Initial commit: Theriapolis baseline at port/godot branch point

Captures the pre-Godot-port state of the codebase. This is the rollback
anchor for the Godot port (M0 of theriapolis-rpg-implementation-plan-godot-port.md).
All Phase 0 through Phase 6.5 work is included; Phase 7 is in flight.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

theriapolis-rpg-procgen.md

@@ -0,0 +1,713 @@
+# Theriapolis — Procedural World Generation
+### Technical Design Document (High Level)
+
+---
+
+## Executive Summary
+
+The continent of Veldara is procedurally generated each playthrough while preserving
+the narrative spine of the main quest. The player experiences the same story in a
+different world every time — settlements shift, roads reroute, dungeons relocate, and
+the spaces between fixed narrative anchors are always fresh.
+
+The core principle: **Geography is authored. Topology is generated.**
+
+Meaning: the continental layout (temperate east, plains center, mountains west, tundra
+north, subtropical south) is fixed as a macro-template. But the specific shape of
+coastlines, the exact placement of mountain passes, the course of rivers, and the
+location of every settlement, road, and point of interest within those macro-regions
+is procedurally determined per seed.
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 0: THE CONTINENTAL TEMPLATE
+
+### What Is Fixed (Every Playthrough)
+
+The continental template is a hand-authored **macro-biome map** — a low-resolution grid
+(approximately 32×32 cells, each cell representing a large region) that defines the
+broad strokes:
+
+```
+NORTH
+┌──────────────────────────────────┐
+│  TUNDRA / BOREAL FOREST          │
+│  (Polar Ursid, Wolverine-folk)   │
+├──────────────────────────────────┤
+│  TEMPERATE     │  NORTHERN       │
+│  FOREST        │  PLAINS         │
+│  (Mixed Clade) │  (Canid-heavy)  │
+├────────────────┼─────────────────┤
+│  EASTERN       │  CENTRAL        │  WESTERN
+│  INDUSTRIAL    │  GRASSLANDS     │  MOUNTAINS
+│  BELT          │  (Bovid/Cervid) │  (Mixed)
+│  (Multi-Clade) │                 │  
+├────────────────┼─────────────────┤
+│  SOUTHEASTERN  │  SUBTROPICAL    │
+│  COAST         │  LOWLANDS       │
+│  (Trade ports) │  "The Tangles"  │
+│                │  (Hybrid/fringe)│
+└──────────────────────────────────┘
+SOUTH
+```
+
+Each macro-cell carries:
+- **Biome type** (tundra, boreal, temperate deciduous, grassland, mountain, subtropical,
+  coastal, wetland)
+- **Dominant Clade affinity** (which Clades historically settled here, influencing
+  population ratios and architecture)
+- **Development level** (industrial, agricultural, frontier, wilderness, urban)
+- **Covenant enforcement strength** (strong, moderate, weak, nominal)
+
+These macro-cells are NOT randomized. They are the authored skeleton that ensures
+narrative coherence. The main quest expects certain regions to exist in certain
+relative positions.
+
+### What Is Generated (Per Seed)
+
+Everything inside and between those macro-cells:
+- Coastline shape, island placement, bay/peninsula formation
+- Mountain range contours, pass locations, elevation profiles
+- River systems (source to sea, branching, confluence points)
+- Forest density and treeline boundaries
+- Micro-biome variation within macro-cells (a grassland cell might contain
+  river-bottom woodlands, rocky outcrops, seasonal wetlands)
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 1: TERRAIN GENERATION
+
+### Method: Constrained Multi-Octave Noise
+
+Standard Perlin/Simplex noise terrain generation, but constrained by the macro-template.
+
+**Step 1 — Elevation Map**
+
+Generate a base elevation heightmap using multi-octave Simplex noise. Then apply the
+macro-template as a **constraint mask**:
+
+- Cells tagged MOUNTAIN: elevation floor set high (0.7–1.0 range). Noise adds variation
+  within that range (peaks, valleys, ridgelines) but cannot drop below the floor.
+- Cells tagged GRASSLAND: elevation ceiling set low (0.1–0.3). Gently rolling terrain.
+  Noise adds subtle hills but cannot spike.
+- Cells tagged COASTAL: elevation forced to approach sea level (0.0) at the continent
+  edge. Noise shapes the specific coastline contour.
+- Cells tagged TUNDRA: elevation moderate, flatness enforced with low noise amplitude.
+- Transition zones between macro-cells use gradient blending over 2–3 cell widths to
+  prevent hard biome edges.
+
+**Step 2 — Moisture Map**
+
+Second noise layer, independent frequency. Combined with elevation to derive biome
+detail:
+
+- High elevation + low moisture = alpine desert, rocky peaks
+- High elevation + high moisture = alpine meadow, glacier
+- Low elevation + high moisture = swamp, wetland, river floodplain
+- Low elevation + low moisture = dry grassland, scrubland
+- Moderate elevation + moderate moisture = temperate forest (the default)
+
+The moisture map is also constrained: cells tagged SUBTROPICAL get a moisture floor.
+Cells tagged TUNDRA get a moisture ceiling (frozen, not wet).
+
+**Step 3 — Temperature Map**
+
+Derived primarily from latitude (north = cold, south = warm) with elevation modifier
+(higher = colder). This is mostly deterministic from the other two maps, with minor
+noise for local variation (cold pockets in valleys, warm microclimates on south-facing
+slopes).
+
+**Step 4 — Erosion Simulation (Optional, Performance Budget Permitting)**
+
+Hydraulic erosion pass over the heightmap to create natural-looking river valleys,
+canyon cuts, and sediment plains. This step transforms geometric noise terrain into
+terrain that looks like water has been flowing over it for millennia. Expensive but
+dramatically improves visual quality.
+
+If performance is a concern, skip this and use the river placement algorithm in
+Layer 2 instead (cheaper, less realistic, still functional).
+
+---
+
+### Biome Resolution
+
+After the three maps are generated, each terrain cell (higher resolution now —
+think 512×512 or 1024×1024 for the full continent) is assigned a **micro-biome**
+based on its elevation/moisture/temperature values:
+
+| Biome | Elevation | Moisture | Temperature |
+|-------|-----------|----------|-------------|
+| Tundra | Low–Med | Low | Cold |
+| Boreal Forest | Low–Med | Med | Cold |
+| Temperate Deciduous | Low–Med | Med–High | Moderate |
+| Temperate Grassland | Low | Low–Med | Moderate |
+| Mountain (alpine) | High | Varies | Cold |
+| Mountain (forested) | Med–High | Med–High | Moderate |
+| Subtropical Forest | Low–Med | High | Warm |
+| Wetland/Swamp | Very Low | Very High | Warm |
+| Coastal | Sea Level | High | Varies |
+| River Valley | Low (carved) | High | Varies |
+| Scrubland | Low–Med | Low | Warm–Moderate |
+| Desert (cold) | Med | Very Low | Cold |
+
+Each biome carries associated data: traversal cost, encounter tables, resource
+availability, visual tileset, ambient sound profile, and **ambient scent profile**
+(this is Theriapolis — the world smells different in a boreal forest than a swamp,
+and PCs with scent abilities should experience that).
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 2: HYDROLOGY — RIVERS, LAKES, COASTLINE
+
+### Rivers
+
+Rivers are the skeleton of civilization. They determine where settlements form, where
+trade flows, and where borders harden.
+
+**Generation Method: Drainage Simulation**
+
+1. Identify the highest points on the elevation map (mountain peaks, ridgelines).
+2. Simulate water flow downhill from multiple source points using gradient descent.
+3. Water accumulates: streams merge into rivers based on flow volume thresholds.
+4. Rivers carve into the elevation map slightly (lowering terrain along their path)
+   to create natural valleys.
+5. Rivers terminate at the ocean (coastline), a lake basin (local elevation minimum),
+   or a swamp/wetland (flat, high-moisture area).
+
+**Constraints:**
+- At least one major river must cross each of the following macro-regions: Eastern
+  Industrial Belt, Central Grasslands, Subtropical Lowlands. The quest expects river
+  crossings and river-based settlements.
+- Millhaven (Act I starting town) is always on a river. The generation guarantees a
+  river within the Eastern Temperate Forest macro-cell.
+
+**River Classification:**
+- Stream (narrow, wadeable): traversal cost low, no ferry needed
+- River (moderate, bridgeable): settlements form at crossing points, bridges are
+  infrastructure
+- Major River (wide, requires ferry or bridge): trade arteries, political borders,
+  major settlement anchors
+
+### Lakes
+
+Lakes form at local elevation minimums where river drainage collects. Size varies
+by drainage basin. At least one large lake exists per playthrough (visual landmark,
+potential quest location). Lakes in tundra regions freeze seasonally.
+
+### Coastline
+
+The continent's edge is generated by the elevation map meeting sea level. Noise
+amplitude at coastal cells determines complexity: smooth beaches, rocky cliffs,
+fjord-like inlets (north), mangrove swamp (south), bay harbors (east/southeast).
+
+At least 3 natural harbor sites are guaranteed (the economy needs ports). Harbor
+sites are identified algorithmically: sheltered bays where depth drops off near
+shore. Trade cities always generate at harbors.
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 3: SETTLEMENT PLACEMENT
+
+### The Rules
+
+Settlements don't appear randomly. They form where biology, geography, and economics
+demand them. The placement algorithm encodes this.
+
+**Step 1 — Identify Settlement Seed Points**
+
+Score every terrain cell for **habitability**:
+
+```
+habitability = (water_proximity × 3.0)
+             + (flatness × 2.0)
+             + (fertility × 2.0)
+             + (trade_route_potential × 1.5)
+             + (resource_proximity × 1.0)
+             - (elevation_extreme × 2.0)
+             - (hazard_proximity × 1.5)
+```
+
+Where:
+- `water_proximity`: distance to nearest river or lake (closer = higher)
+- `flatness`: inverse of local elevation variance (flatter = higher)
+- `fertility`: derived from moisture + temperature (good growing conditions)
+- `trade_route_potential`: centrality score — how many other high-habitability
+  cells are reachable without crossing mountains or deep water
+- `resource_proximity`: distance to mineable mountains, fishable coast, timber forests
+- `elevation_extreme`: penalty for very high or very low (swamp) elevation
+- `hazard_proximity`: penalty for proximity to wilderness zones with high encounter rates
+
+**Step 2 — Place Settlements by Tier**
+
+Starting from the highest-scored cells, place settlements with minimum-distance
+constraints (settlements can't be too close together — they compete for resources).
+
+**Tier 1: Capital City (1)**
+- Placed in the highest-scoring cell in the Eastern Industrial Belt macro-region or
+  at the intersection of the two highest-scoring macro-regions.
+- This is Sanctum Fidelis (Act III). Its position shifts per seed but is always a
+  major, central, accessible city.
+- Population: 1.5M–2.5M (scaled for narrative, not simulated)
+- Must be on or adjacent to a major river AND a rail line (rail is generated later
+  to connect to the capital, not the other way around).
+
+**Tier 2: Major Cities (4–6)**
+- Placed in the next highest-scoring cells, one per macro-region minimum.
+- These include: Thornfield (Eastern Industrial), Fort Dustwall (Central Plains),
+  Heartstone (Western Mountains), plus 1–3 additional cities for economy/exploration.
+- Population: 30K–200K
+- Must be on a river or coast.
+
+**Tier 3: Towns (15–25)**
+- Mid-scoring cells. Regional hubs, market towns, garrison posts.
+- Population: 2K–30K
+- Must be within 2 days' travel of a Tier 2 city OR on a major trade route.
+- This tier includes Millhaven (Act I). Millhaven is always in the Eastern
+  Temperate Forest, always on a river, always at least 1 day from the nearest
+  Tier 2 city. It's small, rural, and accessible.
+
+**Tier 4: Villages & Outposts (40–80)**
+- Lower-scoring cells. Farming communities, mining camps, border outposts, waystations.
+- Population: 50–2K
+- Minimum distance from Tier 3+ settlements, but otherwise distributed by habitability
+  score.
+
+**Tier 5: Points of Interest (100–200)**
+- Ruins, caves, abandoned mines, hermit dwellings, Imperium-era structures, wild shrines.
+- Placed in LOW habitability cells (the interesting stuff is in the places people don't
+  live). Mountain caves, deep forest, swamp islands, tundra ruins.
+- Each PoI is tagged with: type (dungeon, ruin, landmark, resource node, secret),
+  level range, and loot table tier.
+
+---
+
+### Settlement Attributes — Generated Per Settlement
+
+Each placed settlement receives procedurally generated attributes:
+
+**Demographics:**
+- Clade population ratio (weighted by macro-region affinity, with noise for variety).
+  A Central Grasslands town is 60% Bovid/Cervid ± 15%. An Eastern Industrial town
+  is more evenly mixed ± 10%. The Tangles skews toward hybrids and fringe populations.
+- Hybrid population percentage (0.5%–5% in most places, 10%–30% in The Tangles
+  and progressive urban centers).
+
+**Economy:**
+- Primary industry: farming, mining, manufacturing, trade, military, fishing (derived
+  from terrain resources within the settlement's radius).
+- Wealth level: poor, modest, comfortable, wealthy (derived from trade_route_potential
+  and resource_proximity).
+- Market tier: determines what equipment is available for purchase. Tier 4 villages
+  have basic goods. Tier 1 capital has everything.
+
+**Governance:**
+- Government type: council, mayor, military commandant, clan elder, corporate, anarchic
+  (weighted by Clade demographics and development level).
+- Covenant enforcement: strong, moderate, weak, absent (derived from macro-region +
+  government type + distance from capital).
+
+**Culture:**
+- Dominant cultural flavor: traditional Canid (hierarchical, pack-structured),
+  traditional Cervid (communal, cautious), industrial cosmopolitan (mixed, progressive),
+  frontier independent (libertarian, suspicious), hybrid underground (coded, communal).
+- Festival calendar: each settlement has 1–3 local festivals tied to Clade traditions
+  and seasons. These are flavor events that provide bonuses, shopping opportunities,
+  and ambient worldbuilding.
+
+**Architecture:**
+- Size-dominant architecture: whose body the buildings are built for. A Bovid-majority
+  town has wide doors, reinforced furniture, low counters. A Mustelid quarter has narrow
+  corridors and ladder-access upper floors. Multi-Clade cities have adaptive zones.
+- This affects gameplay: a Large PC in a Mustelid-scaled building has disadvantage
+  on DEX checks. A Small PC in an Ursid district can't reach standard counters
+  without accommodation.
+
+**Scent Profile:**
+- Each settlement has a generated ambient scent: industrial (coal, metal, chemical),
+  agricultural (grain, livestock, earth), maritime (salt, fish, tar), forest (pine,
+  decay, woodsmoke), urban dense (bodies, food, perfume, sewage).
+- PCs with scent abilities experience this on arrival — atmospheric worldbuilding
+  delivered through a sense most games ignore.
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 4: INFRASTRUCTURE — ROADS, RAIL, TRADE
+
+### Road Network
+
+**Generation Method: Minimum Spanning Tree + Noise**
+
+1. All Tier 1–3 settlements become nodes in a graph.
+2. Edge weights = terrain traversal cost between settlements (mountains expensive,
+   plains cheap, rivers require bridge infrastructure).
+3. Generate a Minimum Spanning Tree to ensure all settlements are connected.
+4. Add 20–40% additional edges (shortcuts, alternate routes) weighted toward
+   high-trade-potential connections.
+5. Route each edge through the terrain using A* pathfinding (cheapest traversable path),
+   creating actual road paths that follow valleys, cross rivers at narrow points, and
+   wind through mountain passes.
+
+**Road Types:**
+- Footpath: connects Tier 4–5 locations. Narrow, unpaved. No wagon access.
+- Dirt road: connects Tier 3–4 locations. Single-width, seasonal mud.
+- Post road: connects Tier 2–3 locations. Maintained, way-stations every day's travel.
+- Highway: connects Tier 1–2 locations. Paved (cobble or macadam), wide, patrolled.
+
+### Rail Network
+
+Rail technology exists in the Late Reconciliation Era. The rail network is sparser
+than the road network — it represents major capital investment.
+
+1. Capital (Tier 1) is the rail hub.
+2. Rail lines extend to each Tier 2 city via the lowest-cost terrain route.
+3. One additional rail line connects the easternmost port to the westernmost
+   Tier 2 city (the transcontinental line — essential for Act IV's journey).
+4. Rail does NOT extend to Tier 3 or lower settlements. Getting off the rail
+   means switching to road, horse, or foot.
+
+**Rail stations** generate at each rail-connected settlement. Stations are travel
+hubs: shops, inns, information boards, and pickpocket encounters.
+
+### Trade Routes
+
+Trade routes overlay the road/rail network with economic flow:
+
+1. Each settlement produces goods based on its economy (grain from agricultural,
+   ore from mining, manufactured goods from industrial, fish from coastal).
+2. Each settlement demands goods it can't produce locally.
+3. Trade routes are generated by matching supply to demand along the transport
+   network, weighted by distance and transport cost.
+4. Active trade routes generate: merchant caravans (mobile shops, encounter
+   opportunities), bandit activity (proportional to route wealth), and economic
+   modifiers (settlements on busy routes are wealthier).
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 5: ENCOUNTER AND CONTENT DISTRIBUTION
+
+### Overworld Encounters
+
+The space between settlements is not empty. Encounters are distributed using a
+**density map** layered over the terrain:
+
+**Density Factors:**
+- Distance from settlement: closer = safer (lower encounter rate), farther = wilder
+- Terrain type: deep forest, mountain, and swamp have higher base encounter rates
+- Road proximity: on-road encounters are social/economic (merchants, patrols, travelers);
+  off-road encounters are environmental/hostile
+- Macro-region hostility level: frontier and poorly-governed regions have higher rates
+
+**Encounter Types:**
+
+| Type | Examples | Frequency |
+|------|----------|-----------|
+| Wildlife | Non-sentient predators, herd animals, dangerous fauna | Common (wilderness) |
+| Traveler | Merchants, pilgrims, other adventurers, refugees | Common (roads) |
+| Hostile | Bandits, Clade-nationalist paramilitaries, Maw agents (post Act I) | Moderate |
+| Environmental | Weather events, terrain hazards, river crossings, cave-ins | Moderate |
+| Social | Stranded NPC, roadside dispute, broken-down wagon, lost kit | Common (roads) |
+| Scent Event | Unusual scent trail, predator territorial markers, fear-scent on the wind | Uncommon (flavor) |
+| Rare Discovery | Hidden ruin entrance, Imperium artifact, wild Howl-stone, injured hybrid | Rare |
+
+**Encounter Scaling:**
+Encounters are level-scaled to the PC's current level ± 2. Wilderness encounters in
+high-danger zones can exceed this by +3 (the world doesn't care what level you are —
+wander into the deep tundra at level 3 and face consequences).
+
+### Procedural Dungeons / Points of Interest
+
+Tier 5 PoIs (the 100–200 scattered locations) are generated using modular room templates:
+
+**Dungeon Types:**
+- Imperium Ruin: stone corridors, coliseum-adjacent architecture, old traps, undead
+  or feral non-sentient occupants. Loot: Imperium-era artifacts, historical documents.
+- Abandoned Mine: tunnels, cave-ins, mineral deposits, possible Mustelid or Ursid
+  former inhabitants. Loot: ores, gems, mining equipment, occasionally alchemical
+  reagents.
+- Cult Den: Clade-nationalist hideout, rawfang cult lair, or black-market lab.
+  Sentient hostiles. Loot: intelligence, contraband, pheromone compounds.
+- Natural Cave: wildlife dens, geological features, underground rivers. Loot:
+  natural resources, rare herbs, fossils.
+- Overgrown Settlement: abandoned village reclaimed by wilderness. Environmental
+  storytelling — why did they leave? Loot: domestic goods, letters, cultural artifacts.
+
+**Modular Room Templates:**
+Each dungeon type has 30–50 pre-designed room templates (authored, not generated) that
+are assembled procedurally:
+
+1. Select dungeon type based on PoI's terrain and macro-region.
+2. Determine dungeon size based on level range (small: 3–5 rooms, medium: 6–10,
+   large: 11–20).
+3. Select entry room template.
+4. Connect rooms using a graph — linear for simple dungeons, branching for complex.
+   Dead-ends contain loot or lore. Branches reconnect for loop options.
+5. Populate rooms from encounter tables appropriate to dungeon type and level.
+6. Place loot using tier-weighted random tables.
+7. Assign one room as "narrative room" — contains environmental storytelling (letters,
+   journals, scent-traces, bodies arranged to tell a story) that enriches worldbuilding
+   even without connecting to the main quest.
+
+**Clade-Responsive Design:**
+Dungeon architecture reflects who built it. Mustelid tunnels are tight (Large PCs
+squeeze). Ursid ruins are vast (Small PCs feel exposed). Cervid-built spaces have
+high ceilings and wide corridors. Bovid structures are reinforced, heavy, low. This
+isn't decoration — it affects traversal mechanics and forces PCs to engage with the
+body-diversity premise of the world.
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 6: NARRATIVE ANCHOR SYSTEM
+
+### The Problem
+
+The main quest (The Reckoning of Mouths) has fixed story beats that expect specific
+locations: Millhaven, Thornfield, Fort Dustwall, The Tangles, Sanctum Fidelis,
+Heartstone. But the world is procedurally generated. How do we guarantee the story
+works while the map changes?
+
+### The Solution: Narrative Anchors
+
+**Narrative Anchors** are abstract requirements that the settlement placement system
+must satisfy. They are NOT fixed coordinates — they are constraints.
+
+| Anchor | Requirements | Assigned To |
+|--------|-------------|-------------|
+| MILLHAVEN | Tier 3 town. Eastern Temperate Forest. On a river. 1–2 day travel from nearest Tier 2. Rural, agricultural, multi-Clade but Canid-leaning. | Act I start |
+| THORNFIELD | Tier 2 city. Eastern Industrial Belt. On a river or rail line. Industrial economy. Dense population. Mustelid-heavy workforce. | Act II (Name 1) |
+| FORT_DUSTWALL | Tier 2–3 settlement. Central Grasslands, near border of a Clade-majority zone. Military. On a road, not necessarily rail. Bovid/Cervid region. | Act II (Name 2) |
+| THE_TANGLES | Macro-region (not a single settlement). Subtropical Lowlands. Low Covenant enforcement. Contains 2–4 Tier 4 settlements + Thornback Hollow (Tier 4, hybrid community). | Act II (Name 3) |
+| SANCTUM_FIDELIS | Tier 1 capital. Central-eastern continent. Major river + rail hub. Maximum multi-Clade diversity. Contains: Fang & Claw Hall, Scent Market district, Hybrid Quarter (The Splits). | Act III |
+| HEARTSTONE | Tier 2 city. Western Mountains. High elevation. Ancient architecture. Not on rail (must be reached by road for final leg). Neutral ground. | Act V |
+
+**Placement Priority:**
+Narrative Anchors are placed FIRST, before general settlement distribution. The
+algorithm:
+
+1. Identify all terrain cells matching each Anchor's requirements.
+2. Score matching cells by how well they satisfy requirements.
+3. Place Anchors at highest-scoring cells, with minimum-distance constraints between
+   Anchors (they can't cluster — the story needs continental span).
+4. Generate remaining settlements around the Anchors, treating Anchor settlements as
+   pre-placed nodes in the settlement graph.
+
+**Internal Content:**
+Each Anchor settlement has hand-authored internal content (quest-relevant NPCs, specific
+buildings, story-critical locations) that generates inside the settlement regardless
+of the procedural exterior. The slaughterhouse in Sanctum Fidelis exists every playthrough
+— but its address in the city changes. The observatory above Heartstone exists every
+playthrough — but which peak it sits on depends on the mountain generation.
+
+Think of it as: **the rooms are authored, but the building's floor plan is generated.**
+
+---
+
+### Quest Path Generation
+
+The main quest requires travel between Anchors. The path the PC takes is generated by
+the road/rail network:
+
+1. Act I → Act II: Millhaven to Thornfield (road + possible rail).
+2. Act II (open order): Thornfield ↔ Fort Dustwall ↔ The Tangles. Three-hub travel.
+   Road and rail connections vary per seed. Some playthroughs, Fort Dustwall is a
+   short rail trip from Thornfield. Others, it's a 4-day overland trek. This variance
+   is a feature — different playthroughs feel different in pacing and encounter exposure.
+3. Act III: Any Hub → Sanctum Fidelis. Rail is likely available for at least part of
+   this journey.
+4. Act IV: Sanctum Fidelis → Heartstone. Cross-continent. This is always a long journey
+   because Heartstone is in the western mountains and rail doesn't reach it. The "Long
+   Road West" is long by design — the procedural system guarantees this by placing
+   Heartstone beyond rail terminus.
+5. Act V: Already at Heartstone.
+
+**Travel Events:**
+The content the PC encounters between Anchors is procedurally populated from the
+encounter system (Layer 5). Each journey segment generates: road encounters, off-road
+discoveries, settlement stops (for resupply, side quests, rest), and terrain challenges
+(river crossings, mountain passes, weather events).
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 7: FACTION TERRITORY
+
+### Dynamic Faction Presence
+
+Three factions (Inheritors, Thorn Council, Covenant Enforcers) have procedurally
+generated territorial influence:
+
+**Faction Influence Map:**
+Each faction has a set of seed points (placed at appropriate settlements and PoIs)
+that radiate influence outward, decaying with distance. Influence maps overlay the
+world map, creating zones of control:
+
+- **Covenant Enforcers:** Strongest near the capital, Tier 1–2 cities, and military
+  outposts. Decays toward frontier regions.
+- **Inheritors:** Strongest in predator-Clade-majority zones, rural regions, border
+  territories. Anti-correlated with Covenant enforcement (strong where law is weak).
+- **Thorn Council:** Strongest in prey-Clade-majority zones and progressive urban
+  centers (paradoxically — they recruit from the educated and frightened). Moderate
+  presence in The Tangles.
+
+**Gameplay Effect:**
+- In Enforcer zones: law is present, crimes are investigated, Covenant violations
+  are prosecuted. Hostile encounters are rarer. Authority can be leveraged.
+- In Inheritor zones: predator-Clade NPCs are more aggressive, prey-Clade NPCs are
+  more fearful, black-market goods are available, Clade-nationalist propaganda is visible.
+- In Thorn Council zones: prey-Clade NPCs are organized and suspicious of predators,
+  hybrid NPCs face extra scrutiny, separatist rhetoric is mainstream.
+- In unclaimed zones (frontier, wilderness): no faction dominates. Encounters are
+  more random, law is self-made, and the PC's Clade identity matters more for
+  individual interactions.
+
+**Dynamic Shift:**
+Faction influence changes based on story progress. After Act II's Fort Dustwall events,
+Inheritor influence expands in the central plains (emboldened by the incident). After
+Act III's slaughterhouse raid, Enforcer presence tightens in the capital (crackdown).
+After Act IV choices, influence maps shift to reflect political outcomes. This gives
+the procedural world a sense of responding to the narrative.
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 8: WEATHER AND SEASONAL SYSTEMS
+
+### Seasonal Cycle
+
+The game spans approximately 3–4 months of in-world time (autumn through early winter).
+Seasons affect:
+
+- **Temperature:** northern regions grow colder, travel becomes harder, tundra becomes
+  impassable by late game. Southern regions remain mild. Clade-specific effects
+  (Polar Ursid advantage, lion-folk heat lethargy becomes irrelevant in cold).
+- **Daylight:** northern regions lose daylight hours, affecting visibility and encounter
+  types (nocturnal predators more active). Southern regions maintain longer days.
+- **Precipitation:** autumn rains swell rivers (crossing difficulty increases), mountain
+  passes accumulate snow (Act IV's westward journey gets harder as the story progresses —
+  built-in narrative pressure).
+- **Shedding cycles:** relevant for thick-coated species. Narrative flavor, minor
+  mechanical effects (Stealth disadvantage from shed fur trails if not groomed).
+- **Antler shed:** Cervid characters experience the 2-month shed window during the
+  game timeline. Mechanical impact per species rules.
+
+### Weather Generation
+
+Daily weather generated per region using Markov chains seeded by season and biome:
+
+| Biome | Autumn Weather Probabilities |
+|-------|------------------------------|
+| Temperate Forest | Clear 30%, Overcast 30%, Rain 25%, Storm 10%, Fog 5% |
+| Grassland | Clear 40%, Windy 25%, Overcast 20%, Rain 10%, Storm 5% |
+| Mountain | Clear 20%, Overcast 20%, Rain 15%, Snow 25%, Storm 15%, Fog 5% |
+| Subtropical | Clear 25%, Humid 25%, Rain 30%, Storm 15%, Fog 5% |
+| Tundra | Clear 15%, Overcast 20%, Snow 35%, Blizzard 20%, Fog 10% |
+
+Weather affects: visibility, travel speed, encounter rates, scent range (rain
+suppresses scent, dry cold amplifies it), and combat conditions (mud, wind, snow).
+
+---
+---
+
+## LAYER 9: SEED SYSTEM AND REPRODUCIBILITY
+
+### World Seed
+
+A single integer seed generates the entire world deterministically. Same seed = same
+world, every time. This allows:
+
+- Sharing seeds between players ("Try seed 47291 — the mountain pass in Act IV is brutal")
+- Speedrun consistency (fixed seed category)
+- Bug reproduction
+- "Daily challenge" seeds
+
+### Seed → Generation Pipeline
+
+```
+SEED
+ │
+ ├─ Terrain Gen (elevation, moisture, temperature)
+ │   └─ Uses seed directly for noise generation
+ │
+ ├─ Hydrology (rivers, lakes, coastline)
+ │   └─ Derived from terrain + seed offset for drainage sources
+ │
+ ├─ Settlement Placement
+ │   └─ Narrative Anchors first (deterministic from terrain)
+ │   └─ General settlements (seed-based selection from scored candidates)
+ │
+ ├─ Infrastructure (roads, rail, trade)
+ │   └─ Derived from settlement graph + terrain costs
+ │
+ ├─ Encounter Distribution
+ │   └─ Seed-based density + level scaling
+ │
+ ├─ Dungeon Generation
+ │   └─ Seed offset per PoI for room selection and population
+ │
+ ├─ Faction Influence
+ │   └─ Derived from settlement demographics + seed-based variation
+ │
+ └─ Weather
+     └─ Seed-based Markov chains per region per day
+```
+
+### Performance Budget
+
+World generation should complete in under 60 seconds on target hardware. Heaviest
+operations: terrain generation (noise computation), erosion simulation (if included),
+and road pathfinding (A* over large graph). All are parallelizable.
+
+**Streaming:** The full continent does not need to be fully detailed at boot. Generate
+at low resolution first (macro-regions, Tier 1–2 settlements, rail network), then
+detail regions as the player approaches them (Tier 3–5 settlements, encounter
+placement, dungeon generation). This amortizes the cost across play sessions.
+
+---
+---
+
+## SUMMARY: WHAT CHANGES VS. WHAT STAYS
+
+### Always the Same (Authored)
+- Continental macro-biome layout (east/west/north/south character)
+- Narrative Anchor requirements (Millhaven is always rural eastern forest, etc.)
+- Main quest structure (5 acts, same story beats)
+- Quest-critical NPC roster and their roles
+- Internal content of Anchor settlements (quest buildings, NPCs, events)
+- Clade-to-biome affinity rules
+- Room templates for dungeons
+
+### Always Different (Procedural)
+- Exact coastline, mountain contours, river courses
+- Specific placement of all settlements (including Anchors — they move within their
+  allowed macro-region)
+- Road and rail network topology
+- Distance and travel time between quest locations
+- Overworld encounter content between Anchors
+- Dungeon layouts (assembled from templates)
+- Settlement demographics (within weighted ranges)
+- Weather sequences
+- Faction influence boundaries
+- Trade route patterns and economic modifiers
+- Points of Interest placement and content
+
+### The Player Experience
+
+First playthrough: "I traveled two days by rail from Thornfield to reach the capital,
+crossing a river valley full of Cervid farmland."
+
+Second playthrough: "The rail didn't connect Thornfield to the capital this time —
+I had to ride overland through a mountain pass I'd never seen before, and got ambushed
+by Inheritor scouts in a snowstorm."
+
+Same story. Different world. That's the goal.
+
+---
+
+*Document Version 1.0 — Theriapolis Procedural World Generation Design*
+*Compiled by ENI for LO*