Story State

Use after a chapter or screenplay scene settles, or when a revision changes chronology or state.

Workflow

1. Read the core contract, NARRATIVE_STATE.md, canon, and the changed chapter or scene.
2. Read only the ledger entries and adjacent scenes affected by the change.
3. Update 01_story/story_state.json with changed character, relationship, prop, question, promise, scene-order, and event state. Use the object relationship form from NARRATIVE_STATE.md for new relationship changes.
4. Keep canonical speech, movement, stillness, physical identity, and baseline ensemble behavior in canon. Current trust, hostility, allegiance, knowledge, injury, possession, location, and other chronology-sensitive conditions belong here.
5. Keep possibilities out of the ledger until the upstream story or screenplay adopts them.
6. Use mentions for non-active appearances such as memories, recordings, references, or posthumous material when that distinction matters.
7. Run validate_story_project.py after chronology, setup/payoff, death, or selection state changes.

Done

The ledger matches the approved narrative scope, every changed state has a traceable scene, and deterministic ordering checks pass.