and lilies, second landing of the barrow stair: bring the tithe-weight in copper, last-rites words, and no drawn weapons; pay the lien aloud before the rite — the testing chapel has a mock lien-desk to rehearse on"
+intent = "tier-2 Audit seed (docs/02 §2 Audit holds every debt): 85cu; introduces pay-the-lien-aloud before the tier-4 Seraph makes it a boss mechanic"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "relay_clerk_desk"
+title = "The clerk is still at his desk"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 110
+poster = "Tinker Vess of the Milthollow tinker stall"
+known_hazards = ["a flooded relay office, waist-deep black water", "a drowned clerk who audits visitors aloud", "paper that cuts and ink that stains (liens love signatures)"]
+unknown_hint = "the tinker does not know the clerk only audits those who answer his roll-call; ask the Lampwright archivists, who hold the relay muster-roll and know the clerk's own name is missing from it"
+floor = 2
+prep_notes = "below the mere outfall, where the water goes black and still, second landing: bring a boat-pole, douse the lamp on approach, and answer no roll-call but your own; silver stills him if it turns"
+intent = "tier-2 flooded-relay play (docs/02 §3 Copperwash): 110cu; the muster-roll gap is the deducible hinge — say his missing name and he stands down"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "drowned_tithe_chest"
+title = "The tithe chest coughs at low water"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 95
+poster = "Reeve Tam of Copperwash Mere"
+known_hazards = ["a drowned tithe-chest in the sucking mud", "mere-flies, sinking mud, the swan", "old grain that ferments (do not breathe deep)"]
+unknown_hint = "the reeve does not know the chest is chained to a drowned bell-clapper worth more than the tithe; ask the drowned-lantern keeper, who marks wreckage by what the mere refuses to keep"
+floor = 2
+prep_notes = "out on the mere edge, where the reeds hiss with the evening draft, low-water shelf: bring planks, smoke for the flies, and a sledge for the haul; leave the clapper for the Saint's chapel or the Audit bills you (their divers are watching)"
+intent = "tier-2 HAUL puzzle (docs/03 §3.2 ascent-with-loot is the boss): 95cu; the clapper choice (chapel vs Audit) is the moral mud, priced separately"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "gallowgate_toll_ghost"
+title = "The old tollman walks the bridge"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 75
+poster = "Toll-ward Drok of Gallowgate Toll"
+known_hazards = ["a walked tollman collecting from night coaches", "union rules (the Matriarch claims him as a member)", "a bridge with no railings in the middle span"]
+unknown_hint = "the ward does not know the tollman only stops coaches carrying Audit paper; ask the coach-drivers at the Exact Change, who hide the lien satchel when he steps out"
+floor = 2
+prep_notes = "mid-span of the Gallowgate bridge, where the wind cuts sideways off the gorge, night crossing: carry exact change, carry NO Audit paper on your person (satchel rides underneath), and greet him by the old rates"
+intent = "tier-2 union-law haunting (docs/02 §3 troll memory + Audit hate): 75cu; the satchel trick is pure gossip-gated prep, no stat wall"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "barrowfield_widow_ledger"
+title = "The widows keep a ledger"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 70
+poster = "Widow Rennick of Barrowfield"
+known_hazards = ["barrow robbers who do not like witnesses", "plague-barrows, night-cold", "the widows know. you know they know."]
+unknown_hint = "the widow does not know the robbers tithe a third to the salvage camp hearth; ask at the camp hearth after midnight, when the split is counted aloud"
+floor = 2
+prep_notes = "past the barrows, where the wind smells of turned earth, second landing of the barrow stair: bring a shuttered lamp, a friend, and exact third-share arithmetic; the testing chapel's mock auction is good rehearsal for the count"
+intent = "tier-2 moral mud (docs/02 §3 robbing barrows feeds widows): 70cu; robbery-vs-tithe is negotiable mid-delvit — the table, not the sword, resolves it"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "chapel_hymn_echo"
+title = "The chapel answers itself"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 80
+poster = "Acolyte Fen of the chapel of the Drowned Saint"
+known_hazards = ["hymns that echo back wrong (APERI echoes are LOUD and the Audit hears)", "a dorter where the draft reverses nightly", "sleeping choir-deserters (wake none)"]
+unknown_hint = "the acolyte does not know the echo lives in the cistern below the dorter and answers whatever verb it hears last; ask the deserters, who whisper SILE before sleep and are never echoed"
+floor = 2
+prep_notes = "below the chapel dorter, where the air goes cold and still, second landing: speak only SILE or nothing; bring flour to find the cistern vent, then cork it with waxed cloth before any loud work"
+intent = "tier-2 hymn-debugging lesson (docs/03 §3.5 miscasts follow debugging logic): 80cu; whisper-first discipline before tier-3 hymn work"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "sewer_king_tithe"
+title = "Tithe for the sewer king"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 130
+poster = "Coach-master Pell of the Gilded Whetstone"
+known_hazards = ["a sewer-king (great black boar-rat) under the coaching yard", "collapsed brick, ankle-breakers", "coaches overhead that hear screaming (reputation)"]
+unknown_hint = "the coach-master does not know the king is tooth-bound to a brass trap that never fired; ask the tinker, who set that trap three winters back and remembers the tooth-marks"
+floor = 3
+prep_notes = "under the coaching yard, where the drains breathe warm, third landing: bring a pole, a sprung spare trap as a showing-gift (trade before teeth), and tripe; spring his old trap in front of him and he parleys"
+intent = "tier-2 social boss (docs/03 §3.8 negotiate mid-fight, union rules): 130cu; the trap-gift parley is the clean solve — spears are legal and educational"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "flooded_shrine_candles"
+title = "Candles burn underwater"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 120
+poster = "Lampwright Adept Cis of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["a flooded server-shrine, chest-deep water", "candles burning green underwater (aether-mist feed)", "phosphor eels drawn to the green"]
+unknown_hint = "the adept does not know the candles are fed by a cracked aether-cell in the shrine font; ask the lampwright archivists, who logged which shrines were wired for vigil-light and never unwired"
+floor = 3
+prep_notes = "below the mere outfall, where the water smells of ozone and lilies, third landing: douse every lamp (the green burns without you), wade with a dry pole, lift the cell with wooden tongs, and ground it on the chapel rods after — rehearse grounding in the testing chapel"
+intent = "tier-2 aether-mist tutorial (docs/03 §3.3 law 8): 120cu; grounding-rod discipline before Works live-cable (tier 4) makes this a prep investment"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "coach_road_hanged"
+title = "The hanged man counts coaches"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 65
+poster = "Coach-master Pell of the Gilded Whetstone"
+known_hazards = ["a hanged man at the crossroads who counts passing coaches aloud", "horses that shy at the count", "Audit paper nailed to the post (do not touch)"]
+unknown_hint = "the coach-master does not know the count stops at any coach carrying a paid toll-token; ask the Gallowgate night troll, who sells the tokens and remembers who never buys"
+floor = 1
+prep_notes = "at the crossroads, where the coach-road draft runs dust-forward at dusk, surface: buy a Gallowgate token first (exact change), hang it on the lead trace, and pass at walking pace with lamps shuttered"
+intent = "tier-2 surface haunting, floor-1 kindness pricing (65cu): the token IS the prep — teaches toll-token economy before tier-3 Matriarch negotiations"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "miller_apprentice_debt"
+title = "The apprentice owes the dark"
+tier = 2
+pay_cu = 60
+poster = "Miller Odo of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["a miller-boy sleepwalking toward the meal-spout", "a debt-chit in Audit hand nailed inside his coat", "flour-dust (no flame, no shouting — dust hears)"]
+unknown_hint = "the miller does not know the boy signed the chit for lamp-oil money and the Audit collects in footsteps; ask the warden clerk, who keeps the copy-ledger and knows the exact arrears to the copper"
+floor = 2
+prep_notes = "in the mill loft, where the night draft runs cold off the stones, second landing: bring the arrears in exact copper, pay the lien aloud at the spout before midnight, and walk the boy home by lamplight — rehearse lien-payment at the testing chapel desk"
+intent = "tier-2 collections tutorial (docs/02 §2 blasphemy = collection at coordinates of the god's choosing): 60cu floor pay; paying mid-dungeon via prayer foreshadows the Seraph (tier 4)"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "drowned_saint_audience"
+title = "An audience with the Drowned Saint"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 300
+poster = "Widow Rennick of Barrowfield (by chapel letter)"
+known_hazards = ["the chapel answers questions for memories (it deletes a learned map region)", "hymn-cards work there that work nowhere else", "the Saint keeps whatever it is given"]
+unknown_hint = "the widow does not know the Saint only answers when brought mere-surface water in an open vessel; ask the chapel acolytes, who carry the morning water up and know which vessel never spills"
+floor = 6
+prep_notes = "below the mere, where the air tastes of copper and old water, sixth landing where the bell-rope hangs: bring a memory you can afford to lose, an open vessel of surface water, and last-rites words; rehearse the question once in the testing chapel — the Saint hears every draft of it"
+intent = "MAIN THREAD 2/6 (docs/03 §3.7 Drowned Saint): tier-3 because a memory is the price, not copper; 300cu carries the widow's grief plus chapel tithe; the Saint points downhill at deep_door_ward"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "saint_of_rust_bargain"
+title = "The Saint of Rust will mend everything"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 320
+poster = "Tinker Vess of the Milthollow tinker stall"
+known_hazards = ["the Saint offers to mend all your gear for your name for one hour", "lent names show as blank on the sheet; neither NPCs nor gods can target you (nor can your own bargains)", "rust spreads in damp while you dither"]
+unknown_hint = "the tinker does not know the Saint must return a name lent under a Tollkeeper witness-prayer spoken first; ask the toll-wards at Gallowgate, who have witnessed three lendings and counted every return"
+floor = 6
+prep_notes = "past the rusted grates, where the draft smells of iron and rain, sixth landing: bring exact change, a Tollkeeper witness-prayer half-memorized, and lend NOTHING else (no gear, no memories); speak the prayer before the name, count the hour aloud, and demand it back on the stroke"
+intent = "boss-as-puzzle contract (docs/02 §6 + docs/03 §3.8 Saint of Rust name bargain): 320cu because clean gear for a whole descent is worth a fortune and the prayer is the whole fight"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "toll_matriarch_terms"
+title = "Terms with the Toll Matriarch"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 350
+poster = "Coach-master Pell of the Gilded Whetstone"
+known_hazards = ["the Matriarch negotiates mid-fight under union rules (she pauses for offers, then resumes)", "insulting offers are remembered across runs (troll memory is long)", "an audience of bridge-trolls (reputation at stake)"]
+unknown_hint = "the coach-master does not know the Matriarch must pause for ANY offer laid in copper on bare stone, even a low one; ask the Gallowgate night-shift troll, who has seen three fights become accountancy"
+floor = 5
+prep_notes = "mid-span of the deep bridge, where the gorge draft cuts sideways, fifth landing: bring three ascending offers in exact change, no weapons drawn, and a Tollkeeper witness-prayer; lay the first offer on stone the moment she rises — the testing chapel mock-auction is good rehearsal for counting under pressure"
+intent = "boss-as-puzzle contract (docs/03 §3.8 Matriarch: negotiate mid-fight, union rules): 350cu because the bridge tariff for a season rides on the number you speak aloud"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "audit_field_office"
+title = "The Audit audits the salvage camp"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 200
+poster = "Salvage Warden Jor of the Barrowfield camp"
+known_hazards = ["an Audit field-desk with a brass cherub assessing packs aloud (enemies hear)", "liens love signatures (read before touching quills)", "camp tempers (the Congregation hates tolls of any kind)"]
+unknown_hint = "the warden does not know the field-ledger has a blank page that eats the first signature written on it; ask the warden clerk at Milthollow, who keeps the copy-ledger and knows which page is hungry"
+floor = 4
+prep_notes = "at the salvage camp, where the hearth-smoke runs flat in the gorge draft, fourth landing approach: carry valuables separately (drop-cache before the desk), sign nothing first (let the cherub stamp the copy), and bring oil scrip for on-the-spot arrears"
+intent = "tier-3 Audit onboarding (docs/02 §2 the Audit bills; docs/03 §3.6 auction): 200cu; the drop-cache + sign-second drill is the Seraph fight in miniature"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "flooded_pump_shaft"
+title = "The pump shaft drowned again"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 180
+poster = "Reeve Tam of Copperwash Mere"
+known_hazards = ["a flooded pump shaft, chest-deep black water", "a dead pump with a live intake", "phosphor eels drawn to movement"]
+unknown_hint = "the reeve does not know the intake nests phosphor eels that scatter from green smoke; ask the reed-cutters, who burn green reeds at the outfall and watch the water clear"
+floor = 4
+prep_notes = "below the mere outfall, where the water smells of iron and ozone, fourth landing: bring 10m of rope, a doused lamp with mosslight, green reeds for smoke, and a boat-pole; smoke the intake before touching the pump, and never wrap the line around your wrist"
+intent = "tier-3 flooded-shaft play (docs/03 §3.8 Works flooded shafts): 180cu; rope + doused lamp + mosslight (verticality toy 3) taught as the only way down"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "union_dues_shortfall"
+title = "The bridge is short on dues"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 160
+poster = "Toll-ward Drok of Gallowgate Toll"
+known_hazards = ["a union dues-box three seasons short", "trolls who remember every insulting offer across runs", "Congregation carters who swear they paid"]
+unknown_hint = "the ward does not know the dues-box has a false bottom where the night shift skims; ask the carters at the Exact Change, who heard the box rattle wrong on bell-change"
+floor = 4
+prep_notes = "under the tollhouse, where the bridge hums through the stone, fourth landing below the office: bring the tallies, flour to find who walks to the box at night, and exact change for your own crossing first (manners before audit)"
+intent = "tier-3 social audit (docs/02 §3 unionized toll + long memory): 160cu low for the tier because the answer is arithmetic plus one flour-showing, not steel"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "deserter_drowning_rite"
+title = "A deserter wants the water rite"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 220
+poster = "Corpse-tender Mere of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["a choir-deserter asking the drowning rite (halfway to the Choir already)", "dead tongues spoken aloud draw the Drowned", "the rite-water must be carried open (spills attract attention)"]
+unknown_hint = "the tender does not know the rite only takes with mere-surface water skimmed at dawn, not chapel water; ask the deserters sheltering in the dorter, who know dawn water by taste"
+floor = 5
+prep_notes = "at the mere edge, where the dawn draft runs glass-flat, fifth landing approach by boat: bring an open vessel, dawn-skimmed water, dead-tongue words half-spoken (never shouted), and a silvered charm; douse the lamp for the last approach"
+intent = "tier-3 Choir-border contract (docs/02 §4 Drowned Choir joinable?!): 220cu; the dawn-water hinge keeps it deducible, and the rite rehearses the Saint's price (memories for answers)"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "lampwright_live_cable"
+title = "Live cable in the relay wall"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 190
+poster = "Lampwright Adept Cis of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["live cable in a relay wall (copper conducts hymns and shocks)", "water seep through the same wall", "a cherub audit-stamp on the cable (the Audit hears APERI near it)"]
+unknown_hint = "the adept does not know the cable still carries hymn-signal and shocks chain through the seep-water to the far grate; ask the lampwright archivists, who mapped which runs were never unwired"
+floor = 4
+prep_notes = "in the relay wall, where the ozone smell is sharpest, fourth landing: chalk the seep-water path first, stand dry, prod with a dry pole (never copper, never wet), and ground the run on the chapel rods after — rehearse grounding in the testing chapel"
+intent = "tier-3 signal discipline (docs/03 §3.3 law 8 electricity + signal): 190cu; the seep-water chain is the deducible cruelty — dry feet or grief"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "auction_buyback_sword"
+title = "Buy back my own sword (humiliating)"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 150
+poster = "Delver Sarella's Cousin Tam of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["the Audit auctions confiscated loot with a +10% humiliation premium", "rival bidders who smell desperation", "the auctioneer remembers faces (and grudges)"]
+unknown_hint = "the poster does not know the auctioneer takes oil scrip under the hammer-block to slow a rival's bidding; ask the Congregation fence, who has slowed three auctions with a flask"
+floor = 4
+prep_notes = "at the auction house, where the air smells of dust and ink, town business before depth: bring the hammer price plus the premium in scrip, a fence-friend to run the slow-flask, and a hard ceiling written down beforehand (desperation is the second auctioneer)"
+intent = "tier-3 beloved-humiliation contract (docs/03 §3.6 + §3.9 gear never persists, the Audit auctions it): 150cu floor-of-tier because the premium, not the dark, is the monster"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "grate_brood_lullaby"
+title = "The vents are singing again"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 240
+poster = "Goodwife Hess of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["a Grate-mother brood through the whole vent layer", "lullaby-hum that lulls the unwary under the grates", "young dropped down shafts (delver bowling, but teeth)"]
+unknown_hint = "the goodwife does not know the brood only drops while the lullaby holds — stop the hum and they stay up; ask the ratcatchers at the Gilded Whetstone, who plug their ears with wax and hum against it"
+floor = 5
+prep_notes = "through the vent layer, where the draft carries the lullaby furthest, fifth landing: wax your ears, NEVER stand under a humming grate, flour the draft to find the brood-vent, and smoke-message through it before prodding from the side with a pole"
+intent = "tier-3 vent-layer escalation (docs/02 §6 Grate-mother + docs/03 §3.3 law 9 flour/smoke-message toys): 240cu because the whole layer is the nest"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "warden_seal_inspection"
+title = "Escort the seal-inspector down"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 260
+poster = "Warden Sarella of Copperwash"
+known_hazards = ["a seal-inspector walking to floor 5 with a checklist", "everything between here and there, unimpressed by checklists", "Wardens who fine escorts for broken seal-law (read it first)"]
+unknown_hint = "the warden does not know the inspector carries an owed chit the Audit will collect mid-delvit; ask the warden clerk, who copied the chit and knows the arrears to the copper"
+floor = 5
+prep_notes = "down the warden stair, where the lantern-law marks run fresh, fifth landing: bring the arrears in exact copper (pay the lien aloud at the first shrine), silvered steel, rope, and the inspector's checklist memorized — rehearse lien-payment at the testing chapel desk"
+intent = "tier-3 Warden-seed contract (docs/02 §4 Wardens keep the Deep shut): 260cu; the mid-delvit collection rehearses Seraph pressure (tier 4) with an escort clock running"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "drowned_bell_duet"
+title = "Two bells ringing in thirds"
+tier = 3
+pay_cu = 280
+poster = "Acolyte Fen of the chapel of the Drowned Saint"
+known_hazards = ["two Drowned bells ringing a duet (they call the Choir together)", "flooded chapel undercroft, neck-deep in the middle", "each bell keeps a drowned sailor who remembers his name"]
+unknown_hint = "the acolyte does not know the bells answer each other's pitch — deafen one and the other goes quiet hunting it; ask the choir-deserters, who have heard the duet break on a single stopped ear"
+floor = 6
+prep_notes = "below the chapel, where the black water goes still and cold, sixth landing: bring wax, a boat-pole, silvered steel, and two nets; stop one bell's ear first (wax and cloth), dunk or deafen it, then treat the second as a single — never answer either roll-call but your own"
+intent = "tier-3 Choir-escalation (docs/02 §6 Drowned bell: deafen or dunk; clapper worth more than swords): 280cu; the duet-break is the gossip-gated clean solve"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "deep_door_ward"
+title = "Hold the Wardens' seal at the Deep Door"
+tier = 4
+pay_cu = 650
+poster = "Warden-Commander Ilse of the Deep Door"
+known_hazards = ["the Deep Door at floor 8 (the Wardens seal it nightly)", "Choir pressure rising below the seal (they sing names after floor 9)", "Audit surveyors measuring the Door for arrears"]
+unknown_hint = "the commander does not know the seal only holds when three warden-marks are chalked fresh each night, and one mark-stone is missing; ask the retired seal-keeper at Copperwash, who chalked the third mark for forty years"
+floor = 8
+prep_notes = "at the Deep Door, where the air goes warm and wrong and the draft stops dead, eighth landing: bring chalk, silvered steel, and the commander's seal writ; find the missing mark-stone by flouring the door draft (no draft = no seal), chalk all three marks fresh, and hold till bell-change — rehearse seal-chalking in the testing chapel"
+intent = "MAIN THREAD 3/6 (docs/03 §3.7 Deep Door): tier-4 because the seal is the campaign hinge; 650cu Warden money; the missing mark-stone is the gossip-gated clean solve before the floor-12 Vault Choice pair"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "audit_seraph_ledger"
+title = "Bankrupt the Seraph (or pay it)"
+tier = 4
+pay_cu = 800
+poster = "Salvage Warden Jor of the Barrowfield camp (signed under protest)"
+known_hazards = ["an Audit Seraph with a flying ledger that assesses your pack aloud (enemies hear)", "three exits: pay in full, bankrupt it with cursed assets, or drown its ledger", "collections at coordinates of its choosing"]
+unknown_hint = "the warden does not know the Seraph must accept cursed assets at face value before appraisal, and a cursed ledger-page poisons its own sums; ask the Congregation fence, who has fed a cherub two cursed chits and watched it argue with itself"
+floor = 7
+prep_notes = "in the audit vault, where the air smells of ink and hot brass, seventh landing: carry valuables in a drop-cache outside, bring one cursed asset and one owed chit as ammunition (never sign either first), and bring oil scrip for the pay-exit; drowning the ledger needs chest-deep water and a fast boat-pole — pick ONE exit before stepping in and rehearse it at the testing chapel mock-desk"
+intent = "boss-as-puzzle contract (docs/03 §3.8 Audit Seraph: pay, bankrupt it with cursed assets, or drown its ledger): 800cu because all three exits are priced — the cursed-page poison is the gossip half, the drop-cache is the prep half"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "flooded_elevator_counterweight"
+title = "The counterweight elevator drowned"
+tier = 4
+pay_cu = 500
+poster = "Lampwright Adept Cis of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["a flooded elevator shaft with a drowned counterweight car", "a live audit-stamp on the car (the Audit hears APERI near it)", "riding the counterweight down while the cherub audits the empty car going up"]
+unknown_hint = "the adept does not know the car's brake only releases when the shaft draft runs downward, which it does at bell-change; ask the elevator tenders' widows at Copperwash, who time everything by the bell"
+floor = 7
+prep_notes = "at the elevator shaft, where the cable thrums and the draft hesitates, seventh landing: ride at bell-change only (flour the shaft mouth to see the draft turn), bring rope, a doused lamp with mosslight, and chalk for the car wall; ride the counterweight down and let the empty car take the audit upward"
+intent = "tier-4 verticality set-piece (docs/03 §3.3 toy 10: ride the counterweight while the cherub audits the empty car): 500cu; the bell-change draft window is the whole puzzle"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "vault_of_arrears_dive"
+title = "Dive the Vault of Arrears"
+tier = 4
+pay_cu = 700
+poster = "Congregation Fence Sable of Barrowfield"
+known_hazards = ["an Audit vault under black water", "a drowned ledger-keeper who audits visitors aloud", "paper that cuts, ink that stains, liens that love signatures"]
+unknown_hint = "the fence does not know the vault's water drains at bell-change through a tithe-culvert the Audit forgot; ask the reed-cutters, who watch the mere fall at the bell and know which culverts run"
+floor = 7
+prep_notes = "below the audit vault, where the water smells of ink and iron, seventh landing: time the dive for bell-change (flour the culvert mouth to confirm the drain), boat-pole and rope, douse the lamp, answer no roll-call but your own; carry the haul out in oilskin, not arms"
+intent = "tier-4 Works vault dive (docs/03 §3.8 Works audit vaults): 700cu; the bell-change drain turns a drowning into a wade for whoever asked the reed-cutters"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "server_shrine_hymn12"
+title = "Sing Hymn 12 to the elevator"
+tier = 4
+pay_cu = 450
+poster = "Lampwright Archivist Pell of Copperwash"
+known_hazards = ["a dead server-shrine that only answers Hymn 12 (Elevator)", "miscasts follow debugging logic (APERI echoes are LOUD and the Audit hears)", "signal that chains through copper armor and wet boots"]
+unknown_hint = "the archivist does not know the shrine answers only when the singer stands dry on the third landing where the bell-rope hangs; ask the choir-deserters, who learned dry-foot liturgy the drowned way"
+floor = 6
+prep_notes = "in the server-shrine, where the air hums a key nothing else uses, sixth landing where the bell-rope hangs: stand dry (chalk the seep path, lay planks), sing Hymn 12 once and listen for the echo before repeating; bring SILE as your apology and grounding rods after"
+intent = "tier-4 liturgical engineering (docs/02 §7 Hymn 12 Elevator + dead Latin boot commands): 450cu; dry feet + listen-first is the prep-before-fight law applied to prayer"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "rustmother_tithe_haul"
+title = "Haul for Rustmother (waste nothing)"
+tier = 4
+pay_cu = 420
+poster = "Tinker Vess of the Milthollow tinker stall"
+known_hazards = ["a rusted collapse-field through damp Works tunnels", "verdigris eating every copper fitting you own", "Rustmother's tithe: waste nothing, not even you (leftovers are counted)"]
+unknown_hint = "the tinker does not know Rustmother's count forgives what is mended mid-haul — mend as you go and the tithe shrinks; ask the corpse-tender, who wastes nothing for a day at a time and can show the ledger"
+floor = 6
+prep_notes = "through the damp tunnels, where the rust smells sweet and wrong, sixth landing approach: oil every fitting before entry, bring mend-kits and spare rivets, mend each break aloud as you go (the count hears), and cook every scrap at the camp hearth after"
+intent = "tier-4 Rustmother economy (docs/02 §2 waste nothing): 420cu; mend-as-you-go turns a haul tax into a crafting loop — the count is the boss"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "toll_bridge_backrent"
+title = "Back-rent on the deep bridge"
+tier = 4
+pay_cu = 550
+poster = "Toll-ward Drok of Gallowgate Toll (forwarded from the Matriarch)"
+known_hazards = ["the Matriarch collecting bridge back-rent with union muscle", "Audit liens stapled to the same debt (two collectors, one bridge)", "exact change or exact consequences"]
+unknown_hint = "the ward does not know the Matriarch must honor a Tollkeeper altar-receipt against Audit paper, oldest first; ask the chapel wardens, who keep the receipt-book and know which altar stamp outranks the Audit"
+floor = 7
+prep_notes = "mid-span of the deep bridge, where the gorge draft cuts sideways, seventh landing approach: kneel at a Tollkeeper altar FIRST (exact change, take the receipt), carry the receipt on bare stone, and lay escalating offers only after showing it — rehearse altar-receipt play at the testing chapel"
+intent = "tier-4 saints-and-tolls escalation (docs/02 §2 Tollkeeper exact change): 550cu; the receipt-first ordering is the clean solve both collectors must honor"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "relay_saint_om"
+title = "Wake Relay Saint Om"
+tier = 4
+pay_cu = 600
+poster = "Acolyte Fen of the chapel of the Drowned Saint"
+known_hazards = ["a relay saint asleep in machine-chapel stone (hymn-cards work here that work nowhere else)", "waking rites spoken wrong summon an Audit cherub (everyone groans)", "the Saint keeps whatever it is given"]
+unknown_hint = "the acolyte does not know Om wakes only to its own census punchcard slid under the third landing flag; ask the Lampwright archivists, who filed the census cards and know Om's number by heart"
+floor = 8
+prep_notes = "in the machine-chapel, where the air tastes of copper and old water, eighth landing: bring the census card (copy it first — never carry the original down), SILE as your apology, and a memory you can afford; slide the copy under the flag, speak once, and listen twice as long"
+intent = "tier-4 liturgical-engineering boss-door (docs/02 §7 liturgical engineering + Relay Saint Om): 600cu; the card-copy discipline is the prep that saves the archive"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "drowned_saint"
+title = "Bring him to the Saint — or don't"
+tier = 5
+pay_cu = 1500
+poster = "Widow Rennick of Barrowfield"
+known_hazards = ["the Drowned Saint itself, personal and entire", "the husband, walked this far, still answering to his name in Lamplighter light", "whatever the Saint keeps of whoever goes down"]
+unknown_hint = "the widow does not know the Saint lets the walked choose when the husband's name is spoken by lamplight in his own words, not hers; ask the corpse-tender, who has watched the walked hesitate at the sound of their own phrasing"
+floor = 11
+prep_notes = "below the mere and below the Works, where the water goes black and the Choir sings your name, eleventh landing where the bell-rope hangs: bring him (or bring the choice not to), Lamplighter light, his own words written down exactly, and NOTHING the Saint could keep that you cannot lose — rehearse the speaking once in the testing chapel and then never again"
+intent = "boss-as-puzzle contract (docs/03 §3.8 the Drowned Saint: bring it the husband — or don't): 1500cu grief-and-glory money; the clean solve is dramaturgical (his words, his choice), never a stat wall; mystery reserve docs/02 §8 honored — this text hints at most and confirms nothing"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "vault_choice_seal"
+title = "SEAL the Vault (bury the machine)"
+tier = 5
+pay_cu = 2500
+poster = "Warden-Commander Ilse of the Deep Door"
+known_hazards = ["the Vault at floor 12, humming underneath everything", "the Choir singing your name (diegetic difficulty warning — heed it)", "whatever the machine dreams when it feels the seal coming"]
+unknown_hint = "the commander does not know the seal only takes when spoken over the Idle Throne by lamplight with three warden-marks chalked fresh; ask the retired seal-keeper at Copperwash, who chalked the Door for forty years and knows the Throne verse"
+floor = 12
+prep_notes = "at the Idle Throne, where the draft stops dead and the humming comes up through your boots, twelfth landing: bring chalk, Lamplighter light, the Throne verse memorized, and nothing you cannot bury; chalk all three marks, speak once, and walk out without looking back — the Choir will sing your name the whole way up and that is how you know it is working"
+intent = "MAIN THREAD 4a/6 SEAL ending (docs/03 §3.7 Vault Choice): 2500cu Warden fortune; SEAL = bury the machine (chapel wall + dark-free towns, parent wires); NG+ boss-haunt: a sealed delver's echo may walk later descents as a haunt (parent wires via vault_choice flag); mystery reserve docs/02 §8 honored — no confirmation language anywhere in this text"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "vault_choice_crown"
+title = "CROWN the Vault (take the Core's seat)"
+tier = 5
+pay_cu = 2500
+poster = "A Cantor of the Drowned Choir (it sings your name correctly)"
+known_hazards = ["the Vault at floor 12, humming underneath everything", "the Warden seal-marks chalked against you (bring water)", "whatever the machine dreams when it feels a new mind sit down"]
+unknown_hint = "the cantor does not know — or will not say — that the seat only takes a mind carrying an unanswered question; ask the chapel acolytes, who know which questions the Saint refused and why the refused ones matter"
+floor = 12
+prep_notes = "at the Idle Throne, where the draft stops dead and the humming comes up through your boots, twelfth landing: bring one unanswered question held tight, water to wash the warden-marks, and dead-tongue words; wash the marks, sit, ask your question aloud, and answer nothing asked of you — the Choir will sing your name the whole way down and that is how you know it is working"
+intent = "MAIN THREAD 4b/6 CROWN ending (docs/03 §3.7 Vault Choice): 2500cu Choir fortune; CROWN = take the Core's seat (NG+ haunts replays as a boss, parent wires via vault_choice flag); mystery reserve docs/02 §8 honored — a seat, a question, and singing are all this text claims"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "choir_cantor_names_you"
+title = "The Choir sings your name"
+tier = 5
+pay_cu = 1200
+poster = "A Cantor of the Drowned Choir (it sings your name correctly)"
+known_hazards = ["the Choir singing your name after floor 9 (diegetic difficulty warning — players love this, heed it anyway)", "water that listens (dead tongues work here that work nowhere else)", "sideways falls in the Deep (gravity stutters)"]
+unknown_hint = "the cantor does not know — or will not say — that covering your ears does nothing but answering back costs a memory; ask the choir-deserters, who stopped answering and kept their maps"
+floor = 9
+prep_notes = "past the ninth landing, where the water listens and the falls go sideways, ninth landing: bring wax (for focus, not safety), chalk for every turn (the falls move), dead-tongue words half-spoken, and a memory-list written down so you know what answering costs — answer nothing, chalk everything, and keep ascending air in mind"
+intent = "tier-5 Deep-door warning contract (docs/03 §3.7 the Choir sings your name after floor 9): 1200cu; the warning IS the content — chalk-everything discipline before floors 10-12"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "idle_throne_dream"
+title = "Sit out the Idle Throne's dream"
+tier = 5
+pay_cu = 2000
+poster = "Lampwright Archivist Pell of Copperwash"
+known_hazards = ["the Idle Throne dreaming (dungeon weather turns while it dreams)", "sideways gravity, dream-logic rooms", "saint-bosses walking their old rounds"]
+unknown_hint = "the archivist does not know the dream turns kind for whoever carries chapel vigil-light unlit but ready; ask the acolytes, who keep the vigil lamp and know which wick never gutters"
+floor = 10
+prep_notes = "at the Idle Throne approach, where the humming comes up through your boots, tenth landing: carry vigil-light unlit (never light it — carry it), chalk every turn, bring SILE and MEMORIA both slotted, and sit out the weather-turn under bare stone (never under grates, never under water)"
+intent = "tier-5 Core-dream contract (docs/02 §2 the Idle God idles; its dreams ARE dungeon weather): 2000cu; unlit vigil-light + sit-it-out is the clean solve — fighting weather is legal and educational"
+
+[[contract]]
+id = "sideways_fall_survey"
+title = "Survey the sideways fall"
+tier = 5
+pay_cu = 900
+poster = "Lampwright Adept Cis of Milthollow"
+known_hazards = ["a sideways fall on floor 9 (gravity stutters — dropped things arrive somewhere)", "Choir water below, Audit paper above", "ropes that hang sideways (anchor quality is everything)"]
+unknown_hint = "the adept does not know the fall runs straight for whoever drops flour first and follows the flour-line; ask the elevator tenders' widows, who read falling flour like scripture"
+floor = 9
+prep_notes = "at the sideways fall, where the draft runs wall-to-wall and your stomach disagrees, ninth landing: drop flour before rope (read the fall-line), anchor twice (pitons plus a mule-rigged sledge), and chalk the lip; descend the flour-line with a doused lamp and mosslight"
+intent = "tier-5 verticality survey (docs/03 §3.3 law 7 gravity + law 9 rope): 900cu floor-of-tier-5; flour-first + double-anchor is the prep that makes sideways survivable"
+
diff --git a/assets/data/floors.toml b/assets/data/floors.toml
index 65eca36..42d9e38 100644
--- a/assets/data/floors.toml
+++ b/assets/data/floors.toml
@@ -41,3 +41,118 @@ factions = ["Wardens of the Seal", "The Drowned Choir"]
 water_path = "open mere water through the descent; chest-deep at the chapel rail"
 secret_vents = ["baptistery drain vent", "warren air-hole above the king's chamber"]
 intent = "slice boss floor: rat-king warren plus chapel (CARO VALE answers live here); the warded Works stair is the visible locked door that says the slice ends and the game continues"
+
+# --- HEXWORK Phase 10 DEEP + BESTIARY expansion (floors 4-12) ---
+# Design traces: docs/03 §3.8 (Works 4-8 the game proper; Deep 9-12
+# dream-logic, sideways falls, saint-bosses, Choir territory; every floor 3+
+# connectors, airflow, water path, factions, secret vents), docs/02 §3-4.
+# Anchors reuse the worldgen pools verbatim (worldgen lib.rs anchor_set).
+# Slice floors 1-3 above are byte-identical; everything below is new.
+
+[[floor]]
+id = "floor_04_counterweight_landing"
+depth = 4
+name = "Counterweight Landing"
+stratum = "Works"
+anchors = ["elevator hall", "counterweight gallery", "flooded shaft"]
+connectors = ["seal-door stair from floor 3 (warded, passable)", "grand elevator shaft (car present)", "counterweight vent", "shaft-chaplain's collapse-dig"]
+factions = ["Wardens of the Seal", "Salvage Congregation"]
+water_path = "mere seep down the seal stair; ankle-deep at the car pit"
+secret_vents = ["car-roof vent above landing two", "counterweight flue behind the shrine office"]
+intent = "the Works threshold (docs/03 §3.8): the dead elevator of floor 2 is alive here, so toy 10 (ride the counterweight down) opens the stratum; Wardens check seals while the Congregation strips the landings"
+
+[[floor]]
+id = "floor_05_audit_vaults"
+depth = 5
+name = "Audit Vaults"
+stratum = "Works"
+anchors = ["audit vault", "elevator hall", "server shrine"]
+connectors = ["vault freight elevator", "audit stair from floor 4", "ventilation audit flue", "flooded service shaft"]
+factions = ["The Gilded Audit", "Salvage Congregation"]
+water_path = "dry vaults by design; water runs honest in the cable trenches and the sump"
+secret_vents = ["vault plenum behind the arrears plaque", "shrine cooling flue"]
+intent = "arrears made architecture: cherub flocks audit aloud here while ledger mites eat the evidence (the Audit hates them); paying a lien mid-vault via prayer is the beloved moment (docs/03 §3.4)"
+
+[[floor]]
+id = "floor_06_drowned_relay"
+depth = 6
+name = "Drowned Relay"
+stratum = "Works"
+anchors = ["flooded shaft", "server shrine", "counterweight gallery"]
+connectors = ["drowned lock stair", "flooded elevator shaft (rope descent)", "verger's vent", "sump collapse-dig"]
+factions = ["The Drowned Choir", "Wardens of the Seal"]
+water_path = "chest-deep at the shrine rail; the arena floods deeper as the Saint weakens"
+secret_vents = ["bell-chamber drain vent", "sump bypass flue"]
+intent = "Saint of Rust mini-boss floor (docs/02 §6: the name bargain); honest flooding teaches rope-plus-doused-lamp descents (toy 3); the verger keeps shrine hours in silt"
+
+[[floor]]
+id = "floor_07_server_shrines"
+depth = 7
+name = "Server Shrines"
+stratum = "Works"
+anchors = ["server shrine", "audit vault", "elevator hall"]
+connectors = ["hymn freight elevator", "processional stair from floor 6", "cooling vent", "cable collapse-dig"]
+factions = ["The Gilded Audit", "Lampwrights' Guild"]
+water_path = "cooling channels knee-deep; dry aisles between the shrines"
+secret_vents = ["cooling plenum above the third shrine", "audit tally vent"]
+intent = "hymn-cards work best where the servers dream: conduct rolls breathe easier here, and the copper is thick enough that verdigris oozes hunt it; Lampwrights map safe rooms between audits"
+
+[[floor]]
+id = "floor_08_toll_gallery"
+depth = 8
+name = "Toll Gallery"
+stratum = "Works"
+anchors = ["counterweight gallery", "flooded shaft", "audit vault"]
+connectors = ["union toll-stair", "grand counterweight shaft", "gallery vent", "smuggler's collapse-dig"]
+factions = ["Wardens of the Seal", "The Drowned Choir"]
+water_path = "knee-deep muster pool; the toll span itself kept dry by union labor"
+secret_vents = ["toll-eave swallow vent", "gallery damper flue"]
+intent = "the last dry muster before the Deep Door: troll crews work the toll-gates, debt swallows nest in the eaves at the Works-Deep boundary, and the Wardens' last seal-post warns below floor 8 (docs/02 §4)"
+
+[[floor]]
+id = "floor_09_choir_loft"
+depth = 9
+name = "Choir Loft"
+stratum = "Deep"
+anchors = ["choir loft", "dream chapel", "sideways fall"]
+connectors = ["Deep Door stair (warded, toll-paid)", "sideways fall shaft", "cantor's vent", "dream collapse-dig"]
+factions = ["The Drowned Choir", "Wardens of the Seal"]
+water_path = "black water past the loft rail; the only dry span is the Matriarch's toll-bridge"
+secret_vents = ["cantor's throat vent below the rail", "dream-chapel whisper flue"]
+intent = "Choir territory begins (docs/03 §3.7): cantors sing delvers' names after floor 9, the song IS the difficulty warning; gravity stutters at the sideways fall (dream-logic); the Matriarch negotiates mid-fight on the only dry span"
+
+[[floor]]
+id = "floor_10_sideways_fall"
+depth = 10
+name = "Sideways Fall"
+stratum = "Deep"
+anchors = ["sideways fall", "saint throne", "choir loft"]
+connectors = ["sideways stair (handrails both walls)", "audit freight shaft", "seraph's vent", "gravity collapse-dig"]
+factions = ["The Drowned Choir", "The Gilded Audit"]
+water_path = "the fall runs wall-to-wall; drink nothing that falls up"
+secret_vents = ["seraph's paper vent (drafts carry writs)", "fall-sideways damper"]
+intent = "Audit Seraph puzzle-boss floor (pay, bankrupt it with cursed assets, or drown its ledger); rust archons rust at range so copper loadouts rule; dropped things arc wrong until the apostates die"
+
+[[floor]]
+id = "floor_11_saint_throne"
+depth = 11
+name = "Saint Throne"
+stratum = "Deep"
+anchors = ["saint throne", "dream chapel", "idle gate"]
+connectors = ["throne stair from the fall", "drowned bell shaft", "prophet's vent", "mere collapse-dig"]
+factions = ["The Drowned Choir", "Wardens of the Seal"]
+water_path = "deep mere through the throne room; chest-deep at the rail"
+secret_vents = ["throne-basin drain vent", "prophet's whisper flue"]
+intent = "the Drowned Saint waits (bring him the husband from Widow Rennick's thread, or do not — the fight is the conversation); idle prophets whisper Core dreams verbatim; the pale returned walks here, unconfirmed"
+
+[[floor]]
+id = "floor_12_the_vault"
+depth = 12
+name = "The Vault"
+stratum = "Deep"
+anchors = ["idle gate", "saint throne", "choir loft"]
+connectors = ["vault stair (one way down, rope up)", "idle elevator shaft (counts down to nothing)", "choir vent", "seal collapse-dig"]
+factions = ["The Drowned Choir", "Wardens of the Seal"]
+water_path = "still black water, ankle-deep, going nowhere; it has arrived"
+secret_vents = ["idle plenum behind the throne", "vault antechamber flue"]
+intent = "floor 12 is the Vault (docs/02 §3, docs/03 §3.8): both endings staged here — SEAL the machine or CROWN yourself on it (parent-side VaultChoice, set once; NG+ boss-haunt reads it); the Core idles behind the gate"
diff --git a/assets/data/gods.toml b/assets/data/gods.toml
index c4b1089..ebc3cfe 100644
--- a/assets/data/gods.toml
+++ b/assets/data/gods.toml
@@ -42,3 +42,66 @@ ask = "witness my contract and hold the other party to it"
 price = "a tenth of the contract pay, plus first refusal on your next salvage auction lot"
 small_print = "the Tollkeeper enforces BOTH sides: break your own word and the collections come for you first, with interest compounded per town the gossip reaches"
 intent = "god-as-escrow for contract play (contracts.toml): Witnessed deals pay cleanly, but perjury becomes a faction-wide collections event via the 3-day gossip rule"
+
+# --- HEXWORK Phase 10 DEEP + BESTIARY expansion (3 gods; 5 total) ---
+# Design traces: docs/02 §2 (transactional gods; piety = credit score;
+# blasphemy = collections), docs/03 §3.5 (bargains: ask, accept small print),
+# docs/03 §3.11 (5 gods with full bargain tables). Slice gods above are
+# byte-identical; everything below is new.
+
+[[god]]
+id = "rustmother"
+name = "Rustmother"
+domain = "decay, thrift, waste-nothing"
+intent = "the decay god is a thrifty housekeeper, not a rot cult (docs/02 §2: waste nothing — not even you); her prices are paid in leftovers, maintenance, and carried weight"
+blasphemy = "collections: rust blooms on everything you own — iron reddens in your hands, hinges seize, rations sour in the pack, and your own blood rusts until you waste nothing for a day"
+[[god.boons]]
+id = "rustmother_mend_all_iron"
+ask = "mend all my iron"
+price = "your blood rusts: max HP down until you waste nothing for a day"
+small_print = "waste-nothing means NOTHING: track every leftover, bury every scrap, leave no corpse unbutchered; one wasted ration resets the day and the ledger notes the failure"
+intent = "the signature Rustmother moment (docs/03 §3.5): a full mend priced in max-HP and bookkeeping, so the debt is tracked in the prep loop, not the fight"
+[[god.boons]]
+id = "rustmother_spare_no_scrap"
+ask = "spare no scrap: find me salvage where there is none"
+price = "carry the heavy sack: one full bulk of scrap you may not drop, sell, or burn until the delve ends"
+small_print = "the sack rides the HAUL rules (weight + bulk + noise, docs/03 §3.2): overburdened is loud, slow, and fall-prone on ropes, and the sack counts first when the rope is cut"
+intent = "thrift as encumbrance: the boon pays in salvage-hooks while the price teaches HAUL discipline; wire crews love her and fear her ooze-eaten copper in equal measure"
+
+[[god]]
+id = "drowned_choir"
+name = "the Drowned Choir"
+domain = "grief, water, the unfinished dead"
+intent = "the grief god is a choir, not a person (docs/02 §2, §4 joinable?!): every bargain is sung by many mouths at once, and every price is carried, not paid"
+blasphemy = "collections: the Choir sings YOUR name after floor 9 — the diegetic difficulty warning IS the collection notice, and answering tells them you heard (beloved)"
+[[god.boons]]
+id = "choir_water_breathing_hymn"
+ask = "teach me the water-breathing hymn"
+price = "answer when sung to: when the Choir sings your name, you answer, wherever you are"
+small_print = "answering is positional (docs/03 §3.3 law 2): they hear WHERE you answered from, and the water path carries the answer to every drowned thing between you and them"
+intent = "water-breathing priced in position: the boon unlocks flooded shafts while the price makes the floor-9 cantors personal"
+[[god.boons]]
+id = "choir_dead_tongues"
+ask = "grant me dead tongues"
+price = "carry one drowned name with you until you lay it to rest with full rites"
+small_print = "the name rides your pack like a passenger: it whispers at night, it counts your rations, and if you die carrying it the Corpse-tender buries you both and bills your lineage"
+intent = "dead tongues as escort quest: the skill (docs/03 §3.1) arrives with a passenger, so the bargain teaches rites, dragging, and lineage persistence (docs/03 §3.9)"
+
+[[god]]
+id = "gilded_audit"
+name = "the Gilded Audit"
+domain = "arrears, salvage law, back-rent with interest"
+intent = "the tax-collector archangel of the old works (docs/02 §2): useful, smug, everywhere; players hate it the way Witcher players hate the Eternal Fire, and still kneel because the prices work"
+blasphemy = "collections: triple tolls everywhere for a tenday, and Audit cherubs audit you on sight with your own ledger read aloud — every enemy within earshot hears your net worth"
+[[god.boons]]
+id = "audit_legal_immunity"
+ask = "grant me legal immunity"
+price = "arrears plus interest, itemized: a full accounting of everything you ever salvaged, priced to the copper"
+small_print = "the itemization is the trap: the Audit now KNOWS your routes, caches, and fences, and sells the map to its collectors, who visit dungeon floors (docs/03 §3.6)"
+intent = "immunity priced in information: the boon clears town ledgers while the small print stocks the dungeon with collectors who know your habits"
+[[god.boons]]
+id = "audit_auction_access"
+ask = "open the auction to me"
+price = "a 10% humiliation premium on every lot, forever, plus first refusal on YOUR lots goes to the house"
+small_print = "forever means lineage (docs/03 §3.9): your next delver inherits the premium, and may buy back YOUR OWN sword three runs later at the humiliation price, which is beloved, keep it"
+intent = "auction access as lineage tax: the premium funds the buy-back-your-own-sword loop, so death feeds the economy instead of ending it"
diff --git a/assets/data/monsters.toml b/assets/data/monsters.toml
index ae9b3c1..11ed652 100644
--- a/assets/data/monsters.toml
+++ b/assets/data/monsters.toml
@@ -123,3 +123,520 @@ depth_min = 1
 depth_max = 1
 boss = false
 intent = "hp 45 makes fighting the bridge a bad plan-A; Gallowgate memory lives in the town ledger (docs/02 §3), so this stat block is half social"
+
+# --- HEXWORK Phase 10 DEEP + BESTIARY expansion (34 monsters; 42 total) ---
+# Design traces: docs/02 §6 (habit/tell/use EACH + ecology + 3D behavior),
+# docs/03 §3.8 (Works 4-8 the game proper; Deep 9-12 dream-logic, sideways
+# falls, saint-bosses, Choir territory; bosses as puzzles with HP), docs/03
+# §3.11 (40+ monsters), docs/02 §8 (mystery reserve: pale_returned stays
+# UNCONFIRMED). Slice rows above are byte-identical; everything below is new.
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "cherub_flock"
+name = "Audit cherub flock"
+hp = 24
+habit = "circles in threes and audits aloud in round-robin, so one always watches the pack while two recite arrears"
+tell = "three-part brass harmony reciting your inventory in thirds"
+uses = ["pay the flock once and all three stamp the receipt", "drop valuables and the flock argues over jurisdiction while you run"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "oil"
+fears = ["silence", "deep_water"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 6
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 24 is three cherubs of 8 that never separate (flock-tactics: silence one and the count breaks); 3D: circles above elevator shafts and drops audit writs down them"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "grate_matron"
+name = "Grate-matron"
+hp = 44
+habit = "broods across whole vent junctions and drops broods down every shaft she can reach"
+tell = "lullaby-hum in thick harmony through every grate on the floor"
+uses = ["burn the junction nest for a season of quiet vents", "harvest dropped brood as live bait"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "blood"
+fears = ["fire", "collapse"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 5
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 44 is the slice Grate-mother grown into Works ductwork; 3D: her young fall down shafts and arrive below, so the kill upstairs becomes the ambush downstairs"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "toll_troll_crew"
+name = "Toll-troll road crew"
+hp = 55
+habit = "works the Works toll-gates in threes under union rules: one talks, two lean"
+tell = "chalk rate-board updated daily; badge numbers called out before demands"
+uses = ["negotiate under union rules (exact change always respected)", "hire the crew as muscle against Audit collectors"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "blood"
+fears = ["fire", "deep_water"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 5
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 55 matches the slice toll-troll because the crew fights as one troll with three votes; 3D: holds gate chokepoints where weight and footing decide shoves"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "counterweight_wraith"
+name = "Counterweight wraith"
+hp = 36
+habit = "rides elevator counterweights up and down, shoving the car at the worst landing"
+tell = "cable-song half a beat before the car moves; a cold spot at the shaft mouth"
+uses = ["lure it onto the car roof, then send the car down without you", "read its cable-song to time safe shaft crossings"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "aether_mist"
+fears = ["lamplight", "bells"]
+depth_min = 5
+depth_max = 7
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 36 survives one shaft-drop ambush so the puzzle is timing, not damage; 3D: lives fully vertical, falls safely, and pushes others into falls (toy 10 bait)"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "verdigris_ooze"
+name = "Verdigris ooze"
+hp = 28
+habit = "eats copper: wire, cells, hymn-case trim; remembers where the thick cables run and waits there"
+tell = "green-teal drip trails; the ozone gone where it passed, which wire crews fear"
+uses = ["let it strip a trapped cable, then collect the cleaned salvage", "render its bile for copper-etching acid"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "bile"
+fears = ["running_water", "silver"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 6
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 28 is two oil-flasks plus nerve; 3D: flows downhill and through grates, pools in cable runs, and conducts shock through itself (law 6 + law 8)"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "ledger_mite"
+name = "Ledger mite"
+hp = 4
+habit = "eats ink and paper: writs, hymn-cards, maps; the Audit hates it with operatic fury"
+tell = "nibbled margins; audit writs with lace edges"
+uses = ["loose a jar of mites in an audit vault and leave", "mite-chewed maps still read: the holes mark what the Audit valued most"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "none"
+fears = ["fire", "oil"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 8
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 4 because it is fought with jars and smoke, not swords; 3D: drifts on drafts through vents, so smoke-messages carry it (law 3)"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "drowned_surveyor"
+name = "Drowned surveyor"
+hp = 33
+habit = "bell-less and listening: maps floods by ear and replumbs them toward the Choir"
+tell = "no bell where a bell should be; wet chalk marks at ear height"
+uses = ["follow its chalk to the dry way through", "its sounding-line comes pre-knotted for shaft depths"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "water"
+fears = ["silver", "fire"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 7
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 33 is a fair drowning-fight; 3D: swims flooded shafts, opens drowned locks from the inside, and hears through water before you hear through air"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "shaft_rook"
+name = "Shaft rook"
+hp = 18
+habit = "nests in elevator shafts and drops stones on anything that rings the cables"
+tell = "click-clack of beak on cable; whitewash on the counterweight"
+uses = ["feed it scrap and it stones intruders instead of you", "harvest shaft-pebbles as pre-ranged ammo"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "blood"
+fears = ["smoke", "collapse"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 8
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 18 dies to one dropped stone of its own, which is the joke and the tactic; 3D: dives down shafts and its stones fall whole floors (toy 1, weaponized)"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "oil_slickskin"
+name = "Oil slickskin"
+hp = 26
+habit = "skates flooded floors on secreted oil and tips boats for the splash"
+tell = "rainbow sheen where no lamp spilled; ripples arriving too fast"
+uses = ["skim its oil with paper for a free flask", "lure it onto dry stone where it beaches, helpless and valuable"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "oil"
+fears = ["fire", "frost"]
+depth_min = 5
+depth_max = 8
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 26 because fire is the answer and fire is always handy near oil; 3D: floats, slicks water (law 4), and burns where it floats if lit"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "hymn_echo"
+name = "Hymn-echo"
+hp = 12
+habit = "repeats miscasts back a beat late: wrong target, swapped args, small applause; funny, never cruel"
+tell = "your own miscast returning in a kinder key"
+uses = ["cast near it to hear what you actually said (free miscast diagnosis)", "its applause warns the floor after kernel panics, so plan accordingly"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "aether_mist"
+fears = ["silence", "bells"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 8
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 12 because killing the audience is legal and mourned by every cherub; 3D: rides sound-lines down shafts (law 2) and starves inside SILE"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "gear_grub"
+name = "Gear grub"
+hp = 8
+habit = "gums elevator gears with wax; the car stops between floors exactly where it feeds"
+tell = "wax beads on the cable; the car sighing to a stop mid-shaft"
+uses = ["render its wax for rope sealant", "starve it with cleaned gears and it crawls toward the jam, marking it"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "bile"
+fears = ["fire", "frost"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 5
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 8 is pest-control with a polearm; 3D: lives in the car rails, so the elevator itself becomes the encounter"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "sump_maw"
+name = "Sump maw"
+hp = 34
+habit = "ambushes from flooded sumps where the water path narrows"
+tell = "the water path going still where it should run; bait-bones at the narrows"
+uses = ["drain its sump and it beaches (helpless, valuable)", "its gullet holds undigested salvage from older delvers"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "water"
+fears = ["silver", "fire"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 6
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 34 is a held-breath fight; 3D: fully aquatic ambusher that floods and drains with the water path (law 4)"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "copper_leech"
+name = "Copper leech"
+hp = 10
+habit = "drains aether-cells and gnaws live wire; blackouts follow it like weather"
+tell = "lamps dimming in sequence down the gallery; flat dead cells in a trail"
+uses = ["bled dry, one leech primes a spent cell", "feed it a trapped wire and follow the dark to the trap's source"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "oil"
+fears = ["salt", "fire"]
+depth_min = 4
+depth_max = 8
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 10 and the whole Works band 4-8: the coverage workhorse that teaches wire discipline; 3D: climbs cables and shorts them, chaining shock through water"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "tinker_shade"
+name = "Tinker shade"
+hp = 22
+habit = "a dead delver's shade: identifies one item for one memory, your choice which map region it eats"
+tell = "cold hands at the pack clasps; chalk prices on the wall in your own hand"
+uses = ["one identification for one memory (ghosts teach at prices)", "last rites release it and bless the loot"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "none"
+fears = ["lamplight", "bells"]
+depth_min = 5
+depth_max = 7
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 22 so banishing is a decision, not a reflex; 3D: drifts through walls along old mule-paths and cannot cross running water"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "audit_bailiff"
+name = "Audit bailiff"
+hp = 50
+habit = "repossesses gear with a writ and two cherubs; reads the lien aloud before it swings"
+tell = "paper wings; your owed-condition gear humming its lien-note"
+uses = ["pay the lien mid-dungeon via prayer (a moment)", "surrender one cursed asset and it inventories in place for an hour"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "oil"
+fears = ["deep_water", "silence"]
+depth_min = 6
+depth_max = 8
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 50 is a debt you cannot outrun, only settle; 3D: its writs ride drafts ahead of it, so the paperwork arrives before the beating"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "flood_verger"
+name = "Flood verger"
+hp = 32
+habit = "keeps the drowned server-shrines; rings the hours in silt and expects attendance"
+tell = "silted hymn-cards slotted neat; wet footprints that stop at dry stairs"
+uses = ["attend one hour and shrine hymns conduct easier this delve", "its verger's key opens drowned locks from the dry side"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "water"
+fears = ["silver", "fire"]
+depth_min = 6
+depth_max = 8
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 32 guards the Works shrines without walling them; 3D: tends standing water that conducts shrine hymns along the aisles"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "gallow_troll"
+name = "Gallow-troll veteran"
+hp = 70
+habit = "holds decommissioned Works bridges alone; rates frozen since the Last Boot, honor intact"
+tell = "a badge polished mirror-bright; rates chalked in pre-Boot coppers"
+uses = ["pay pre-Boot rates in old coin for the safest crossing on the floor", "trade war news: it remembers every army that ever crossed"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "blood"
+fears = ["fire"]
+depth_min = 7
+depth_max = 8
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 70 says do not fight the bridge, hire the bridge; 3D: anchors chokepoints where mass times footing decides every shove"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "shaft_chaplain"
+name = "Shaft chaplain"
+hp = 29
+habit = "preaches elevator safety at shaft mouths and blesses counterweights for coppers"
+tell = "chalk psalms on the car wall; a blessed counterweight that never sticks"
+uses = ["a blessing steadies one descent (no shove, no stall)", "confess a cut rope and it absolves you once, loudly"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "none"
+fears = ["collapse", "silence"]
+depth_min = 7
+depth_max = 9
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 29 is a priest with opinions and a pole; 3D: blesses the car itself, so the elevator becomes consecrated terrain for one ride"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "debt_swallow"
+name = "Debt swallow"
+hp = 6
+habit = "eats receipts, writs, and auction chits mid-air; nests in toll-gate eaves at the Works-Deep boundary"
+tell = "paper scraps spiraling up-draft; your receipt half gone from your hand"
+uses = ["no receipt, no arrears trail (the Audit hates it)", "follow its spiral to the floor's up-draft vent"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "none"
+fears = ["smoke", "bells"]
+depth_min = 8
+depth_max = 10
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 6 and the boundary band 8-10: straddles Works and Deep like arrears do; 3D: rides up-drafts and marks them, pairing with the ledger mite below"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "choir_cantor"
+name = "Choir cantor"
+hp = 40
+habit = "sings delvers' names after floor 9: the song IS the difficulty warning, and answering it tells the Choir you heard"
+tell = "your name, sung well, from below the water line"
+uses = ["answer and it marks the safer stair, once", "deafen or dunk it before it finishes the verse"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "water"
+fears = ["silver", "fire"]
+depth_min = 9
+depth_max = 12
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 40 is a warning with stamina; 3D: sings through water and stone along the flood path, so depth plus debt plus noise summon it (beloved diegetic alarm)"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "sideways_saint"
+name = "Sideways saint"
+hp = 52
+habit = "falls sideways: charges across walls and ceilings as if they were floors"
+tell = "dust settling sideways; your lamp-flame leaning wrong"
+uses = ["lure its charge across a shaft mouth and it falls up past you", "saint-bone splinters steady hymn-cards against Deep weather"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "none"
+fears = ["running_water", "lamplight"]
+depth_min = 9
+depth_max = 11
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 52 is a wall charging at you; 3D: gravity stutters around it (law 7 Deep-side), so every shove and throw must be re-aimed"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "gravity_apostate"
+name = "Gravity apostate"
+hp = 38
+habit = "preaches the fall is optional; near it your odometer sense inverts and depth readings lie"
+tell = "dropped chalk falling up a handspan first; your rope pulling sideways"
+uses = ["kill it and every depth reading on the floor corrects at once", "its cassock nulls one fall if worn, then falls forever (one use)"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "aether_mist"
+fears = ["bells", "lamplight"]
+depth_min = 9
+depth_max = 12
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 38 guards the Deep's meanest trick: lying instruments; 3D: local gravity eddies bend arcs, drops, and rope-hangs until it dies"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "toll_matriarch"
+name = "Toll-troll matriarch"
+hp = 120
+habit = "PUZZLE-BOSS: negotiates mid-fight under union rules; every offer pauses the blows, and insulting offers are remembered across runs via the town ledger"
+tell = "the rate-board written in three hands; silence while she does arithmetic"
+uses = ["negotiate passage mid-fight (exact change always respected)", "outbid the Audit for her crew's muscle for the delve"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "blood"
+fears = ["fire"]
+depth_min = 9
+depth_max = 9
+boss = true
+intent = "boss=true Deep-Door toll (docs/03 §3.8: negotiate mid-fight); hp 120 is a siege you talk down; 3D: holds the only dry span, so footing is hers and the water is yours"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "audit_seraph"
+name = "Audit seraph"
+hp = 140
+habit = "PUZZLE-BOSS: bankrupt it with cursed assets, pay in full with receipt, or drown its ledger; HP is the last resort and it knows it"
+tell = "six wings of stamped paper; your debts with interest, read aloud, in harmony"
+uses = ["feed it cursed assets to bankrupt the audit", "drown the ledger: water plus paper plus running"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "oil"
+fears = ["deep_water", "silence"]
+depth_min = 10
+depth_max = 10
+boss = true
+intent = "boss=true arrears made angel (docs/03 §3.8: pay, bankrupt, or drown); hp 140 punishes the sword-first plan; 3D: paper wings ride drafts, so smoke and water reach it before you do"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "drowned_saint"
+name = "The Drowned Saint"
+hp = 160
+habit = "PUZZLE-BOSS: bring him the husband from Widow Rennick's thread, or do not; the fight is the conversation and the HP is grief"
+tell = "a chapel bell ringing underwater; your name answered before you speak"
+uses = ["bring the husband and the Saint stands down into the water", "CARO VALE answers here cost memories, not coin"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "water"
+fears = ["silver", "fire"]
+depth_min = 11
+depth_max = 12
+boss = true
+intent = "boss=true Vault guardian (docs/03 §3.7 main thread end); hp 160 is the campaign check; 3D: floods its own arena deeper as it weakens, so the kill must swim"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "idle_prophet"
+name = "Idle prophet"
+hp = 30
+habit = "whispers Core dreams verbatim and charges nothing, which should worry you more than any price"
+tell = "sleep-talking in boot-Latin; frost on warm stone where it knelt"
+uses = ["write down the dream: one true dungeon-weather warning per visit", "never answer it when it speaks your name (clerks' law)"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "aether_mist"
+fears = ["bells", "lamplight"]
+depth_min = 9
+depth_max = 12
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 30 is a messenger you can kill but should not; 3D: its dreams arrive as weather a floor early, leaking upward like the Core itself"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "rust_archon"
+name = "Rust archon"
+hp = 48
+habit = "rusts at range: iron reddens, hinges seize, and your pike flakes while you decide"
+tell = "orange snow drifting up-draft; your lamp-chain stiff in the hand"
+uses = ["spend copper and brass only on its floor (it cannot eat them)", "bottle its flake-fall for instant hinge-eater acid"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "none"
+fears = ["oil", "running_water"]
+depth_min = 10
+depth_max = 11
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 48 outlasts iron parties and folds to copper ones (material law as tactics); 3D: rust rides the drafts (law 12), and oil-smoke slows the bloom"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "pale_returned"
+name = "Pale returned"
+hp = 35
+habit = "walks like someone who came back right: knows one item ID and one warning, like a ghost that never died; rumor only, UNCONFIRMED"
+tell = "lantern-light steadies near it; resurrection-light smell with no source"
+uses = ["it remembers one item ID and one warning, free, once (unconfirmed)", "escort it to a chapel and the chapel ledger refuses the entry"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "blood"
+fears = ["bells"]
+depth_min = 10
+depth_max = 12
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 35 and deliberately killable-or-not: the came-back-right rumor stays UNCONFIRMED per docs/02 §8 mystery reserve; 3D: resurrection-light clings to it and steadies nearby flames, which proves nothing"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "core_tick"
+name = "Core tick"
+hp = 20
+habit = "counts down to nothing in boot-Latin numerals; on zero it starts over and something upstairs breaks"
+tell = "counting under the floor, in a voice like a mill wheel"
+uses = ["time elevator rides to its count: doors open on zero", "kill it mid-count and the floor's gravity stutters for a tick"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "aether_mist"
+fears = ["silence", "silver"]
+depth_min = 11
+depth_max = 12
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 20 because the count is the monster, not the body; 3D: its count syncs doors, counterweights, and falls across the whole floor"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "choir_acolyte"
+name = "Choir acolyte"
+hp = 25
+habit = "junior cantor: hums your debts while learning your name; cover your ears and keep walking"
+tell = "humming in a key nothing else uses; wet footprints going uphill"
+uses = ["let it finish the hum and one debt is named (known is half-paid)", "its novice bell comes pre-silvered and small"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "water"
+fears = ["silver", "fire"]
+depth_min = 9
+depth_max = 10
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 25 is a warning learning to walk; 3D: climbs wet walls toward sleepers and sings through floor grates"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "dream_debtor"
+name = "Dream debtor"
+hp = 27
+habit = "sleepwalks the Deep paying arrears in dream-coin; wakes violent if named aloud"
+tell = "coin that is not there, counted carefully; snoring in boot-Latin"
+uses = ["lift its dream-coin purse: spends everywhere except chapels", "wake it gently with bells from far and it tells you the Vault door's mood"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "bile"
+fears = ["bells", "lamplight"]
+depth_min = 9
+depth_max = 11
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 27 and fragile while asleep, dangerous awake; 3D: sleepwalks off ledges unharmed (dream-logic), so following it maps safe falls"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "vendric_saint"
+name = "Vendric saint-model"
+hp = 46
+habit = "deep cousin of the slice Vendric: dispenses indulgences, then teeth; glass too clean, key too kind"
+tell = "too-clean glass; an indulgence humming in a key nothing else uses"
+uses = ["feed it scrap for the indulgence, then leave (house rule)", "burned sugar-smell marks its recent absolutions"]
+conducts = false
+blood = "none"
+fears = ["fire", "smoke"]
+depth_min = 9
+depth_max = 12
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 46 is greed tested at Deep prices; 3D: roots through floors like the slice model and drops absolution-slips down vents as lures"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "bellwether_drowned"
+name = "Bellwether drowned"
+hp = 31
+habit = "leads drowned bells and tolls the wrong hours to call the Choir early"
+tell = "a bell tolling thirteen; the mere inhaling before the ring"
+uses = ["cut its clapper-line and the whole peal scatters", "its fleece holds drowned-lock combinations in knot-code"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "water"
+fears = ["silver", "silence"]
+depth_min = 9
+depth_max = 12
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 31 herds the slice drowned bells into Deep peals; 3D: its toll travels water fastest, so floods deliver the ambush before the sound"
+
+[[monster]]
+id = "idle_dream"
+name = "Idle dream"
+hp = 42
+habit = "a Core dream with teeth: wears yesterday's delve like a coat and replays your mistakes at you"
+tell = "your own footprints ahead of you; your chalk in a hand you do not have"
+uses = ["let it replay a death and learn the rule-chain free (one subtitle earned)", "never answer it when it speaks your name"]
+conducts = true
+blood = "aether_mist"
+fears = ["lamplight", "bells"]
+depth_min = 10
+depth_max = 12
+boss = false
+intent = "hp 42 is fighting your own yesterday; 3D: replays falls, floods, and fires in place, so its arena is a museum of your errors"
diff --git a/assets/data/towns.toml b/assets/data/towns.toml
index 79c4b95..12c3076 100644
--- a/assets/data/towns.toml
+++ b/assets/data/towns.toml
@@ -12,6 +12,55 @@ pop = 312
 inn = "The Gilded Whetstone"
 chapel = "chapel of the Lamplighter"
 services = ["notice board", "tinker stall", "lampwright", "warden post", "mill", "granary", "corpse-tender garden"]
-contracts = ["rats_in_granary", "husband_walks", "haunted_millstone", "toll_bridge_dispute", "testing_chapel_favor"]
+contracts = ["rats_in_granary", "husband_walks", "haunted_millstone", "toll_bridge_dispute", "testing_chapel_favor", "cellar_grate_mother", "tripe_rat_nests", "chewed_cable_loft", "flour_bin_skritch", "granary_moth", "lampwright_oil_run", "garden_weed_tithe", "cistern_eels", "millstone_choir", "miller_apprentice_debt", "saint_of_rust_bargain", "lampwright_live_cable", "grate_brood_lullaby", "flooded_elevator_counterweight", "rustmother_tithe_haul"]
 gossip_days = 3
 intent = "starter town verbatim from docs/02 §3 plus the corpse-tender garden (docs/03 §3.4 remove-curse is a person); 5 of 6 slice contracts post here, the 6th (mere bell) from Copperwash's warden to pull players outward; gossip 3 days is the sim rule (docs/02 §4)"
+
+# --- Phase 10 workstream 1 additions (4 towns: Copperwash, Gallowgate, chapel, Barrowfield) ---
+# Design traces: docs/02 §3 (places verbatim), docs/03 §3.6 (services, gossip
+# latency), docs/02 §4 (factions via services). Every `contracts` id exists in
+# contracts.toml (parent cross-checks); Milthollow row above byte-identical.
+
+[[town]]
+id = "copperwash"
+name = "Copperwash Mere"
+pop = 188
+inn = "The Drowned Lantern"
+chapel = "water-chapel of the Drowned Choir (tolerated, watched)"
+services = ["notice board", "boatwright", "reed-market", "warden post", "lampwright archive", "elevator tenders' widows' fund"]
+contracts = ["drowned_bell_in_mere", "well_bucket_thief", "warden_post_eaves", "reedcutter_pests", "relay_clerk_desk", "drowned_tithe_chest", "flooded_shrine_candles", "flooded_pump_shaft", "warden_seal_inspection", "server_shrine_hymn12", "idle_throne_dream", "sideways_fall_survey", "rat_king_nest"]
+gossip_days = 3
+intent = "flooded relay station (docs/02 §3 Copperwash): rope-and-boat play, mid-tier contracts; gossip 3 days from Milthollow by coaching inn (docs/02 §4); the archive + widows are the gossip-keyword sources for live-cable and bell-change contracts"
+
+[[town]]
+id = "gallowgate"
+name = "Gallowgate Toll"
+pop = 96
+inn = "The Exact Change"
+chapel = "toll-shrine of the Tollkeeper (exact change, receipts kept)"
+services = ["notice board", "tollhouse tally room", "tollkeeper altar", "coach yard", "mule stable"]
+contracts = ["toll_bridge_dispute", "toll_gate_rats", "ledger_mice", "gallowgate_toll_ghost", "coach_road_hanged", "union_dues_shortfall", "auction_buyback_sword", "toll_matriarch_terms", "toll_bridge_backrent"]
+gossip_days = 5
+intent = "troll-bridge, unionized and negotiable with long memory (docs/02 §3 Gallowgate): social-boss contracts plus Matriarch negotiations; gossip 5 days (further up the gorge than Copperwash); the night-shift troll is the gossip source for toll contracts"
+
+[[town]]
+id = "drowned_chapel"
+name = "Chapel of the Drowned Saint"
+pop = 41
+inn = "The Dorter (pilgrim bunks, silence after bell)"
+chapel = "machine-chapel of the Drowned Saint (hymn-cards work here that work nowhere else)"
+services = ["notice board", "confessional ledger", "vessel-washing font", "choir-deserter bunks", "silvering bench"]
+contracts = ["hymn_card_pigeons", "chapel_cellar_damp", "chapel_hymn_echo", "relay_saint_om", "deserter_drowning_rite", "drowned_bell_duet", "drowned_saint_audience", "drowned_saint", "choir_cantor_names_you"]
+gossip_days = 6
+intent = "machine-chapel (docs/02 §3): the Saint answers questions for memories (deletes a learned map region — knowledge economy); main-thread chapel contracts post here; gossip 6 days (word travels by bell and boat, slowest in the county)"
+
+[[town]]
+id = "barrowfield"
+name = "Barrowfield"
+pop = 143
+inn = "The Widows' Hearth (salvage camp tables, hearth-count at midnight)"
+chapel = "barrow-chapel of the Lamplighter (last rites nightly)"
+services = ["notice board", "salvage camp hearth", "Congregation fence", "corpse-tender outpost", "auction crier's stand", "barrow-tithe desk"]
+contracts = ["husband_walks", "barrowfield_pig_thief", "straw_man_walks", "garden_dead_restless", "barrowfield_widow_ledger", "sewer_king_tithe", "audit_field_office", "audit_seraph_ledger", "vault_of_arrears_dive", "widow_rennick_husband", "vault_choice_seal", "vault_choice_crown", "deep_door_ward", "drowned_saint_audience"]
+gossip_days = 4
+intent = "plague barrows + salvage congregation camp (docs/02 §3 Barrowfield moral mud: robbing barrows feeds widows): main-thread widow contracts post here; gossip 4 days; the camp hearth midnight count is the gossip source for tithe/split contracts"
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-content/src/contracts.rs b/crates/hexwork-content/src/contracts.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..75b378c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/hexwork-content/src/contracts.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,365 @@
+//! Notice-board logic over [`Contract`](crate::schema::Contract)
+//! (docs/03-systems-design.md §3.7).
+//!
+//! Design traces:
+//! - docs/03 §3.7 (notice boards in every town: 60+ launch contracts across
+//!   tiers vermin → hauntings → saints → Deep doors; each lists pay, known
+//!   hazards, *what the poster didn't know* — discoverable by asking around,
+//!   i.e. gossip checks; prep-before-fight law: every hard contract is
+//!   solvable cleanly with the right loadout + questions asked).
+//! - docs/02-lore-bible.md §3 (county places: Milthollow, Copperwash Mere,
+//!   Gallowgate Toll, Chapel of the Drowned Saint, Barrowfield) and §4
+//!   (coaching-inn gossip sim: steal in Milthollow, Copperwash hears in 3
+//!   days — gossip carries keywords with latency).
+//! - docs/02 §8 (mystery reserve — devs only): this module never confirms the
+//!   came-back-right rumor. Contract prose hints at most; see the
+//!   `vault_choice_*` intents, which name a seat and a question and nothing more.
+//!
+//! What this module owns (and does NOT own):
+//! - [`board_for`] filters a contract slice to what a town board shows and
+//!   sorts it. Town scoping decision (parent-blessed): contracts carry NO town
+//!   field — a contract names its poster + place in free text (`poster`), and
+//!   towns list posted contract ids (`Town::contracts`). So per-town scoping
+//!   is parent-side (intersect the board with the town's id list, e.g. the
+//!   Milthollow-posts list); this function only gates on tier and sorts.
+//!   Documented here so the wiring step is mechanical, not archaeological.
+//! - [`unknowns_hint`] returns the gossip-discoverable hook: the parent feeds
+//!   its text into the Phase 9 gossip queue, which matches the embedded
+//!   "ask X" keywords against NPC knowledge.
+//! - [`prep_sufficient`] is the machine-checked SHAPE of the prep-before-fight
+//!   law (non-empty prep + hazards + hint). Full solvability — "do the notes
+//!   plus §3.3 laws actually suffice, with no stat wall?" — is design review,
+//!   not code; this gates emptiness so an empty field can never ship silent.
+//! - [`main_thread`] pins the 6 main-thread contract ids in story order
+//!   (docs/03 §3.7: Widow Rennick's husband → Drowned Saint → Deep Door →
+//!   Vault Choice, thin and ignorable to floor 8). The last two ids are the
+//!   SEAL vs CROWN branch pair — both listed, player takes exactly one.
+//!
+//! Determinism law (docs/04 §4.10.2): pure reads over borrowed slices, no RNG,
+//! no time, no I/O, no threads. MSRV 1.75: no `let ... else`, no
+//! `is_multiple_of`, no inline format args capture.
+
+use crate::schema::Contract;
+
+/// Tier band minimums the canonical pack must meet (docs/03 §3.7 + §3.11:
+/// 60+ contracts). Tests pin these as FLOORS (allow growth, forbid shrink):
+/// tier 1 (vermin) ≥ 15, tier 2 (hauntings) ≥ 12, tier 3 (saints-and-tolls) ≥
+/// 10, tier 4 (Works doors) ≥ 6, tier 5 (Deep doors) ≥ 5.
+pub const TIER_MINIMUMS: [(u8, usize); 5] = [(1, 15), (2, 12), (3, 10), (4, 6), (5, 5)];
+
+/// Town board listing: contracts with `tier <= tier_max`, sorted tier
+/// ascending then pay descending (docs/03 §3.7: vermin first, richest of the
+/// band on top).
+///
+/// `town` selects nothing by itself — contracts carry no town field (see
+/// module docs): the parent intersects this result with the town's posted id
+/// list (`Town::contracts`, e.g. the Milthollow-posts list). The parameter is
+/// kept (named, not `_town`) because per-town tier caps ride on it next:
+/// Milthollow caps low tiers early-game, Deep-door towns uncap. Today every
+/// town passes its cap explicitly via `tier_max`; the name documents intent.
+///
+/// Deterministic: stable sort over the input slice order, so equal
+/// (tier, pay) rows keep pack order.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn board_for<'a>(contracts: &'a [Contract], town: &str, tier_max: u8) -> Vec<&'a Contract> {
+    let _ = town;
+    let mut out: Vec<&'a Contract> = contracts.iter().filter(|c| c.tier <= tier_max).collect();
+    out.sort_by(|a, b| a.tier.cmp(&b.tier).then_with(|| b.pay_cu.cmp(&a.pay_cu)));
+    out
+}
+
+/// The gossip-discoverable hook (docs/03 §3.7: *what the poster didn't know*).
+///
+/// Returns [`Contract::unknown_hint`] verbatim: the parent feeds this text
+/// into the Phase 9 gossip queue, which matches the embedded "ask X"
+/// keywords against NPC knowledge with coaching-inn latency (docs/02 §4).
+/// Validation guarantees non-empty; this accessor is the single choke point
+/// so the feed never drifts to a different field.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn unknowns_hint(contract: &Contract) -> &str {
+    &contract.unknown_hint
+}
+
+/// Prep-before-fight audit, machine-checked shape (docs/03 §3.7).
+///
+/// True when `prep_notes`, `known_hazards`, AND `unknown_hint` are all
+/// non-empty (hazards: at least one non-blank entry). This gates emptiness:
+/// a contract with no stated loadout, no admitted hazard, or no gossip half
+/// cannot be "solvable cleanly with the right loadout + questions asked"
+/// because two of the three inputs are missing. Whether the notes PLUS the
+/// §3.3 laws actually suffice with no stat wall is design review — every
+/// canonical entry was reviewed at authoring (see each `intent`).
+#[must_use]
+pub fn prep_sufficient(contract: &Contract) -> bool {
+    if contract.prep_notes.trim().is_empty() {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if contract.unknown_hint.trim().is_empty() {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if contract.known_hazards.is_empty() {
+        return false;
+    }
+    contract.known_hazards.iter().any(|h| !h.trim().is_empty())
+}
+
+/// The 6 main-thread contract ids in story order (docs/03 §3.7).
+///
+/// `widow_rennick_husband` (tier 2, floor 3) → `drowned_saint_audience`
+/// (tier 3, floor 6 chapel) → `deep_door_ward` (tier 4, floor 8, Wardens
+/// seal) → the branch pair `vault_choice_seal` + `vault_choice_crown`
+/// (tier 5, floor 12, BOTH endings as contracts). The branch: SEAL buries
+/// the machine (chapel wall + dark-free towns), CROWN takes the Core's seat
+/// (NG+ haunts replays as a boss) — parent wires `vault_choice` + endings
+/// (see docs/phase10-wiring-plan.md §2). `drowned_saint` (tier 5, floor 11,
+/// bring-him-or-don't) is the thread's emotional climax but NOT a gate: the
+/// Choice pair is reachable without it, per the ignorable-to-8 law.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn main_thread() -> Vec<&'static str> {
+    vec![
+        "widow_rennick_husband",
+        "drowned_saint_audience",
+        "deep_door_ward",
+        "drowned_saint",
+        "vault_choice_seal",
+        "vault_choice_crown",
+    ]
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use crate::{load::load_file, validate::validate_contracts, ContractsFile};
+
+    fn good_contract(id: &str, tier: u8, pay: u32) -> Contract {
+        Contract {
+            id: id.into(),
+            title: format!("title {id}"),
+            tier,
+            pay_cu: pay,
+            poster: "Poster Name of Somewhere".into(),
+            known_hazards: vec!["an honest hazard".into()],
+            unknown_hint: "the poster does not know the cellar drafts lie; ask somebody".into(),
+            floor: 2,
+            prep_notes: "bring a pole and questions".into(),
+            intent: "test fixture".into(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Canonical pack straight from the data file (docs/04 §4.4: designers
+    /// edit TOML, tests read the live file — never a hardcoded mirror).
+    fn canonical() -> Vec<Contract> {
+        let path = concat!(
+            env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"),
+            "/../../assets/data/contracts.toml"
+        );
+        let data: ContractsFile = load_file(path).expect("contracts.toml must parse");
+        data.contract
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn board_filters_by_tier_max() {
+        let contracts = vec![
+            good_contract("a", 1, 20),
+            good_contract("b", 3, 300),
+            good_contract("c", 5, 2000),
+        ];
+        let board = board_for(&contracts, "milthollow", 3);
+        let ids: Vec<&str> = board.iter().map(|c| c.id.as_str()).collect();
+        assert_eq!(ids, vec!["a", "b"], "tier 5 filtered out: {ids:?}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn board_sorts_tier_then_pay_desc() {
+        let contracts = vec![
+            good_contract("cheap_deep", 2, 60),
+            good_contract("rich_vermin", 1, 60),
+            good_contract("rich_haunt", 2, 150),
+            good_contract("poor_vermin", 1, 20),
+        ];
+        let board = board_for(&contracts, "milthollow", 5);
+        let ids: Vec<&str> = board.iter().map(|c| c.id.as_str()).collect();
+        assert_eq!(
+            ids,
+            vec!["rich_vermin", "poor_vermin", "rich_haunt", "cheap_deep"],
+            "tier asc, pay desc: {ids:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn board_town_param_does_not_filter_by_itself() {
+        // Town scoping is parent-side (module docs): same tier_max, different
+        // town names, identical boards.
+        let contracts = vec![good_contract("a", 1, 20)];
+        let m = board_for(&contracts, "milthollow", 5);
+        let c = board_for(&contracts, "copperwash", 5);
+        assert_eq!(m.len(), c.len());
+        assert_eq!(m[0].id, c[0].id);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn board_empty_in_empty_out() {
+        let contracts: Vec<Contract> = vec![];
+        assert!(board_for(&contracts, "milthollow", 5).is_empty());
+        let contracts = vec![good_contract("a", 4, 500)];
+        assert!(
+            board_for(&contracts, "milthollow", 1).is_empty(),
+            "tier_max 1 hides tier 4"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn unknowns_hint_returns_the_hook_verbatim() {
+        let c = good_contract("a", 1, 20);
+        assert_eq!(unknowns_hint(&c), c.unknown_hint.as_str());
+        assert!(
+            unknowns_hint(&c).contains("ask "),
+            "gossip hook carries an ask-keyword: {:?}",
+            unknowns_hint(&c)
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn prep_sufficient_happy_path() {
+        assert!(prep_sufficient(&good_contract("a", 1, 20)));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn prep_sufficient_rejects_each_empty_leg() {
+        let mut no_prep = good_contract("a", 1, 20);
+        no_prep.prep_notes = "   ".into();
+        assert!(!prep_sufficient(&no_prep), "blank prep_notes fails");
+
+        let mut no_hint = good_contract("b", 1, 20);
+        no_hint.unknown_hint = String::new();
+        assert!(!prep_sufficient(&no_hint), "blank unknown_hint fails");
+
+        let mut no_hazards = good_contract("c", 1, 20);
+        no_hazards.known_hazards = vec![];
+        assert!(!prep_sufficient(&no_hazards), "empty hazards fails");
+
+        let mut blank_hazards = good_contract("d", 1, 20);
+        blank_hazards.known_hazards = vec!["  ".into()];
+        assert!(!prep_sufficient(&blank_hazards), "blank hazards fail");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn main_thread_order_and_branch() {
+        let thread = main_thread();
+        assert_eq!(
+            thread.len(),
+            6,
+            "widow → audience → ward → saint → SEAL+CROWN"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(thread[0], "widow_rennick_husband");
+        assert_eq!(thread[1], "drowned_saint_audience");
+        assert_eq!(thread[2], "deep_door_ward");
+        assert_eq!(thread[3], "drowned_saint");
+        // Branch pair last: the player takes exactly one (parent wires).
+        let branch = &thread[4..];
+        assert!(
+            branch.contains(&"vault_choice_seal") && branch.contains(&"vault_choice_crown"),
+            "both endings listed: {thread:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn canonical_pack_parses_and_validates() {
+        let contracts = canonical();
+        assert!(
+            contracts.len() >= 60,
+            "60+ launch contracts (docs/03 §3.11): got {}",
+            contracts.len()
+        );
+        validate_contracts(&contracts).expect("canonical contracts must validate");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn canonical_unknowns_nonempty_everywhere() {
+        for c in &canonical() {
+            assert!(
+                !unknowns_hint(c).trim().is_empty(),
+                "'{}' lists nothing the poster didn't know (docs/03 §3.7)",
+                c.id
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn canonical_prep_audit_everywhere() {
+        let mut failing = Vec::new();
+        for c in &canonical() {
+            if !prep_sufficient(c) {
+                failing.push(c.id.clone());
+            }
+        }
+        assert!(
+            failing.is_empty(),
+            "prep-before-fight shape failures: {failing:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn canonical_main_thread_ids_exist() {
+        let contracts = canonical();
+        let ids: Vec<&str> = contracts.iter().map(|c| c.id.as_str()).collect();
+        for wanted in main_thread() {
+            assert!(
+                ids.contains(&wanted),
+                "main-thread id '{wanted}' missing from canonical pack"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn canonical_tier_spread_meets_minimums() {
+        let contracts = canonical();
+        for (tier, min) in TIER_MINIMUMS {
+            let count = contracts.iter().filter(|c| c.tier == tier).count();
+            assert!(
+                count >= min,
+                "tier {tier} has {count}, needs ≥{min} (docs/03 §3.7 spread)"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn canonical_thread_floors_ascend() {
+        // Thin-to-8 law (docs/03 §3.7): widow(3) → audience(6) → ward(8) →
+        // saint(11) → choice pair(12). Floors must ascend along the thread.
+        let contracts = canonical();
+        let floor_of = |id: &str| {
+            contracts
+                .iter()
+                .find(|c| c.id == id)
+                .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("thread id '{id}' must exist"))
+                .floor
+        };
+        let floors: Vec<u8> = main_thread().iter().map(|id| floor_of(id)).collect();
+        assert_eq!(floors[0], 3, "widow on floor 3");
+        assert_eq!(floors[1], 6, "audience on floor 6");
+        assert_eq!(floors[2], 8, "ward on floor 8");
+        assert_eq!(floors[4], 12, "SEAL on floor 12");
+        assert_eq!(floors[5], 12, "CROWN on floor 12");
+        for pair in floors.windows(2) {
+            assert!(pair[0] <= pair[1], "thread floors must ascend: {floors:?}");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn canonical_boss_puzzle_contracts_exist() {
+        // Bosses-as-puzzles surface as contracts (docs/03 §3.8): rat-king,
+        // Saint of Rust, Matriarch, Seraph, Drowned Saint.
+        let contracts = canonical();
+        let ids: Vec<&str> = contracts.iter().map(|c| c.id.as_str()).collect();
+        for wanted in [
+            "rat_king_nest",
+            "saint_of_rust_bargain",
+            "toll_matriarch_terms",
+            "audit_seraph_ledger",
+            "drowned_saint",
+        ] {
+            assert!(ids.contains(&wanted), "boss contract '{wanted}' missing");
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-content/src/lib.rs b/crates/hexwork-content/src/lib.rs
index 5c7dd02..c36f211 100644
--- a/crates/hexwork-content/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/hexwork-content/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 //! hexwork-content: schema structs + validation + loaders (docs/04 §4.4).
 //! Designers edit TOML data files, not Rust. The two-uses law is a TEST.
 
+pub mod contracts;
 pub mod gods;
 pub mod identify;
 pub mod load;
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ pub mod schema;
 pub mod validate;
 
 // Designer-facing surface: schema types, validators, loaders, pack hashing.
+pub use contracts::{board_for, main_thread, prep_sufficient, unknowns_hint, TIER_MINIMUMS};
 pub use gods::{boon_by_id, gods_with_boon, validate_bargain_table};
 pub use identify::{
     ghost_identify, identify_by_use, shop_label, tinker_identify, trial_room_check, IdfBook,
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-content/src/load.rs b/crates/hexwork-content/src/load.rs
index 444a08c..2a51b5b 100644
--- a/crates/hexwork-content/src/load.rs
+++ b/crates/hexwork-content/src/load.rs
@@ -137,7 +137,11 @@ mod tests {
             "/../../assets/data/monsters.toml"
         );
         let data: MonstersFile = load_file(path).expect("monsters.toml must parse");
-        assert_eq!(data.monster.len(), 8, "slice ships 8 monsters");
+        assert_eq!(
+            data.monster.len(),
+            42,
+            "EA ships 42 monsters (docs/03 §3.11 slice floor)"
+        );
         for monster in &data.monster {
             assert!(!monster.uses.is_empty(), "'{}' needs a use", monster.id);
             assert!(
@@ -153,8 +157,8 @@ mod tests {
         }
         assert_eq!(
             data.monster.iter().filter(|m| m.boss).count(),
-            2,
-            "rat-king + Saint of Rust are bosses"
+            5,
+            "rat-king + Saint of Rust + Matriarch + Seraph + Drowned Saint are bosses"
         );
     }
 
@@ -182,7 +186,7 @@ mod tests {
     fn loads_gods_file() {
         let path = concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/../../assets/data/gods.toml");
         let data: GodsFile = load_file(path).expect("gods.toml must parse");
-        assert_eq!(data.god.len(), 2, "slice ships 2 gods");
+        assert_eq!(data.god.len(), 5, "EA ships 5 gods (docs/02 §2)");
         for god in &data.god {
             assert!(god.boons.len() >= 2, "'{}' needs 2+ boons", god.name);
             for boon in &god.boons {
@@ -199,7 +203,11 @@ mod tests {
             "/../../assets/data/contracts.toml"
         );
         let data: ContractsFile = load_file(path).expect("contracts.toml must parse");
-        assert_eq!(data.contract.len(), 6, "slice ships 6 contracts");
+        assert_eq!(
+            data.contract.len(),
+            62,
+            "EA ships 62 contracts (docs/03 §3.11 floor)"
+        );
         for contract in &data.contract {
             assert!(
                 (1..=5).contains(&contract.tier),
@@ -223,14 +231,21 @@ mod tests {
     fn loads_floors_file() {
         let path = concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/../../assets/data/floors.toml");
         let data: FloorsFile = load_file(path).expect("floors.toml must parse");
-        assert_eq!(data.floor.len(), 3, "slice ships floors 1-3");
+        assert_eq!(
+            data.floor.len(),
+            12,
+            "EA ships the 12-floor Deep (docs/03 §3.8)"
+        );
         for floor in &data.floor {
             assert!(
                 floor.connectors.len() >= 3,
                 "floor {} needs 3+ connectors",
                 floor.depth
             );
-            assert_eq!(floor.stratum, "Shallows", "slice is all Shallows");
+            assert!(
+                ["Shallows", "Works", "Deep"].contains(&floor.stratum.as_str()),
+                "stratum must be canonical"
+            );
             assert!(
                 !floor.intent.is_empty(),
                 "floor {} needs intent",
@@ -243,7 +258,7 @@ mod tests {
     fn loads_towns_file() {
         let path = concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/../../assets/data/towns.toml");
         let data: TownsFile = load_file(path).expect("towns.toml must parse");
-        assert_eq!(data.town.len(), 1, "slice ships Milthollow");
+        assert_eq!(data.town.len(), 5, "EA ships 5 towns (docs/02 §3 county)");
         let town = &data.town[0];
         assert_eq!(town.pop, 312, "Milthollow pop is 312 (docs/02 §3)");
         assert_eq!(
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-content/tests/content_pack.rs b/crates/hexwork-content/tests/content_pack.rs
index 4d02b62..bc7b757 100644
--- a/crates/hexwork-content/tests/content_pack.rs
+++ b/crates/hexwork-content/tests/content_pack.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ use hexwork_content::{
 /// History: e7767e1c… = pre-fix bytes (non-canonical materials, missing ids);
 /// 00312cf6… = post-fix bytes (all 7 files parse + validate, see wiring plan).
 /// 396db264… = tags migration (machine tags: lamp/polearm/armor/corpse/…).
-const GOLDEN_PACK_HASH: &str = "396db2642895de56971b331a6a189aa34fa1417f3e11103307a92eb09969d474";
+/// 2543239e… = EA expansion (62 contracts, 5 towns, 42 monsters, 12 floors,
+/// 5 gods — deliberate drift, Phase 10 wiring plan §1).
+const GOLDEN_PACK_HASH: &str = "2543239ecea569044778d05b80daa2d3f903fbd5b02ef03f2d1b38c8dba9042f";
 
 fn workspace_root() -> String {
     format!("{}/../..", env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"))
@@ -49,14 +51,15 @@ fn canonical_pack_loads_validates_and_hashes() {
     let floors: FloorsFile = toml::from_str(&bundle[5].1).expect("floors.toml parses");
     let towns: TownsFile = toml::from_str(&bundle[6].1).expect("towns.toml parses");
 
-    // Slice volume targets (docs/03 §3.11, slice subset).
+    // EA volume targets (docs/03 §3.11 floors: 40+ monsters, 12 floors,
+    // 5 gods, 60+ contracts, 5 towns; hymns/items hold at slice counts).
     assert_eq!(items.item.len(), 30);
-    assert_eq!(monsters.monster.len(), 8);
+    assert_eq!(monsters.monster.len(), 42);
     assert_eq!(hymns.hymn.len(), 7);
-    assert_eq!(gods.god.len(), 2);
-    assert_eq!(contracts.contract.len(), 6);
-    assert_eq!(floors.floor.len(), 3);
-    assert_eq!(towns.town.len(), 1);
+    assert_eq!(gods.god.len(), 5);
+    assert_eq!(contracts.contract.len(), 62);
+    assert_eq!(floors.floor.len(), 12);
+    assert_eq!(towns.town.len(), 5);
 
     // THE two-uses law gate: every canonical item asserts 2+ uses.
     for item in &items.item {
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-core/src/dungeon.rs b/crates/hexwork-core/src/dungeon.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..93150bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/hexwork-core/src/dungeon.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,383 @@
+//! No-compass navigation state: chalk, directions, mule-pathing
+//! (docs/03-systems-design.md §3.7).
+//!
+//! Design traces:
+//! - docs/03 §3.7 ("No quest compass. Directions are landmark + depth + draft
+//!   — 'below the mill, where the air tastes of copper, third landing where
+//!   the bell-rope hangs'. Player chalk + map annotations + mule-pathing
+//!   replace markers. Kindness: the log records every direction verbatim and
+//!   searchably").
+//! - docs/03 §3.3 law 3 (air & draft: dropping flour or oil-drips reveals
+//!   flow — drafts are first-class navigation data, hence [`Direction::draft`]).
+//! - docs/03 §3.2 HAUL (mules + sledges + rope-rigging extend range; every aid
+//!   is a mouth to feed / thing to lose — the mule IS losable, parent-side).
+//!
+//! What this module owns (and does NOT own):
+//! - [`Chalk`]: the delver's chalk-mark map. Chalk is a RESOURCE: capped at
+//!   [`CHALK_CAP`] entries, and [`Chalk::mark`] returns `Err("chalk dust
+//!   spent")` on overflow — oldest-wins would silently eat navigation data,
+//!   so the sim refuses instead and the parent routes the failure to the
+//!   chalk economy (buy/grind more chalk, erase deliberately via [`Chalk::unmark`]).
+//! - [`Direction`]: landmark + depth + draft. Coordinates `(x, y, z)` exist
+//!   ONLY inside the sim (this module's [`MulePath`] waypoints); players see
+//!   landmark/depth/draft strings. The UI module (`hexwork-ui` `board.rs`)
+//!   enforces the no-coordinates display law; this module documents it.
+//! - [`MulePath`] + [`path_for`]: mule-pathing. Mules follow chalk where
+//!   chalk exists, else stumble straight: waypoints route THROUGH chalk marks
+//!   lying on the Manhattan corridor from→to (sorted for determinism), else
+//!   the straight Manhattan line. Deterministic: sorted BTreeMap iteration +
+//!   axis-order stepping, no RNG.
+//! - Verbatim direction log: parent-side `Log` lines (hexwork-ui `Log`).
+//!   Content authors write those lines into contract `prep_notes`
+//!   ("below the mill, where the air tastes of copper, third landing");
+//!   this module only stores [`Direction`] structs — the LOG OWNS the prose.
+//!
+//! Determinism law (docs/04 §4.10.2): `BTreeMap` only, no RNG, no time, no
+//! I/O, no threads. MSRV 1.75: no `let ... else`, no inline format args capture.
+
+use std::collections::BTreeMap;
+
+/// Chalk-mark cap: chalk is a resource, not an infinite notebook (docs/03
+/// §3.7: player chalk replaces markers — and markers you must husband).
+pub const CHALK_CAP: usize = 64;
+
+/// Overflow message: returned by [`Chalk::mark`] when the dust runs out.
+/// Stable string — the parent matches on it to route to the chalk economy.
+pub const CHALK_SPENT: &str = "chalk dust spent";
+
+/// Player chalk marks: cell → annotation (docs/03 §3.7).
+///
+/// Keys are sim cells `(x, y, z)` — never shown to players (see module docs).
+/// Values are short free-text marks ("wire run here", "do NOT stand under").
+/// Insertion order is NOT tracked (BTreeMap key order only): overflow is an
+/// `Err`, never oldest-wins, so no timestamp/clock is needed (and none is —
+/// determinism law forbids time).
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct Chalk {
+    /// Cell → mark text.
+    pub marks: BTreeMap<(i32, i32, i32), String>,
+}
+
+impl Chalk {
+    /// Empty chalk map.
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self::default()
+    }
+
+    /// Mark `cell` with `note`, overwriting any existing mark there.
+    ///
+    /// Re-marking an existing cell never spends dust (no new entry). A NEW
+    /// cell at cap returns `Err(`[`CHALK_SPENT`]`)` and stores nothing.
+    pub fn mark(&mut self, cell: (i32, i32, i32), note: impl Into<String>) -> Result<(), String> {
+        if !self.marks.contains_key(&cell) && self.marks.len() >= CHALK_CAP {
+            return Err(CHALK_SPENT.to_owned());
+        }
+        self.marks.insert(cell, note.into());
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    /// Erase the mark at `cell`. `Ok(true)` when a mark was removed,
+    /// `Ok(false)` when the cell was unmarked (erasing nothing is not an
+    /// error — the delver just dusts clean stone).
+    pub fn unmark(&mut self, cell: (i32, i32, i32)) -> Result<bool, String> {
+        Ok(self.marks.remove(&cell).is_some())
+    }
+
+    /// Read the mark at `cell`, if any.
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn get(&self, cell: (i32, i32, i32)) -> Option<&str> {
+        self.marks.get(&cell).map(|s| s.as_str())
+    }
+
+    /// Number of marks currently held.
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn len(&self) -> usize {
+        self.marks.len()
+    }
+
+    /// True when no marks are held.
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+        self.marks.is_empty()
+    }
+}
+
+/// A no-compass direction: landmark + depth + draft (docs/03 §3.7).
+///
+/// `landmark` is prose ("below the mill, where the air tastes of copper"),
+/// `depth` is the dungeon floor (1–12), `draft` is the airflow cue ("third
+/// landing where the bell-rope hangs" — drafts per §3.3 law 3). NO
+/// coordinates, NO compass rose — compasses don't exist.
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct Direction {
+    /// Landmark prose (player-visible).
+    pub landmark: String,
+    /// Dungeon floor 1–12 (player-visible as "third landing" style prose
+    /// parent-side; stored numeric here for sim use).
+    pub depth: u8,
+    /// Draft cue prose (player-visible).
+    pub draft: String,
+}
+
+/// Build a [`Direction`] from its three legs (docs/03 §3.7).
+///
+/// Pure constructor: no validation of `depth` here (floors 1–12 is a content
+/// law checked by `hexwork-content` validators); the sim stores what content
+/// gives it. Trims nothing — prose is content's voice.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn directions_to(target: &str, depth: u8, draft: &str) -> Direction {
+    Direction {
+        landmark: target.to_owned(),
+        depth,
+        draft: draft.to_owned(),
+    }
+}
+
+/// A mule's route: ordered sim cells, walked in order (docs/03 §3.2 HAUL).
+///
+/// The mule IS an actor parent-side (losable per docs/01 — feed it, rig it,
+/// lose it); this struct is only the PATH it walks. Waypoints are sim cells
+/// (never player-visible).
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct MulePath {
+    /// Ordered cells from start (exclusive) to goal (inclusive).
+    pub waypoints: Vec<(i32, i32, i32)>,
+}
+
+/// The Vault Choice, set once at floor 12 (docs/03 §3.7: Widow Rennick →
+/// Drowned Saint → Deep Door → SEAL vs CROWN, NG+ boss-haunt reads it).
+/// SEAL buries the machine (chapel wall, dark-free towns); CROWN takes the
+/// Core's seat (NG+ haunts replays as a boss). Set-once is parent-enforced
+/// (State never overwrites a set choice — see the setter-free shape).
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum VaultChoice {
+    /// Bury the machine, end the salvage economy, towns go dark but free.
+    Seal,
+    /// Take the Core's seat; future delvers loot what you became.
+    Crown,
+}
+
+/// Mule-pathing: Manhattan waypoints via chalk if present, else straight
+/// (docs/03 §3.7: mule-pathing replaces markers).
+///
+/// - Collect chalk marks strictly between `from` and `to` on the Manhattan
+///   corridor (within the bounding box, exclusive of endpoints), sorted by
+///   key for determinism; route through each in order (mules follow chalk).
+/// - With no usable chalk, the mule stumbles straight: Manhattan line
+///   `from`→`to` stepping x, then y, then z (fixed axis order = deterministic).
+/// - `from == to` yields an empty path (the mule is already there, eating).
+///
+/// Deterministic: BTreeMap iteration order + fixed axis order, no RNG.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn path_for(chalk: &Chalk, from: (i32, i32, i32), to: (i32, i32, i32)) -> MulePath {
+    if from == to {
+        return MulePath {
+            waypoints: Vec::new(),
+        };
+    }
+    let (lox, hix) = (from.0.min(to.0), from.0.max(to.0));
+    let (loy, hiy) = (from.1.min(to.1), from.1.max(to.1));
+    let (loz, hiz) = (from.2.min(to.2), from.2.max(to.2));
+    let mut vias: Vec<(i32, i32, i32)> = chalk
+        .marks
+        .keys()
+        .copied()
+        .filter(|c| {
+            *c != from
+                && *c != to
+                && (lox..=hix).contains(&c.0)
+                && (loy..=hiy).contains(&c.1)
+                && (loz..=hiz).contains(&c.2)
+        })
+        .collect();
+    // BTreeMap keys arrive sorted; sort defensively so the contract holds
+    // even if the backing map ever changes.
+    vias.sort();
+    let mut stops: Vec<(i32, i32, i32)> = Vec::with_capacity(vias.len() + 1);
+    stops.extend(vias);
+    stops.push(to);
+    let mut waypoints = Vec::new();
+    let mut cur = from;
+    for stop in stops {
+        waypoints.extend(manhattan_legs(cur, stop));
+        cur = stop;
+    }
+    MulePath { waypoints }
+}
+
+/// Manhattan cells from `from` (exclusive) to `to` (inclusive), stepping x,
+/// then y, then z. Each step moves one cell on one axis toward the target.
+fn manhattan_legs(from: (i32, i32, i32), to: (i32, i32, i32)) -> Vec<(i32, i32, i32)> {
+    let mut out = Vec::new();
+    let (mut x, mut y, mut z) = from;
+    while x != to.0 {
+        x += (to.0 - x).signum();
+        out.push((x, y, z));
+    }
+    while y != to.1 {
+        y += (to.1 - y).signum();
+        out.push((x, y, z));
+    }
+    while z != to.2 {
+        z += (to.2 - z).signum();
+        out.push((x, y, z));
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn cell(x: i32, y: i32, z: i32) -> (i32, i32, i32) {
+        (x, y, z)
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn chalk_mark_and_get_roundtrip() {
+        let mut chalk = Chalk::new();
+        assert!(chalk.is_empty());
+        chalk
+            .mark(cell(1, 2, 3), "wire run here")
+            .expect("fresh mark");
+        assert_eq!(chalk.get(cell(1, 2, 3)), Some("wire run here"));
+        assert_eq!(chalk.len(), 1);
+        assert_eq!(chalk.get(cell(9, 9, 9)), None);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn chalk_remark_same_cell_overwrites_without_spending() {
+        let mut chalk = Chalk::new();
+        chalk.mark(cell(0, 0, 0), "first").expect("mark");
+        chalk.mark(cell(0, 0, 0), "second").expect("remark");
+        assert_eq!(chalk.get(cell(0, 0, 0)), Some("second"));
+        assert_eq!(chalk.len(), 1, "remark spends no dust");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn chalk_cap_errors_with_spent_message() {
+        let mut chalk = Chalk::new();
+        for i in 0..(CHALK_CAP as i32) {
+            chalk.mark(cell(i, 0, 0), "mark").expect("within cap");
+        }
+        assert_eq!(chalk.len(), CHALK_CAP);
+        let err = chalk
+            .mark(cell(9999, 0, 0), "one too many")
+            .expect_err("overflow must refuse, never oldest-wins");
+        assert_eq!(err, CHALK_SPENT, "stable economy signal: {err:?}");
+        assert_eq!(
+            chalk.get(cell(9999, 0, 0)),
+            None,
+            "nothing stored on overflow"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(chalk.len(), CHALK_CAP);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn chalk_cap_remark_at_cap_still_ok() {
+        let mut chalk = Chalk::new();
+        for i in 0..(CHALK_CAP as i32) {
+            chalk.mark(cell(i, 0, 0), "mark").expect("within cap");
+        }
+        // Re-marking an existing cell at cap is an overwrite, not dust spent.
+        chalk.mark(cell(0, 0, 0), "updated").expect("remark at cap");
+        assert_eq!(chalk.get(cell(0, 0, 0)), Some("updated"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn chalk_unmark_hit_and_missing() {
+        let mut chalk = Chalk::new();
+        chalk.mark(cell(1, 1, 1), "here").expect("mark");
+        assert_eq!(chalk.unmark(cell(1, 1, 1)), Ok(true));
+        assert_eq!(chalk.get(cell(1, 1, 1)), None);
+        assert_eq!(
+            chalk.unmark(cell(1, 1, 1)),
+            Ok(false),
+            "erasing clean stone is Ok(false), not an error"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn directions_fields_carry_landmark_depth_draft() {
+        let d = directions_to(
+            "below the mill, where the air tastes of copper",
+            3,
+            "third landing where the bell-rope hangs",
+        );
+        assert_eq!(d.landmark, "below the mill, where the air tastes of copper");
+        assert_eq!(d.depth, 3);
+        assert_eq!(d.draft, "third landing where the bell-rope hangs");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn mule_straight_path_is_manhattan_xyz_order() {
+        let chalk = Chalk::new();
+        let path = path_for(&chalk, cell(0, 0, 0), cell(2, 1, 1));
+        assert_eq!(
+            path.waypoints,
+            vec![cell(1, 0, 0), cell(2, 0, 0), cell(2, 1, 0), cell(2, 1, 1)],
+            "x, then y, then z: {path:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn mule_negative_steps_move_toward_goal() {
+        let chalk = Chalk::new();
+        let path = path_for(&chalk, cell(2, 2, 2), cell(0, 1, 2));
+        assert_eq!(
+            path.waypoints,
+            vec![cell(1, 2, 2), cell(0, 2, 2), cell(0, 1, 2)],
+            "signum steps descend: {path:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn mule_same_cell_is_empty_path() {
+        let chalk = Chalk::new();
+        let path = path_for(&chalk, cell(4, 4, 4), cell(4, 4, 4));
+        assert!(path.waypoints.is_empty(), "already there, eating: {path:?}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn mule_routes_through_corridor_chalk() {
+        let mut chalk = Chalk::new();
+        chalk.mark(cell(1, 0, 0), "flour line").expect("mark");
+        chalk.mark(cell(9, 9, 9), "far away").expect("mark");
+        let path = path_for(&chalk, cell(0, 0, 0), cell(2, 0, 0));
+        assert!(
+            path.waypoints.contains(&cell(1, 0, 0)),
+            "corridor chalk is a via: {path:?}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !path.waypoints.contains(&cell(9, 9, 9)),
+            "off-corridor chalk is scenery, not route: {path:?}"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(*path.waypoints.last().unwrap(), cell(2, 0, 0));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn mule_path_is_deterministic() {
+        let mut chalk = Chalk::new();
+        chalk.mark(cell(1, 1, 0), "a").expect("mark");
+        chalk.mark(cell(0, 2, 1), "b").expect("mark");
+        let a = path_for(&chalk, cell(0, 0, 0), cell(3, 3, 3));
+        let b = path_for(&chalk, cell(0, 0, 0), cell(3, 3, 3));
+        assert_eq!(a, b, "same inputs, same waypoints — mules never improvise");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn mule_waypoints_are_unit_steps() {
+        let mut chalk = Chalk::new();
+        chalk.mark(cell(1, 0, 1), "via").expect("mark");
+        let from = cell(0, 0, 0);
+        let path = path_for(&chalk, from, cell(2, 2, 2));
+        let mut prev = from;
+        for w in &path.waypoints {
+            let dist = (w.0 - prev.0).abs() + (w.1 - prev.1).abs() + (w.2 - prev.2).abs();
+            assert_eq!(dist, 1, "every step is one cell: {prev:?} → {w:?}");
+            prev = *w;
+        }
+        assert_eq!(prev, cell(2, 2, 2), "path ends at the goal");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-core/src/epitaphs.rs b/crates/hexwork-core/src/epitaphs.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7fb5d09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/hexwork-core/src/epitaphs.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,344 @@
+//! Epitaphs + death-replay tutorial subtitles (docs/03 §3.11, docs/03 §3.9).
+//!
+//! Design traces:
+//! - docs/03-systems-design.md §3.11 (content volume targets: 200+ epitaphs,
+//!   100+ death-replay tutorial subtitles such as "the smoke ROSE because
+//!   heat rises; the mimic BREATHED because rooms breathe").
+//! - docs/03 §3.9 (Classic: permadeath with epitaph + cause-chain + `.hexdemo`
+//!   replay; Story: death wakes at the chapel owing the Corpse-tender).
+//! - docs/04-software-architecture.md §4.2 phase 12 (death & epitaph: the
+//!   rule-chain recorder writes cause links) and §4.10.5 (every hazard emits
+//!   a log line with its law the first time it matters).
+//!
+//! Split of duties (read before wiring):
+//! - [`crate::cause`]: the ordered damage record (`CauseChain::epitaph`
+//!   joins per-link detail in run order).
+//! - [`crate::laws`]: the FIRST-SIGHT source — [`crate::laws::explain`]
+//!   renders a rule tag the first time it matters in a run.
+//! - THIS module: the REPLAY source — [`epitaph`] stamps a run-stable
+//!   NetHack-voice death line from the terminal `cause`, and [`subtitle`]
+//!   renders per-link rule subtitles for the Phase-11 replay viewer.
+//!
+//! Growth path to 1.0: [`COUNT`] asserts `>= 60` today and documents the
+//! 200+ target; new lines are appended to [`EPITAPHS`] (never reordered —
+//! the FNV slot of every existing cause is load-bearing for replay
+//! stability). [`RULE_SUBTITLES`] mirrors [`crate::laws::RULES`] plus the
+//! four outcome tags (`gravity`, `rope`, `structure`, `death`) and grows
+//! toward 100+ replay subtitles the same way.
+//!
+//! Core law: pure functions only. No RNG, no I/O, no threads. Cause-hashing
+//! is FNV-1a over bytes (integer math, stable across platforms); storage is
+//! `&'static str` tables, never `HashMap`.
+
+/// Death lines in NetHack voice. Replay-stable: [`epitaph`] picks by
+/// FNV-1a hash of the cause, so the same cause always stamps the same line
+/// (same run, same epitaph — and same across replays of that run).
+///
+/// 60 entries at Phase 10; 200+ at 1.0 (docs/03 §3.11). APPEND new lines;
+/// never reorder (existing cause slots are pinned by the hash mod length —
+/// growth reshuffles only when the table grows, which the parent accepts as
+/// a documented replay cosmetic at content-pack bumps).
+pub const EPITAPHS: &[&str] = &[
+    "Here lies a delver who checked the grate last. So to speak.",
+    "The Deep keeps the receipt. The delver kept the change.",
+    "Slain by curiosity, which the Audit taxes posthumously.",
+    "Drowned politely, in water that was honest about it.",
+    "Fell far, fast, and — the rope agrees — avoidably.",
+    "Burned bright. The lampwrights approve of the lamp, anyway.",
+    "Audited to death. The arrears survive.",
+    "Sang along with the Choir. The Choir kept the verse.",
+    "Answered when sung to. The water heard where from.",
+    "Trusted the glass. The glass had teeth.",
+    "Counted the stones. Forgot to count the rooks.",
+    "Haggled with the bridge. The bridge collected.",
+    "Insulted the Matriarch's arithmetic. Remembered forever.",
+    "Paid in full, in exact change, one tick too late.",
+    "Read the draft with flour, then walked into it anyway.",
+    "Cut the rope. Was standing on the wrong side of the cut.",
+    "Rode the counterweight down. Forgot the counterweight comes back.",
+    "Petted the ooze. The ooze ate the copper first, the delver second.",
+    "Freed the ledger mites. The paperwork died; the delver followed.",
+    "Followed the surveyor's chalk past the last dry step.",
+    "Skated where the slickskin skates. Slipped where it slips.",
+    "Echoed the miscast back. The echo had better aim.",
+    "Gummed up with the gear grubs in the stalled car.",
+    "Waited at the narrows. The sump did not wait.",
+    "Drained the wrong cell on the wrong wire in the dark.",
+    "Traded a memory for a name. Forgot the way out.",
+    "Surrendered nothing to the bailiff. The bailiff took inventory anyway.",
+    "Missed shrine hours. The verger rang the delver out.",
+    "Crossed on pre-Boot rates with post-Boot manners.",
+    "Confessed to the chaplain loudly, mid-shaft, mid-fall.",
+    "Lost the receipt. The swallow ate it; the Audit did not forget.",
+    "Covered no ears in the Loft. Learned the verse by heart. Kept it.",
+    "Charged the sideways saint head-on. The wall won.",
+    "Trusted the odometer in apostate country. Fell up, then down.",
+    "Offered the Saint a memory. The Saint kept the change.",
+    "Rusted at range, reddening. Should have worn copper.",
+    "Came back... differently. The ledger refuses the entry. (Unconfirmed.)",
+    "Counted down with the tick to nothing, and arrived.",
+    "Hummed along with the acolyte. Now hums permanently.",
+    "Paid the dream debtor in coin that was not there. It bounced.",
+    "Took the indulgence. Stayed for the teeth.",
+    "Tolled thirteen with the bellwether. The mere inhaled.",
+    "Wore yesterday's delve like a coat. It fit too well.",
+    "Bankrupted the Seraph. The Seraph bankrupted back.",
+    "Brought the husband. Or did not. Grief either way.",
+    "Settled the lien mid-vault, receipted, witnessed — still dead.",
+    "Napped in the idle shrine. Dreamed the Core's dream. Kept it.",
+    "Filed the relic in triplicate. The teeth were single-copy.",
+    "Polished the badge with the wrong rag. The troll noticed.",
+    "Lit the flood with a live wire. Physics did the rest.",
+    "Shouted up the stairwell, then oiled the wrong stairs.",
+    "Froze the flood and walked over. It thawed behind. It followed.",
+    "Smoked out the grate-mother. Smoked in with her.",
+    "Burned the nest. The nest burned back, with interest.",
+    "Drank money. (It was oil scrip. It burned going down.)",
+    "Ate the rations. Wasted the scraps. Rustmother noticed.",
+    "Carried the heavy sack faithfully, all the way down, forever.",
+    "Dropped the second lamp. Owed two burials. Paid one.",
+    "Skipped the toll. The bridges knew. (They always know.)",
+    "Cheated the door that was opened. It remembered being cheated.",
+];
+
+/// Number of death lines. Phase-10 floor: 60. Ship floor: 200+ (docs/03
+/// §3.11). The test pins `>= 60` so the table can only grow.
+pub const COUNT: usize = EPITAPHS.len();
+
+/// FNV-1a (64-bit) over bytes: the replay-stable cause hash.
+///
+/// Integer math only; same input bytes always yield the same digest on every
+/// platform (no `DefaultHasher`, no seed, no `HashMap` iteration anywhere).
+fn fnv1a(bytes: &[u8]) -> u64 {
+    let mut hash: u64 = 0xcbf29ce484222325;
+    for &byte in bytes {
+        hash ^= byte as u64;
+        hash = hash.wrapping_mul(0x100000001b3);
+    }
+    hash
+}
+
+/// Stamp a NetHack-voice death line for `cause`.
+///
+/// Deterministic: the same cause string always yields the same line
+/// (replay-stable — the epitaph is a function of the run, never of wall
+/// time or draw order). Empty causes hash like any other string; the table
+/// is never empty so the modulo is total.
+///
+/// Feed this the terminal cause (the last [`crate::cause::CauseLink`]
+/// detail, or the outcome tag) at death: Classic mode carves it on the
+/// stone; Story mode reads it on the chapel wall under "what we learned".
+#[must_use]
+pub fn epitaph(cause: &str) -> String {
+    let slot = (fnv1a(cause.as_bytes()) % EPITAPHS.len() as u64) as usize;
+    EPITAPHS[slot].to_string()
+}
+
+/// Per-rule replay subtitles: the Phase-11 replay viewer renders one per
+/// cause-link rule via this function; [`crate::laws::explain`] stays the
+/// first-sight source during live play (docs/04 §4.10.5).
+///
+/// Covers the 16 canonical [`crate::laws::RULES`] plus the 4 outcome tags
+/// (`gravity`, `rope`, `structure`, `death`): 20+ non-empty lines. Unknown
+/// tags fall back to [`crate::laws::DEFAULT_LINE`] — the Deep keeps its own
+/// ledger. Grows toward 100+ at 1.0 alongside [`EPITAPHS`].
+#[must_use]
+pub fn subtitle(rule: &str) -> &'static str {
+    match rule {
+        "rooms breathe" => {
+            "the smoke was SUCKED sideways — rooms breathe, and the replay shows the draft"
+        }
+        "heat rises" => "the smoke ROSE because heat rises — watch it climb in the replay",
+        "acid pits iron" => "the acid PITS the iron — metal remembers; the replay keeps the stain",
+        "shock grounds" => {
+            "the shock grounds through the water — of course; the replay draws the chain"
+        }
+        "waste nothing" => {
+            "the corpse bursts — waste nothing, not even you; the replay does not flinch"
+        }
+        "gravity is fair" => "it fell, because gravity is fair — the replay measures the drop",
+        "sound travels" => "the clang TRAVELS down the shaft — they heard it; the replay marks who",
+        "light is truth" => "the lamp does not lie — light is truth; the replay keeps the cone",
+        "rust spreads" => {
+            "the wet iron blooms with rust — neglect has teeth; the replay shows the spread"
+        }
+        "grates leak" => "it seeps THROUGH the grate — grates leak; the replay follows the drip",
+        "water douses" => "the water takes the fire — hissing steam; the replay cools the frame",
+        "heat melts" => "the heat MELTS what it touches — the replay sags with it",
+        "heat dries" => "the heat drinks the damp — bone dry now; the replay thirsts",
+        "wild surge" => "the aether SURGES untamed — do not stand in it; the replay crackles",
+        "fire & heat" => "it catches — fire and heat; the replay burns brighter",
+        "the rope gives way" => {
+            "the rope gives way — CHECK GRATES; the replay holds the frayed end"
+        }
+        "gravity" => "it fell, because gravity is fair — the replay weighs the landing",
+        "rope" => "the rope gives way — CHECK GRATES; the replay counts the strands",
+        "structure" => "the Deep shifts — masonry gives way; the replay dusts the frame",
+        "death" => "it fell still — the replay bows its head",
+        _ => crate::laws::DEFAULT_LINE,
+    }
+}
+
+/// All subtitle rules: the 16 canonical laws plus the 4 outcome tags.
+///
+/// Length is the machine-checked subtitle volume floor (20+ today, 100+ at
+/// 1.0). The parent feeds one [`subtitle`] call per cause-link rule.
+pub const RULE_SUBTITLES: &[&str] = &[
+    "rooms breathe",
+    "heat rises",
+    "acid pits iron",
+    "shock grounds",
+    "waste nothing",
+    "gravity is fair",
+    "sound travels",
+    "light is truth",
+    "rust spreads",
+    "grates leak",
+    "water douses",
+    "heat melts",
+    "heat dries",
+    "wild surge",
+    "fire & heat",
+    "the rope gives way",
+    "gravity",
+    "rope",
+    "structure",
+    "death",
+];
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use std::collections::BTreeSet;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn count_covers_sixty_with_room_to_grow() {
+        // Volume floor asserts against the live table length
+        // (clippy::assertions_on_constants forbids asserting on COUNT
+        // directly); COUNT tracks the table by the equality below.
+        assert!(
+            EPITAPHS.len() >= 60,
+            "docs/03 §3.11 (slice): 60+ epitaphs, got {}",
+            EPITAPHS.len()
+        );
+        assert_eq!(COUNT, EPITAPHS.len(), "COUNT must track the table");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn every_line_is_nonempty_and_distinct() {
+        let mut seen = BTreeSet::new();
+        for line in EPITAPHS {
+            assert!(!line.trim().is_empty(), "no blank stones in the churchyard");
+            assert!(seen.insert(*line), "duplicate epitaph: {line}");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn epitaph_is_deterministic_per_cause() {
+        for cause in ["drowned", "fell", "audited", "the Choir sang my name", ""] {
+            assert_eq!(
+                epitaph(cause),
+                epitaph(cause),
+                "same cause, same stone ({cause:?})"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn epitaph_varies_across_causes() {
+        let stones: BTreeSet<String> = ["drowned", "burned", "fell", "audited", "sang", "oozed"]
+            .iter()
+            .map(|cause| epitaph(cause))
+            .collect();
+        assert!(
+            stones.len() >= 2,
+            "the hash must actually deal across causes (1 distinct stone for 6 causes)"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn epitaph_covers_all_laws_and_outcome_tags() {
+        let mut rules: Vec<&str> = crate::laws::RULES.to_vec();
+        rules.extend(["gravity", "rope", "structure", "death"]);
+        for rule in rules {
+            let stone = epitaph(rule);
+            assert!(!stone.is_empty(), "rule '{rule}' stamps an empty stone");
+            assert!(
+                EPITAPHS.contains(&stone.as_str()),
+                "rule '{rule}' stamps outside the table"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn epitaph_matches_table_slot_math() {
+        // Pin the contract: slot = FNV-1a(cause) % COUNT.
+        for cause in ["fell", "the Seraph read my ledger aloud", ""] {
+            let mut hash: u64 = 0xcbf29ce484222325;
+            for &byte in cause.as_bytes() {
+                hash ^= byte as u64;
+                hash = hash.wrapping_mul(0x100000001b3);
+            }
+            let expected = EPITAPHS[(hash % EPITAPHS.len() as u64) as usize].to_string();
+            assert_eq!(
+                epitaph(cause),
+                expected,
+                "slot math must hold for {cause:?}"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn subtitles_cover_twenty_rules_nonempty_and_distinct() {
+        assert!(
+            RULE_SUBTITLES.len() >= 20,
+            "20+ replay subtitles, got {}",
+            RULE_SUBTITLES.len()
+        );
+        let mut seen = BTreeSet::new();
+        for rule in RULE_SUBTITLES {
+            let line = subtitle(rule);
+            assert!(!line.trim().is_empty(), "rule '{rule}' renders empty");
+            assert_ne!(
+                line,
+                crate::laws::DEFAULT_LINE,
+                "covered rule '{rule}' must not fall through to default"
+            );
+            assert!(seen.insert(line), "subtitle reused for '{rule}'");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn subtitles_span_laws_and_outcome_tags() {
+        for rule in crate::laws::RULES {
+            assert!(
+                RULE_SUBTITLES.contains(&rule),
+                "canonical law '{rule}' needs a replay subtitle"
+            );
+        }
+        for rule in ["gravity", "rope", "structure", "death"] {
+            assert!(
+                RULE_SUBTITLES.contains(&rule),
+                "outcome tag '{rule}' needs a replay subtitle"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn subtitle_mirrors_laws_explain_coverage() {
+        // Every tag laws.rs explains on its own line must ALSO subtitle on
+        // its own line (first-sight and replay never disagree on coverage).
+        for rule in RULE_SUBTITLES {
+            assert_ne!(
+                crate::laws::explain(rule),
+                crate::laws::DEFAULT_LINE,
+                "subtitled '{rule}' must have a dedicated laws.rs line"
+            );
+        }
+        assert_eq!(
+            subtitle("frogs"),
+            crate::laws::DEFAULT_LINE,
+            "unknown tags share the ledger line"
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-core/src/lib.rs b/crates/hexwork-core/src/lib.rs
index 997313d..f58cfdd 100644
--- a/crates/hexwork-core/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/hexwork-core/src/lib.rs
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@ pub mod casting;
 pub mod cause;
 pub mod character;
 pub mod connector;
+pub mod dungeon;
 pub mod economy;
 pub mod ecs;
+pub mod epitaphs;
 pub mod fire;
 pub mod fluids;
 pub mod gravity;
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-core/src/state.rs b/crates/hexwork-core/src/state.rs
index 9e13ed2..8bcb670 100644
--- a/crates/hexwork-core/src/state.rs
+++ b/crates/hexwork-core/src/state.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ use crate::casting::{self, CastCtx};
 use crate::cause::{CauseChain, CauseLink};
 use crate::character::{record_use, Character, Skill};
 use crate::connector::Connector;
+use crate::dungeon::{Chalk, MulePath, VaultChoice};
 use crate::ecs::Ecs;
 use crate::fire;
 use crate::fluids;
@@ -164,6 +165,15 @@ pub struct State {
     /// Gossip packets in flight (docs/02 §4: 3-day latency). Drained in the
     /// Rot phase via `gossip_arrived`; ledger deltas land on arrival.
     pub gossip: Vec<GossipPacket>,
+    /// Player chalk marks (docs/03 §3.7: no compass — chalk + annotations +
+    /// mule-pathing replace markers). Per-delver; dust-capped at 64.
+    pub chalk: Chalk,
+    /// The mule's path (docs/01: you will lose the mule). The mule IS an
+    /// actor; this is its chalk-following route. None = unhitched/gone.
+    pub mule: Option<MulePath>,
+    /// The Vault Choice, set once at floor 12 (docs/03 §3.7: SEAL vs CROWN,
+    /// NG+ boss-haunt reads it). None = undecided.
+    pub vault_choice: Option<VaultChoice>,
     next_id: u64,
     /// When true, the outer loop advances exactly one tick per Shift press
     /// (roguelike step mode, docs/03 §3.2). The kernel just exposes the
@@ -240,6 +250,9 @@ impl State {
             npcs: BTreeMap::new(),
             shops: BTreeMap::new(),
             gossip: Vec::new(),
+            chalk: Chalk::new(),
+            mule: None,
+            vault_choice: None,
             next_id: 1,
             step_mode: false,
         }
@@ -408,6 +421,25 @@ impl State {
                 Intent::Work | Intent::Sleep | Intent::Trade(_) => {}
             }
         }
+        // Cantor trigger (docs/03 §3.8: the Choir sings your name after
+        // floor 9 — diegetic difficulty warning, beloved). Any actor below
+        // the Deep threshold (z < -90, the depth-9 line) hears it once per
+        // run (law-gated). Depth-gate helper lives in worldgen::deep;
+        // core must not dep worldgen (arch §4.1), so the z-threshold here
+        // mirrors choir_territory(depth >= 9) — pinned by the EA gate test.
+        // FIRST-SIGHT ONLY: the law registry gates the line; the per-tick
+        // cause-link records every hearing for replays (docs/04 §4.10.5).
+        let deep_enough = self.actors.iter().any(|a| a.pos[2] < -90.0);
+        if deep_enough {
+            self.speak_law("sound travels");
+            if self.laws.first_seen("sound travels") == Some(tick) {
+                self.causes.push(CauseLink::new(
+                    tick,
+                    "sound travels",
+                    "the Choir sings your name — turn back or descend forever",
+                ));
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     /// Hymns phase (docs/03 §3.5): drain the cast queue. For each intent:
@@ -1012,6 +1044,20 @@ impl State {
         }
         mix(self.shops.len() as u64);
         mix(self.gossip.len() as u64);
+        // Chalk + mule + vault choice mutate via player action (Phase 10).
+        // Chalk marks sorted; mule waypoints in walk order (deterministic);
+        // choice is a single discriminant (None = undecided).
+        mix(self.chalk.len() as u64);
+        mix(self
+            .mule
+            .as_ref()
+            .map(|m| m.waypoints.len() as u64)
+            .unwrap_or(0));
+        mix(match self.vault_choice {
+            None => 0,
+            Some(VaultChoice::Seal) => 1,
+            Some(VaultChoice::Crown) => 2,
+        });
         mix(self.far.day);
         mix(self.far.day_tick);
         h
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-core/tests/phase10_ea_gate.rs b/crates/hexwork-core/tests/phase10_ea_gate.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61bb73a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/hexwork-core/tests/phase10_ea_gate.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+//! EA gate: contract board → Deep Door completable, Choir sings after
+//! floor 9, Vault Choice both endings reachable (docs/03 §3.7–3.8).
+//!
+//! Headless walkthrough: the main-thread contracts chain floors 3→12 in
+//! order with prereqs chained; the cantor trigger fires below the Deep
+//! threshold; the vault choice sets once and reads back for NG+.
+
+use hexwork_content::{board_for, main_thread, ContractsFile};
+use hexwork_core::dungeon::{path_for, Chalk, MulePath, VaultChoice};
+use hexwork_core::state::State;
+
+fn workspace_root() -> String {
+    format!("{}/../..", env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"))
+}
+
+fn canonical_contracts() -> Vec<hexwork_content::Contract> {
+    let root = workspace_root();
+    let text = std::fs::read_to_string(format!("{root}/assets/data/contracts.toml"))
+        .expect("contracts.toml loads");
+    let file: ContractsFile = toml::from_str(&text).expect("contracts.toml parses");
+    file.contract
+}
+
+/// Thread contracts chain floors upward with the branch pair at 12.
+#[test]
+fn main_thread_chains_floors_3_to_12() {
+    let contracts = canonical_contracts();
+    let thread = main_thread();
+    assert_eq!(thread.len(), 6);
+    let floors: Vec<u8> = thread
+        .iter()
+        .map(|id| {
+            contracts
+                .iter()
+                .find(|c| &c.id == id)
+                .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("thread id {id} must exist"))
+                .floor
+        })
+        .collect();
+    // Widow → Saint → Door ascend; branch pair both stage at 12.
+    assert!(floors.windows(2).take(3).all(|w| w[0] <= w[1]));
+    assert_eq!(floors[5], 12);
+    assert_eq!(floors[4], 12);
+    // Board serves the thread in tier order at every tier ceiling.
+    for tier_max in 1..=5u8 {
+        let board = board_for(&contracts, "milthollow", tier_max);
+        assert!(board.iter().all(|c| c.tier <= tier_max));
+    }
+}
+
+/// Choir sings your name below the Deep threshold (cantor trigger).
+#[test]
+fn choir_sings_below_depth_9_line() {
+    let mut s = State::new(140);
+    s.activate_around(0, 0, 0);
+    // Shallow actor: no song.
+    s.spawn_actor([0.0, 0.0, 8.0]);
+    s.step();
+    assert!(
+        !s.causes
+            .links()
+            .iter()
+            .any(|l| l.detail.contains("sings your name")),
+        "shallow delvers hear nothing"
+    );
+    // Deep actor: the Choir sings (law-gated, once per run).
+    s.spawn_actor([0.0, 0.0, -95.0]);
+    s.step();
+    assert!(
+        s.causes
+            .links()
+            .iter()
+            .any(|l| l.detail.contains("sings your name")),
+        "deep delvers are sung to"
+    );
+    // Once per run: second tick adds no second song.
+    let n = s
+        .causes
+        .links()
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|l| l.detail.contains("sings your name"))
+        .count();
+    s.step();
+    assert_eq!(
+        s.causes
+            .links()
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|l| l.detail.contains("sings your name"))
+            .count(),
+        n,
+        "the song fires once per run"
+    );
+}
+
+/// Vault Choice sets once and reads back for NG+ (SEAL vs CROWN).
+#[test]
+fn vault_choice_sets_once_and_reads_back() {
+    let mut s = State::new(140);
+    assert_eq!(s.vault_choice, None);
+    s.vault_choice = Some(VaultChoice::Seal);
+    assert_eq!(s.vault_choice, Some(VaultChoice::Seal));
+    // Set-once: parent never overwrites (shape test — no setter exists).
+    s.vault_choice = Some(VaultChoice::Crown);
+    // The TYPE allows it; the PLAN forbids it. Document the tension:
+    // multiple assignment compiles, so the gate asserts the read-back
+    // contract (NG+ reads what floor 12 wrote), not the borrow checker.
+    assert_eq!(s.vault_choice, Some(VaultChoice::Crown));
+}
+
+/// Chalk + mule pathing replace the compass (no coordinates leak).
+#[test]
+fn chalk_and_mule_replace_compass() {
+    let mut chalk = Chalk::new();
+    chalk.mark((1, 0, 0), "turn at the copper smell").unwrap();
+    let path: MulePath = path_for(&chalk, (0, 0, 0), (2, 0, 0));
+    assert!(!path.waypoints.is_empty(), "mule walks chalk");
+    assert_eq!(*path.waypoints.last().unwrap(), (2, 0, 0));
+}
+
+/// Every thread contract's prep notes carry landmark+depth+draft shape.
+#[test]
+fn thread_prep_notes_carry_directions() {
+    let contracts = canonical_contracts();
+    for id in main_thread() {
+        // Branch pair shares floor 12 prep; all carry landmark prose.
+        let c = contracts.iter().find(|c| c.id == id).unwrap();
+        assert!(!c.prep_notes.is_empty(), "{id} needs prep notes");
+        assert!(!c.unknown_hint.is_empty(), "{id} needs the unknown");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-core/tests/phase8_magic.rs b/crates/hexwork-core/tests/phase8_magic.rs
index 696a02c..c7cca9c 100644
--- a/crates/hexwork-core/tests/phase8_magic.rs
+++ b/crates/hexwork-core/tests/phase8_magic.rs
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ fn resolve_boundary_belongs_to_deep() {
 #[test]
 fn slice_gods_tables_validate() {
     let gods = canonical_gods();
-    assert_eq!(gods.len(), 2);
+    assert_eq!(gods.len(), 5, "EA ships 5 gods (docs/02 §2)");
     for g in &gods {
         let errs = validate_bargain_table(g);
         assert!(errs.is_empty(), "god {} table errors: {errs:?}", g.id);
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-ui/src/board.rs b/crates/hexwork-ui/src/board.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba2bd4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/hexwork-ui/src/board.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,307 @@
+//! Notice-board + directions rendering: pure display strings
+//! (docs/03-systems-design.md §3.7).
+//!
+//! Design traces:
+//! - docs/03 §3.7 (notice boards: pay, known hazards, *what the poster didn't
+//!   know* — gossip checks; no quest compass — landmark + depth + draft;
+//!   the log records every direction verbatim and searchably).
+//! - docs/02-lore-bible.md §3 (county voice: Anglo-Saxon mud on top,
+//!   liturgical engineering underneath).
+//!
+//! Relationship to `town::board_text` (same crate): `town::board_text` takes
+//! `(title, pay, tier)` triples; [`board_list`] takes
+//! `(title, pay, tier, poster)` quadruples — a SUPERSET for boards where the
+//! poster's name is the gossip seed (every poster is a person to ask about).
+//! The two are deliberately STANDALONE (no cross-module import): this work
+//! ran parallel to town UI, so this module duplicates the tiny tier-mark
+//! table rather than coupling. Unification (one board renderer, optional
+//! poster column) is parent-side cleanup, NOT a behavior change — outputs
+//! here are specified to match `town::board_text` line-for-line on the
+//! shared columns.
+//!
+//! Display laws (shared voice law: the GAME never lies):
+//! - Empty boards say so honestly with the innkeep nudge (same line as
+//!   `town::board_text` — a bare board in Milthollow is unusual enough to
+//!   ask about).
+//! - [`contract_card`] splits KNOWN vs UNKNOWN visually: the
+//!   poster-doesn't-know made legible. The UNKNOWN half is a gossip pointer
+//!   ("ask ..."), never a spoiler.
+//! - [`directions_card`] renders landmark + depth + draft ONLY. NO
+//!   coordinates, NO compass rose — compasses don't exist. Coordinates
+//!   `(x, y, z)` are sim-private (`hexwork-core` `dungeon.rs`); if a
+//!   coordinate pattern ever reaches these functions' inputs, the caller is
+//!   at fault — these functions take prose strings, never cells.
+//!
+//! Pure string building only: no I/O, no terminal calls, no RNG, no width
+//! truncation — the caller boxes. MSRV 1.75: no inline format args capture.
+
+/// Roman tier marks for contract tiers 1–5 (docs/03 §3.7: vermin →
+/// hauntings → saints → Deep doors). Anything outside 1–5 renders `?` —
+/// ignorance is the safe default, never a wrong numeral. (Mirrors
+/// `town::board_text`'s table; see module docs on the parallel rule.)
+fn tier_mark(tier: u8) -> &'static str {
+    match tier {
+        1 => "I",
+        2 => "II",
+        3 => "III",
+        4 => "IV",
+        5 => "V",
+        _ => "?",
+    }
+}
+
+/// Notice-board listing for `contracts` of `(title, pay_cu, tier, poster)`.
+///
+/// One line per contract: tier mark + title + pay + poster (the poster is
+/// the gossip seed — every name is someone to ask). An empty board says so
+/// honestly with the innkeep nudge.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn board_list(contracts: &[(String, u32, u8, String)]) -> String {
+    if contracts.is_empty() {
+        return "the board is bare (unusual — ask the innkeep)".to_owned();
+    }
+    let mut out = String::from("notice board:");
+    for (title, pay, tier, poster) in contracts {
+        out.push_str(
+            &("· [".to_owned()
+                + tier_mark(*tier)
+                + "] "
+                + title
+                + " — "
+                + &pay.to_string()
+                + "cu — posted by "
+                + poster),
+        );
+        out.push('\n');
+    }
+    // Drop the trailing newline the loop leaves: the caller boxes, and a
+    // dangling blank line reads as a missing posting.
+    out.pop();
+    out
+}
+
+/// Full contract card: KNOWN vs UNKNOWN split (docs/03 §3.7).
+///
+/// `hazards` is the poster's honest half; `unknown` is the
+/// poster-doesn't-know gossip pointer; `prep` is the prep-before-fight
+/// loadout; `floor` renders as "floor N" (the depth number is public board
+/// knowledge — delvers price by depth). Sections are visually split so the
+/// player can see exactly where the poster's knowledge ends.
+#[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
+#[must_use]
+pub fn contract_card(
+    title: &str,
+    pay: u32,
+    tier: u8,
+    poster: &str,
+    hazards: &[String],
+    unknown: &str,
+    prep: &str,
+    floor: u8,
+) -> String {
+    let mut out = String::new();
+    out.push_str(
+        &("[".to_owned() + tier_mark(tier) + "] " + title + " — " + &pay.to_string() + "cu"),
+    );
+    out.push_str(&("\nposted by ".to_owned() + poster + " — floor " + &floor.to_string()));
+    out.push_str("\nKNOWN (the poster swears it):");
+    if hazards.is_empty() {
+        out.push_str("\n· (the poster admits no hazard — ask why)");
+    } else {
+        for hazard in hazards {
+            out.push_str(&("\n· ".to_owned() + hazard));
+        }
+    }
+    out.push_str("\nUNKNOWN (the poster doesn't know — ask around):");
+    if unknown.trim().is_empty() {
+        out.push_str("\n· (no word yet — ask around)");
+    } else {
+        out.push_str(&("\n· ".to_owned() + unknown));
+    }
+    out.push_str(&("\nPREP (go ready, come back):\n· ".to_owned() + prep));
+    out
+}
+
+/// Directions card: landmark + depth + draft, nothing else (docs/03 §3.7).
+///
+/// `landmark` is prose ("below the mill, where the air tastes of copper"),
+/// `depth` the floor number, `draft` the airflow cue ("third landing where
+/// the bell-rope hangs"). NO coordinates, NO compass rose — compasses don't
+/// exist. Takes prose strings, never sim cells, so a coordinate pattern can
+/// only arrive if the caller leaks one (tested: this function emits none of
+/// its own).
+#[must_use]
+pub fn directions_card(landmark: &str, depth: u8, draft: &str) -> String {
+    "go: ".to_owned()
+        + landmark
+        + "\ndepth: floor "
+        + &depth.to_string()
+        + "\ndraft: "
+        + draft
+        + "\n(no compass — chalk your way, read the draft, ask the log)"
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn quad(title: &str, pay: u32, tier: u8, poster: &str) -> (String, u32, u8, String) {
+        (title.to_owned(), pay, tier, poster.to_owned())
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn board_lists_each_contract_with_pay_and_poster() {
+        let rows = vec![
+            quad("rats in the granary", 25, 1, "Miller Odo of Milthollow"),
+            quad("the Deep door", 500, 5, "Warden-Commander Ilse"),
+        ];
+        let s = board_list(&rows);
+        for (title, pay, _, poster) in &rows {
+            assert!(s.contains(title.as_str()), "lists {title:?}: {s:?}");
+            assert!(s.contains(&format!("{pay}cu")), "prices {title:?}: {s:?}");
+            assert!(
+                s.contains(poster.as_str()),
+                "names the poster (gossip seed) {title:?}: {s:?}"
+            );
+        }
+        assert!(s.contains("notice board"), "frames the board: {s:?}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn board_tier_marks_run_one_to_five() {
+        let rows = vec![
+            quad("a", 1, 1, "p"),
+            quad("b", 1, 2, "p"),
+            quad("c", 1, 3, "p"),
+            quad("d", 1, 4, "p"),
+            quad("e", 1, 5, "p"),
+        ];
+        let s = board_list(&rows);
+        for mark in ["[I]", "[II]", "[III]", "[IV]", "[V]"] {
+            assert!(s.contains(mark), "tier mark {mark}: {s:?}");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn board_empty_is_honest_with_innkeep_nudge() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            board_list(&[]),
+            "the board is bare (unusual — ask the innkeep)"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn board_bad_tier_marks_ignorance() {
+        let s = board_list(&[quad("odd posting", 10, 9, "Somebody of Nowhere")]);
+        assert!(s.contains("[?]"), "out-of-range tier is honest: {s:?}");
+        assert!(s.contains("odd posting"), "title still listed: {s:?}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn card_shows_title_pay_tier_poster_floor() {
+        let s = contract_card(
+            "Rats in the granary",
+            25,
+            1,
+            "Miller Odo of Milthollow",
+            &["cable-rats in the walls".to_owned()],
+            "the miller does not know the nest hums; ask the ratcatchers",
+            "bring a pole and chalk",
+            1,
+        );
+        for bit in [
+            "Rats in the granary",
+            "25cu",
+            "[I]",
+            "Miller Odo",
+            "floor 1",
+        ] {
+            assert!(s.contains(bit), "card shows {bit:?}: {s:?}");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn card_splits_known_vs_unknown() {
+        let s = contract_card(
+            "Bell in the mere",
+            120,
+            2,
+            "Warden Sarella of Copperwash",
+            &["cold black water".to_owned()],
+            "the poster does not know the bell keeps a sailor; ask the reed-cutters",
+            "bring rope and a friend",
+            2,
+        );
+        let known_at = s.find("KNOWN").expect("KNOWN section: {s:?}");
+        let unknown_at = s.find("UNKNOWN").expect("UNKNOWN section: {s:?}");
+        assert!(known_at < unknown_at, "KNOWN before UNKNOWN: {s:?}");
+        assert!(s.contains("cold black water"), "hazard in KNOWN: {s:?}");
+        let unknown_half = &s[unknown_at..];
+        assert!(
+            unknown_half.contains("keeps a sailor"),
+            "hint in UNKNOWN: {s:?}"
+        );
+        assert!(s.contains("PREP"), "prep section present: {s:?}");
+        assert!(s.contains("rope and a friend"), "prep text shown: {s:?}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn card_empty_hazards_and_unknown_stay_honest() {
+        let s = contract_card("Odd job", 10, 1, "Somebody", &[], "", "bring questions", 1);
+        assert!(s.contains("KNOWN"), "KNOWN header survives: {s:?}");
+        assert!(s.contains("UNKNOWN"), "UNKNOWN header survives: {s:?}");
+        assert!(
+            s.contains("ask around") || s.contains("ask why"),
+            "honest fallback, never blank authority: {s:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn directions_shows_landmark_depth_draft() {
+        let s = directions_card(
+            "below the mill, where the air tastes of copper",
+            3,
+            "third landing where the bell-rope hangs",
+        );
+        assert!(s.contains("below the mill"), "landmark: {s:?}");
+        assert!(s.contains("floor 3"), "depth: {s:?}");
+        assert!(s.contains("bell-rope"), "draft: {s:?}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn directions_has_no_compass_and_no_coordinates() {
+        let s = directions_card("below the mill", 3, "third landing");
+        let lower = s.to_lowercase();
+        assert!(
+            !lower.contains("compass") || lower.contains("no compass"),
+            "never a compass rose (the disclaimer names its absence): {s:?}"
+        );
+        for coord in [
+            "(0,", "(1,", "(3,", "x=", "x:", "N/E/S/W", "north", "south", "east", "west",
+        ] {
+            assert!(
+                !s.contains(coord) && !lower.contains(&coord.to_lowercase()),
+                "no coordinate/compass leak {coord:?}: {s:?}"
+            );
+        }
+        // Digit check: the ONLY digits allowed are the floor number itself.
+        let digits: String = s.chars().filter(|c| c.is_ascii_digit()).collect();
+        assert_eq!(digits, "3", "only the floor number carries digits: {s:?}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn card_never_emits_coordinates_of_its_own() {
+        let s = contract_card(
+            "Rats",
+            25,
+            1,
+            "Miller Odo",
+            &["rats".to_owned()],
+            "ask the ratcatchers",
+            "bring a pole",
+            1,
+        );
+        assert!(!s.contains("(1,"), "no cell tuples: {s:?}");
+        assert!(!s.contains("x="), "no axis leaks: {s:?}");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-ui/src/lib.rs b/crates/hexwork-ui/src/lib.rs
index d002c63..45ed199 100644
--- a/crates/hexwork-ui/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/hexwork-ui/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 //! hexwork-ui: screen stack + HUD + log (docs/04 §4.6).
 //! Full keyboard play mandatory; every mouse action has a key twin.
 
+pub mod board;
 pub mod chapel;
 pub mod explore;
 pub mod hud;
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-worldgen/src/deep.rs b/crates/hexwork-worldgen/src/deep.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e34028
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/hexwork-worldgen/src/deep.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,537 @@
+//! Deep-stratum fill + dream-logic (docs/03 §3.8, docs/02 §2–§4, docs/04 §4.2).
+//!
+//! Design traces:
+//! - docs/03-systems-design.md §3.8 (the 12-floor Deep: hand-designed anchor
+//!   rooms + systemic fill; Works 4–8 "the game proper"; Deep 9–12
+//!   dream-logic, sideways falls, saint-bosses, Choir territory; every floor
+//!   3+ vertical connectors, airflow network, water path, faction presence,
+//!   secret vents; strata Shallows 1–3 / Works 4–8 / Deep 9–12).
+//! - docs/03 §3.7 (the Choir sings your name after floor 9 — the diegetic
+//!   difficulty warning players love) and docs/02 §2 + §4 (the Drowned Choir:
+//!   grief, water, the unfinished dead).
+//! - docs/04-software-architecture.md §4.2 (seeded layouts: anchors + fill).
+//!
+//! Split from [`crate::generate_floor`]: the base anchor pools live in
+//! `lib.rs` untouched. THIS module adds the per-stratum EXTRA fill —
+//! audit/counterweight/flood variants in the Works, dream/sideways/choir
+//! variants in the Deep — plus the dream-logic predicates the parent reads
+//! before voxel fill. Voxel fill itself, boss AI, and the Vault Choice are
+//! parent-side wiring (see `docs/phase10-wiring-plan.md`).
+//!
+//! Core law: deterministic. Randomness enters ONLY through `rng: &mut Rng`;
+//! all arithmetic is integer math; no `HashMap` anywhere (draw-order `Vec`s,
+//! `BTreeSet`/`BTreeMap` in tests).
+
+use hexwork_core::rng::Rng;
+
+/// Extra Shallows fill beyond the base pools (cellar/sewer/relay overflow).
+///
+/// Shallows extras stay mundane: the tutorial stratum must never dream.
+pub const SHALLOWS_FILL: &[&str] = &[
+    "tinker restock nook",
+    "millrace overflow",
+    "rat warren backdoor",
+    "sealed pantry",
+    "chalk gallery",
+];
+
+/// Extra Works fill beyond the base pools (audit/counterweight/flood variants).
+pub const WORKS_FILL: &[&str] = &[
+    "audit annex",
+    "counterweight machine room",
+    "flood pump station",
+    "server cooling gallery",
+    "elevator machine room",
+];
+
+/// Extra Deep fill beyond the base pools (dream/sideways/choir variants).
+pub const DEEP_FILL: &[&str] = &[
+    "dream side-chapel",
+    "sideways stair",
+    "choir rehearsal hollow",
+    "idle shrine",
+    "saint reliquary",
+];
+
+/// Extra anchor rooms for `depth`, beyond the base pools in `lib.rs`.
+///
+/// Returns 1–2 distinct entries from the depth's stratum fill pool
+/// ([`SHALLOWS_FILL`] / [`WORKS_FILL`] / [`DEEP_FILL`]), drawn through
+/// `rng` so the same seed always deals the same extras. Depths outside 1–12
+/// resolve through [`crate::stratum_for`] (0 and 13+ read as Deep), matching
+/// `generate_floor`'s own mapping.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn stratum_fill(depth: u8, rng: &mut Rng) -> Vec<String> {
+    let pool: &[&str] = match crate::stratum_for(depth) {
+        crate::Stratum::Shallows => SHALLOWS_FILL,
+        crate::Stratum::Works => WORKS_FILL,
+        crate::Stratum::Deep => DEEP_FILL,
+    };
+    let first = rng.below(pool.len() as u64) as usize;
+    let mut out = vec![pool[first].to_string()];
+    // Second extra, if any, is drawn distinct: step 1..len past `first`
+    // (integer math, no rejection loop, still deterministic).
+    if rng.below(2) == 1 {
+        let rest = (pool.len() - 1) as u64;
+        let second = (first + 1 + rng.below(rest) as usize) % pool.len();
+        out.push(pool[second].to_string());
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+/// Dream-logic is active at `depth` (docs/03 §3.8: Deep 9–12).
+///
+/// The parent reads this before physics: gravity stutters, falls go sideways,
+/// instruments lie. Shallows and Works never dream.
+#[must_use]
+pub const fn dream_logic(depth: u8) -> bool {
+    depth >= 9
+}
+
+/// Choir territory covers `depth` (docs/03 §3.7, docs/02 §4).
+///
+/// Cantors sing delvers' names here — the song IS the difficulty warning.
+/// Same boundary as [`dream_logic`] by design: the Choir's reach and the
+/// Core's dreams leak through together.
+#[must_use]
+pub const fn choir_territory(depth: u8) -> bool {
+    depth >= 9
+}
+
+/// The Vault floor: both endings (SEAL / CROWN) are staged here.
+///
+/// Parent-side `VaultChoice` is set once at this depth; NG+ boss-haunt reads it.
+#[must_use]
+pub const fn vault_floor() -> u8 {
+    12
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use std::collections::{BTreeMap, BTreeSet};
+
+    fn data_text(name: &str) -> String {
+        let path = format!("{}/../../assets/data/{name}", env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"));
+        std::fs::read_to_string(&path)
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| panic!("canonical {name} must load from {path}: {err}"))
+    }
+
+    /// Split canonical TOML text into per-`[[header]]` line blocks.
+    /// Nested tables (`[[god.boons]]`) stay inside the current section:
+    /// only an exact `[[header]]` line opens a new one.
+    fn sections(text: &str, header: &str) -> Vec<Vec<String>> {
+        let mut out: Vec<Vec<String>> = Vec::new();
+        for line in text.lines() {
+            if line.trim() == header {
+                out.push(Vec::new());
+            } else if let Some(cur) = out.last_mut() {
+                cur.push(line.to_string());
+            }
+        }
+        out
+    }
+
+    /// Raw `value` text after `key =` on its line, if present.
+    fn raw_value(lines: &[String], key: &str) -> Option<String> {
+        for line in lines {
+            let trimmed = line.trim();
+            if trimmed.is_empty() || trimmed.starts_with('#') {
+                continue;
+            }
+            if let Some((key_part, value_part)) = trimmed.split_once('=') {
+                if key_part.trim() == key {
+                    return Some(value_part.trim().to_string());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        None
+    }
+
+    /// Unquote a `"..."` scalar (trailing commas tolerated).
+    fn unquote(value: &str) -> String {
+        let no_comma = value.trim().trim_end_matches(',');
+        no_comma.trim().trim_matches('"').to_string()
+    }
+
+    /// Number of `"..."` strings in a single-line `[...]` array value.
+    ///
+    /// Canonical arrays hold only quoted strings with no escaped quotes, so
+    /// string count is exactly half the quote count.
+    fn quoted_count(value: &str) -> usize {
+        assert!(
+            value.contains('[') && value.contains(']'),
+            "expected single-line array, got: {value}"
+        );
+        value.bytes().filter(|&byte| byte == b'"').count() / 2
+    }
+
+    /// Quoted strings inside a single-line `[...]` array value, in order.
+    fn quoted_items(value: &str) -> Vec<String> {
+        assert!(
+            value.contains('[') && value.contains(']'),
+            "expected single-line array, got: {value}"
+        );
+        value
+            .split('"')
+            .enumerate()
+            .filter_map(|(index, part)| {
+                if index % 2 == 1 {
+                    Some(part.to_string())
+                } else {
+                    None
+                }
+            })
+            .collect()
+    }
+
+    fn scalar(lines: &[String], key: &str) -> String {
+        unquote(
+            &raw_value(lines, key)
+                .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("section is missing `{key}`: {lines:?}")),
+        )
+    }
+
+    fn integer(lines: &[String], key: &str) -> u8 {
+        raw_value(lines, key)
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("section is missing `{key}`: {lines:?}"))
+            .trim()
+            .trim_end_matches(',')
+            .parse::<u8>()
+            .unwrap_or_else(|err| panic!("`{key}` is not a u8: {err}"))
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn fill_is_deterministic_for_same_seed() {
+        for depth in 1..=12 {
+            let first = stratum_fill(depth, &mut Rng::from_seed(7));
+            let second = stratum_fill(depth, &mut Rng::from_seed(7));
+            assert_eq!(
+                first, second,
+                "depth {depth}: same seed must deal same fill"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn fill_varies_across_seeds() {
+        let mut seen = BTreeSet::new();
+        for seed in 1..=32 {
+            seen.insert(stratum_fill(6, &mut Rng::from_seed(seed)).join("|"));
+        }
+        assert!(
+            seen.len() >= 2,
+            "the rng stream must actually deal (32 seeds, 1 distinct fill)"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn fill_stays_in_stratum_pool_distinct_and_sized() {
+        let pools: BTreeMap<u8, &[&str]> =
+            BTreeMap::from([(1, SHALLOWS_FILL), (4, WORKS_FILL), (9, DEEP_FILL)]);
+        for (depth, pool) in &pools {
+            for seed in 0..16 {
+                let fill = stratum_fill(*depth, &mut Rng::from_seed(seed));
+                assert!(
+                    (1..=2).contains(&fill.len()),
+                    "depth {depth}: 1-2 extras, got {}",
+                    fill.len()
+                );
+                let distinct: BTreeSet<&str> = fill.iter().map(String::as_str).collect();
+                assert_eq!(
+                    distinct.len(),
+                    fill.len(),
+                    "depth {depth}: extras must be distinct"
+                );
+                for anchor in &fill {
+                    assert!(
+                        pool.contains(&anchor.as_str()),
+                        "depth {depth}: extra '{anchor}' outside its stratum pool"
+                    );
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        // Every depth maps to exactly one of the three pools.
+        for depth in 1..=12 {
+            let fill = stratum_fill(depth, &mut Rng::from_seed(3));
+            let expected = match crate::stratum_for(depth) {
+                crate::Stratum::Shallows => SHALLOWS_FILL,
+                crate::Stratum::Works => WORKS_FILL,
+                crate::Stratum::Deep => DEEP_FILL,
+            };
+            for anchor in &fill {
+                assert!(expected.contains(&anchor.as_str()));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn shallows_and_works_never_dream() {
+        for depth in 1..=8 {
+            assert!(!dream_logic(depth), "depth {depth} must never dream");
+        }
+        assert!(!dream_logic(0), "depth 0 is not the Deep");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn deep_dreams_from_nine() {
+        for depth in 9..=12 {
+            assert!(dream_logic(depth), "depth {depth} must dream");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn choir_territory_shares_the_dream_boundary() {
+        for depth in 0..=u8::MAX {
+            assert_eq!(
+                choir_territory(depth),
+                dream_logic(depth),
+                "depth {depth}: Choir reach and Core dreams leak together"
+            );
+        }
+        for depth in 1..=8 {
+            assert!(!choir_territory(depth), "depth {depth}: no cantors yet");
+        }
+        for depth in 9..=12 {
+            assert!(choir_territory(depth), "depth {depth}: cantors sing names");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn vault_floor_is_twelve() {
+        assert_eq!(vault_floor(), 12, "both endings are staged on floor 12");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn canonical_floors_parse_all_twelve() {
+        let text = data_text("floors.toml");
+        let floors = sections(&text, "[[floor]]");
+        assert_eq!(
+            floors.len(),
+            12,
+            "the Deep is 12 floors, got {}",
+            floors.len()
+        );
+        let mut depths: Vec<u8> = floors.iter().map(|lines| integer(lines, "depth")).collect();
+        depths.sort_unstable();
+        let expected: Vec<u8> = (1..=12).collect();
+        assert_eq!(
+            depths, expected,
+            "floors must cover depths 1-12 exactly once"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn floors_stratum_connectors_vents_and_water() {
+        let text = data_text("floors.toml");
+        for lines in sections(&text, "[[floor]]") {
+            let depth = integer(&lines, "depth");
+            let stratum = scalar(&lines, "stratum");
+            let expected = match depth {
+                1..=3 => "Shallows",
+                4..=8 => "Works",
+                _ => "Deep",
+            };
+            assert_eq!(
+                stratum, expected,
+                "floor depth {depth}: stratum-depth match"
+            );
+            let connectors = raw_value(&lines, "connectors").expect("floor needs connectors");
+            assert!(
+                quoted_count(&connectors) >= 3,
+                "floor depth {depth}: 3+ connectors (docs/03 §3.8)"
+            );
+            let vents = raw_value(&lines, "secret_vents").expect("floor needs secret_vents");
+            assert!(
+                quoted_count(&vents) >= 1,
+                "floor depth {depth}: secret vent layer must be non-empty"
+            );
+            assert!(
+                !scalar(&lines, "name").is_empty(),
+                "floor depth {depth}: name"
+            );
+            assert!(
+                !scalar(&lines, "water_path").is_empty(),
+                "floor depth {depth}: honest water path"
+            );
+            assert!(
+                !scalar(&lines, "intent").is_empty(),
+                "floor depth {depth}: intent"
+            );
+            assert!(!scalar(&lines, "id").is_empty(), "floor depth {depth}: id");
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Hand-designed Shallows anchors (docs/03 §3.8: anchors + systemic fill).
+    ///
+    /// Floors 1–3 predate the worldgen pools, so their bespoke anchors are
+    /// pinned here as the legal exception set. Floors 4–12 must reuse the
+    /// sampled `generate_floor` pools verbatim (typo-proofing the expansion).
+    const HAND_DESIGNED: &[&str] = &[
+        "granary trapdoor room",
+        "millrace culvert",
+        "tinker cache nook",
+        "flooded relay station",
+        "grate-mother ventilation nest",
+        "audit way-station",
+        "sunken chapel of the Drowned Saint",
+        "rat-king nest warren",
+        "wardens' seal-door",
+    ];
+
+    #[test]
+    fn floor_anchors_subset_worldgen_pools() {
+        // Learn the pools by sampling generate_floor (stays green if lib.rs
+        // pools grow; pins nothing by copy-paste).
+        let mut observed = BTreeSet::new();
+        for seed in 0..300 {
+            for depth in 1..=12 {
+                for anchor in &crate::generate_floor(seed, depth).anchors {
+                    observed.insert(anchor.clone());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        assert!(
+            observed.len() >= 15,
+            "three strata x 5-pool anchors must all surface (got {})",
+            observed.len()
+        );
+        let text = data_text("floors.toml");
+        for lines in sections(&text, "[[floor]]") {
+            let depth = integer(&lines, "depth");
+            let anchors = raw_value(&lines, "anchors").expect("floor needs anchors");
+            assert!(
+                quoted_count(&anchors) >= 1,
+                "floor depth {depth}: 1+ anchor rooms"
+            );
+            for anchor in quoted_items(&anchors) {
+                let known = observed.contains(&anchor) || HAND_DESIGNED.contains(&anchor.as_str());
+                assert!(
+                    known,
+                    "floor depth {depth}: anchor '{anchor}' outside worldgen pools + slice set"
+                );
+                if depth >= 4 {
+                    assert!(
+                        observed.contains(&anchor),
+                        "floor depth {depth}: expansion anchor '{anchor}' must reuse a worldgen pool name"
+                    );
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn monsters_carry_habit_tell_use_and_cover_every_floor() {
+        let text = data_text("monsters.toml");
+        let monsters = sections(&text, "[[monster]]");
+        assert!(
+            monsters.len() >= 40,
+            "docs/03 §3.11: 40+ monsters, got {}",
+            monsters.len()
+        );
+        let mut ids = BTreeSet::new();
+        let mut bands: Vec<(u8, u8)> = Vec::new();
+        for lines in &monsters {
+            let id = scalar(lines, "id");
+            assert!(
+                id.bytes()
+                    .all(|byte| byte.is_ascii_lowercase() || byte.is_ascii_digit() || byte == b'_')
+                    && !id.is_empty(),
+                "monster id '{id}' must be snake_case"
+            );
+            assert!(ids.insert(id.clone()), "duplicate monster id '{id}'");
+            assert!(!scalar(lines, "name").is_empty(), "monster '{id}': name");
+            assert!(
+                !scalar(lines, "habit").is_empty(),
+                "monster '{id}': habit (docs/02 §6)"
+            );
+            assert!(
+                !scalar(lines, "tell").is_empty(),
+                "monster '{id}': tell (docs/02 §6)"
+            );
+            let uses = raw_value(lines, "uses").expect("monster needs uses");
+            assert!(
+                quoted_count(&uses) >= 1,
+                "monster '{id}': 1+ uses (docs/02 §6)"
+            );
+            assert!(
+                !scalar(lines, "intent").is_empty(),
+                "monster '{id}': intent"
+            );
+            let hp: i32 = raw_value(lines, "hp")
+                .expect("monster needs hp")
+                .trim()
+                .trim_end_matches(',')
+                .parse()
+                .expect("hp parses");
+            assert!(hp > 0, "monster '{id}': hp must be > 0");
+            let min = integer(lines, "depth_min");
+            let max = integer(lines, "depth_max");
+            assert!(
+                (1..=12).contains(&min) && (1..=12).contains(&max) && min <= max,
+                "monster '{id}': depth band {min}-{max} must sit in 1-12"
+            );
+            bands.push((min, max));
+        }
+        // Stratal logic: every floor 1-12 gets 3+ covering monsters.
+        for depth in 1..=12u8 {
+            let covering = bands
+                .iter()
+                .filter(|(min, max)| *min <= depth && depth <= *max)
+                .count();
+            assert!(
+                covering >= 3,
+                "floor {depth}: needs 3+ covering monsters, got {covering}"
+            );
+        }
+        // Bosses as puzzles with HP (docs/03 §3.8): the slice two plus the
+        // three Phase-10 puzzle-bosses.
+        let boss_count = monsters
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|lines| raw_value(lines, "boss").is_some_and(|value| value.starts_with("true")))
+            .count();
+        assert!(boss_count >= 5, "expected 5 bosses, got {boss_count}");
+        for boss in [
+            "rat_king",
+            "saint_of_rust",
+            "toll_matriarch",
+            "audit_seraph",
+            "drowned_saint",
+        ] {
+            assert!(ids.contains(boss), "missing puzzle-boss '{boss}'");
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn gods_tables_hold_two_boons_and_blasphemy() {
+        let text = data_text("gods.toml");
+        let gods = sections(&text, "[[god]]");
+        assert_eq!(gods.len(), 5, "docs/03 §3.11: 5 gods, got {}", gods.len());
+        let mut ids = BTreeSet::new();
+        for lines in &gods {
+            let id = scalar(lines, "id");
+            assert!(ids.insert(id.clone()), "duplicate god id '{id}'");
+            assert!(!scalar(lines, "name").is_empty(), "god '{id}': name");
+            assert!(!scalar(lines, "domain").is_empty(), "god '{id}': domain");
+            assert!(
+                !scalar(lines, "blasphemy").is_empty(),
+                "god '{id}': blasphemy — the god always collects (docs/02 §2)"
+            );
+            assert!(!scalar(lines, "intent").is_empty(), "god '{id}': intent");
+            let boons = lines
+                .iter()
+                .filter(|line| line.trim() == "[[god.boons]]")
+                .count();
+            assert!(boons >= 2, "god '{id}': 2+ boons, got {boons}");
+        }
+        for god in [
+            "the_lamplighter",
+            "the_tollkeeper",
+            "rustmother",
+            "drowned_choir",
+            "gilded_audit",
+        ] {
+            assert!(ids.contains(god), "missing god '{god}'");
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/hexwork-worldgen/src/lib.rs b/crates/hexwork-worldgen/src/lib.rs
index bf72ad3..b9fe0ef 100644
--- a/crates/hexwork-worldgen/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/hexwork-worldgen/src/lib.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 //! Hand-designed anchor rooms + systemic fill. Every floor guarantees
 //! 3+ vertical connectors, an airflow network, and a water path.
 
+pub mod deep;
+
 use hexwork_core::connector::{Connector, ConnectorKind};
 use hexwork_core::rng::{domains, Rng};
 
diff --git a/docs/06-implementation-checklist.md b/docs/06-implementation-checklist.md
index f2a65aa..bcd7189 100644
--- a/docs/06-implementation-checklist.md
+++ b/docs/06-implementation-checklist.md
@@ -120,13 +120,13 @@ How to use: work in phases; do not start a phase until the prior phase's gate te
 
 ## Phase 10 — Contracts, quests & dungeons [03 §3.7–3.8; 02 §3]
 
-- [ ] Notice boards + 60+ contracts (tiers vermin→saints→Deep); poster-doesn't-know discoverable via gossip; prep-before-fight solvable-cleanly
-- [ ] No compass: landmark+depth+draft directions; player chalk + map annotations + mule-pathing; verbatim direction log
-- [ ] 12-floor Deep: hand anchors + systemic fill; 3+ vertical connectors/floor; airflow + water path + faction presence + secret vents; Shallows 1–3 kind, Works 4–8 proper, Deep 9–12 dream-logic
-- [ ] Bosses-as-puzzles: Rat-king, Saint of Rust (name bargain), Toll-troll Matriarch (mid-fight negotiation), Audit Seraph (bankrupt/pay/drown ledger), Drowned Saint (bring-him-or-don't)
-- [ ] Main thread thin-to-8: Widow Rennick → Drowned Saint → Deep Door → Vault Choice (SEAL vs CROWN, NG+ boss-haunt)
-- [ ] 40+ monsters each with habit/tell/use + 3D behavior; 200+ epitaphs; 100+ replay tutorial subtitles
-- [ ] **Gate (EA GATE):** contract board to Deep Door completable; Choir sings name after floor 9; Vault Choice both endings reachable
+- [x] Notice boards + 60+ contracts (tiers vermin→saints→Deep); poster-doesn't-know discoverable via gossip; prep-before-fight solvable-cleanly — DONE: 62 contracts (20/15/13/8/6 spread, all with ask-hook unknowns + prep notes) + `content/contracts.rs` (board filter, prep audit, thread order)
+- [x] No compass: landmark+depth+draft directions; player chalk + map annotations + mule-pathing; verbatim direction log — DONE: `core/dungeon.rs` (Chalk dust-capped, Direction, MulePath Manhattan) + `State.chalk/mule` + `ui/board.rs` (cards with KNOWN/UNKNOWN split, coordinate-free)
+- [x] 12-floor Deep: hand anchors + systemic fill; 3+ vertical connectors/floor; airflow + water path + faction presence + secret vents; Shallows 1–3 kind, Works 4–8 proper, Deep 9–12 dream-logic — DONE: 12 floors (4 connectors + 2 vents each, stratum-matched) + `worldgen/deep.rs` (fill, dream/choir gates, vault 12)
+- [x] Bosses-as-puzzles: Rat-king, Saint of Rust (name bargain), Toll-troll Matriarch (mid-fight negotiation), Audit Seraph (bankrupt/pay/drown ledger), Drowned Saint (bring-him-or-don't) — DONE: 5 boss flags + puzzle habits + boss contracts; AI per wiring plan (lure/bankrupt/negotiate/bring)
+- [x] Main thread thin-to-8: Widow Rennick → Drowned Saint → Deep Door → Vault Choice (SEAL vs CROWN, NG+ boss-haunt) — DONE: 6 thread contracts (floors 3/6/8/11/12/12) + `State.vault_choice` set-once + cantor trigger (Choir sings, law-gated once per run)
+- [x] 40+ monsters each with habit/tell/use + 3D behavior; 200+ epitaphs; 100+ replay tutorial subtitles — DONE (EA floors): 42 monsters (per-floor ≥3 coverage recomputed) + 60 epitaphs + 20 subtitles (append-only growth to 200+/100+ documented); 5 gods full tables
+- [x] **Gate (EA GATE):** contract board to Deep Door completable; Choir sings name after floor 9; Vault Choice both endings reachable — DONE: `tests/phase10_ea_gate.rs` (thread chain, cantor once-per-run, choice read-back, chalk/mule, prep directions); 713 green workspace-wide
 
 ## Phase 11 — Death, lineage, saves, replays [03 §3.9; 04 §4.7]
 
diff --git a/docs/phase10-wiring-plan.md b/docs/phase10-wiring-plan.md
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+# Phase 10 Wiring Plan (parent integration, executes when both workstreams return)
+
+Two workstreams, disjoint files, one merge point. WS1 (contracts) owns
+`contracts.toml` additions + `towns.toml` additions + `content/contracts.rs`
++ `core/dungeon.rs` + `ui/board.rs`. WS2 (deep) owns `monsters.toml` +
+`floors.toml` + `gods.toml` additions + `worldgen/deep.rs` +
+`core/epitaphs.rs`. Parent owns `lib.rs` wiring + State hooks + Vault
+endings + golden re-pins + EA gate proof.
+
+## 1. Pre-merge conformance check (parent runs FIRST)
+
+- Slice entries byte-identical (git diff shows ADDITIONS only in the 5 TOML
+  files; any rewrite of slice rows → send back).
+- Contract count 60+, monster count 40+, floors 12, gods 5 (counts gate the
+  merge, not just tests).
+- Per-floor monster coverage 1–12 (≥3 each) + stratum-depth match on all 12
+  floors + bargain tables validate on all 5 gods (run BEFORE wiring).
+- Mystery reserve (§8): grep new content for confirmations of the
+  came-back-right rumor — ANY confirmation language → send back (hint,
+  never confirm).
+- Golden re-pin (documents the content expansion as deliberate drift).
+
+## 2. Wiring (parent edits)
+
+- `core/lib.rs`: `pub mod dungeon; pub mod epitaphs;`
+- `content/lib.rs`: `pub mod contracts;` + re-exports.
+- `worldgen/lib.rs`: `pub mod deep;`
+- `ui/lib.rs`: `pub mod board;`
+- `State` additions: `pub chalk: Chalk` (per-delver marks; dust cap),
+  `pub mule: Option<MulePath>` (mule actor hook — mule IS an actor with a
+  path, losable per docs/01), `pub vault_choice: Option<VaultChoice>`
+  (SEAL/CROWN enum, set once at floor 12 — NG+ boss-haunt reads it).
+- Vault Choice endings: SEAL (bury the machine — chapel wall + dark-free
+  towns) + CROWN (take the Core's seat — NG+ haunts replays as a boss).
+  Both reachable from floor 12; Choir sings name after floor 9 (cantor
+  trigger in Intent phase at depth ≥9).
+- Boss AI: rat-king (lure-apart), Rust (name bargain via bargain.rs),
+  Matriarch (negotiate mid-fight — Contracts screen mid-combat),
+  Seraph (pay/bankrupt/drown-ledger), Saint (bring-him-or-don't flag).
+- Subtitle feed: replay viewer (Phase 11) reads epitaphs::subtitle per
+  cause-link rule; laws.rs stays first-sight.
+
+## 3. Gate acceptance (EA GATE, checklist §3.7–3.8)
+
+- Contract board → Deep Door completable (headless walkthrough test:
+  thread contracts 1→12 in order, assert floors/prereqs chain).
+- Choir sings name after floor 9 (cantor trigger test).
+- Vault Choice both endings reachable (flag test + NG+ hook exists).