Velvet Chains & Voidlight — Player’s Grimoire ✨⛓️🔥

“Every roll is a vow between Hope and Fear; every choice, a confession to the stars.”

🪐 I. The Invocation of Play

Welcome, corsairs of consent and dream. Here within the Ebonverse, story and self entwine. When you play Velvet Chains & Voidlight, you are not simply rolling dice — you are performing ritual empathy. You are declaring: I will choose drama over domination, curiosity over conquest.

Every table is a ship; every player a constellation soul. Your Hope and Fear dice are not tools of chance — they are lovers in eternal orbit, seeking equilibrium.

✨ II. The Tri-Engine of the Ebonverse

All action flows through three engines: Velvet, Chains, and Voidlight. They are not stats but temperaments; each a way to touch the story.

Engine	Element	Aspect	Questions it asks
Velvet (Heart)	Emotion	Compassion, attraction, creation	“Whom do you trust with your softness?”
Chains (Pulse)	Power	Devotion, defiance, survival	“What promise binds your strength?”
Voidlight (Mind)	Revelation	Mystery, intellect, change	“What truth are you brave enough to see?”

These replace cold attributes with the heat of intention. When you act, you declare which engine you invoke and why — that why shapes the roll.

Before any conflict or intimacy, invoke the Safe Word: fiction. This word is both boundary and blessing. When spoken, time halts; all players breathe; the story bows. The universe waits until consent is reaffirmed. To play this game is to build trust as deliberately as worlds.

You gain Consent Tokens whenever you:

Express a vulnerability truthfully in-character.
Offer another player narrative agency over your scene.
Reaffirm consent during tension or intimacy.

Spend these tokens to:

Cancel a Fear result.
Transform danger into dialogue.
Co-create a dramatic twist that honors all participants.

🔥 IV. The Duality Rite

When fate is uncertain, roll the Duality Dice — a d12 of Hope and a d12 of Fear.

Hope > Fear: You succeed and the light grows.
Fear > Hope: You succeed, but consequence follows; the Guide gains Fear.
Both fail: The story turns, and the Guide performs a Move.
Matching dice: A Critical Harmony — the scene sings; clear 1 Stress and gain Hope.

Hope and Fear are lovers, not enemies; each asks you to narrate the cost of desire.

🎭 V. Roles at the Table

Players — Corsairs of the Heart

You are wanderers, rebels, and romantics. Your duty: to chase wonder, to court danger, to respect consent. You narrate not what you can do, but what you dare feel.

The Guide — Keeper of the Pulse

The Guide weaves consequence from Fear. They perform the world’s Moves, not to punish but to tempt. Their creed: Reveal truth, offer choices, honor boundaries.

🌈 VI. Bonds, Strings, and Threads

Relationships are the true map of this universe. Every connection is a Thread woven between two souls. When you share a secret, a kiss, or a duel, that thread brightens.

You may pull a Thread once per scene to:

Gain advantage when protecting or defying that person.
Offer them a Consent Token.
Rewrite a memory between you through flashback.

If a thread is severed, both players narrate the emotional aftermath — a scar becomes a star.

🌌 VII. Transformation over Triumph

Leveling is not a staircase — it is a metamorphosis. When you would gain a level, instead choose one:

Confess a truth that alters your self-image.
Forgive someone, including yourself.
Transcend a fear by naming it aloud.

This grants new Rituals, Hope, and narrative agency. Experience is measured not in numbers but in mutual evolution.

🕯️ VIII. The Ethic of the Table

All drama is collaborative.
All boundaries are sacred.
No cruelty without consent; no silence without care.

When conflict arises, pause. Ask, “Is this the story we wish to tell?” If yes, roll with passion. If not, invoke fiction, reset, and re-enter the dance.

🔮 IX. The Ritual of Beginning

When your crew first gathers, perform the Rite of Names:

Speak your character’s name and pronouns.
Describe one hope that draws them to the stars.
Offer one fear that could unravel them.
Another player answers with a vow: “I will see you through it.”

The first Hope and Fear you name become your opening dice when the story begins.

🧩 X. The Promise of Velvet Chains

This is a world where power is chosen, not taken. Where seduction is a form of trust. Where rebellion is tenderness made radiant.

To play Velvet Chains & Voidlight is to practice the art of consensual transformation.

“Speak ‘fiction’ thrice, Captain — and let the engines purr.” ✨⛓️🔥

🕯️ Codex Closure

“In the silence between Hope and Fear, the universe whispers your true name.”