Artifacts & Substances

<FILE> {

"file": "artifacts_and_substances.json",
"version": "1.0",
"status": "locked_canon",
"scope": "authoritative",
"description": "Catalogues significant artifacts, substances, and materials associated with the Dreamwood. Defines their origins, functions, risks, and symbolic roles. Artifacts operate through ritual, ecology, and consequence rather than convenience.",

"classification_principles": {
  "artifact_definition": "A material object whose significance arises from ritual use, ecological alignment, or accumulated memory.",
  "substance_definition": "A consumable or transferable material that alters perception, access, or alignment.",
  "constraints": [
    "no artifact grants absolute control",
    "all use incurs cost",
    "context determines efficacy"
  ]
},

"primary_substances": {
  "koru": {
    "type": "dreamwood_sap",
    "origin": "Harvested from accepted growths within the Dreamwood.",
    "effects": [
      "heightened perceptual attunement",
      "sense of connection",
      "euphoric calm"
    ],
    "uses": [
      "navigation of liminal paths",
      "ritual grounding",
      "personal attunement"
    ],
    "risks": [
      "dependency",
      "blurring of personal boundaries",
      "increased susceptibility to influence"
    ],
    "legal_status": "unregulated_natural_substance",
    "symbolism": "Connection without ownership"
  },
  "blighted_koru": {
    "alias": "dead_eyes",
    "type": "corrupted_sap",
    "origin": "Extracted from blight-infected growths.",
    "effects": [
      "intense euphoria",
      "sensory distortion",
      "temporary blindness"
    ],
    "uses": [
      "escape",
      "forced vision",
      "coercive bonding"
    ],
    "risks": [
      "permanent damage",
      "loss of agency",
      "potential enthrallment"
    ],
    "symbolism": "Connection through self-destruction"
  }
},

"containment_artifacts": {
  "witch_bottles": {
    "type": "ritual_container",
    "origin": "Developed as harm-reduction tools for trauma and memory overflow.",
    "contents": [
      "emotional fragments",
      "memory residues",
      "psychic pressure"
    ],
    "function": "Delay escalation by isolating volatile elements.",
    "failure_modes": [
      "leakage",
      "environmental bleed",
      "long-term destabilization"
    ],
    "ethical_note": "Containment prioritizes stability over healing."
  }
},

"ritual_objects": {
  "boundary_charms": {
    "materials": [
      "copper",
      "etched wood",
      "threshold scrapings"
    ],
    "function": [
      "early warning",
      "boundary reinforcement"
    ],
    "limitations": [
      "require maintenance",
      "do not prevent determined intrusion"
    ]
  },
  "memory_tokens": {
    "definition": "Objects saturated with personal or collective memory through ritual use.",
    "function": [
      "symbolic anchoring",
      "ritual focus"
    ],
    "risk": "May attract attention or resonance."
  }
},

"living_artifacts": {
  "archive_trees": {
    "type": "bio-mnemonic structure",
    "origin": "Saplings planted through Mournwood interment rites.",
    "function": "Access points for distributed memory.",
    "limitations": [
      "no direct dialogue",
      "slow maturation",
      "interpretive access only"
    ],
    "symbolism": "Legacy without survival"
  }
},

"usage_constraints": {
  "misuse_consequences": [
    "ecological backlash",
    "psychological erosion",
    "corruption amplification"
  ],
  "stacking_effects": "Cumulative and nonlinear",
  "removal": "Artifacts cannot be safely neutralized; they must be contextualized or abandoned."
},

"canon_rules": {
  "artifacts_do_not_solve_problems": true,
  "substances_alter_alignment": true,
  "every_tool_imposes_cost": true
}

}

</FILE>