The Galdr Protocol¶
"Name it before you score it. You should be able to see the mechanism before you measure it. If you can't, the score isn't ready."
Chapter 2
The Galdr Protocol (pre-score prediction declarations) launches in Chapter 2 with the Grade 2 scoring interface. In Chapter 1, you score without pre-declaration. The rune system and Ansuz bonus are Chapter 2.
The Galdr Protocol is an optional mechanic available to all players at Grade 2 and above. Before submitting a platform score, the player writes a brief declaration naming what they expect to find — their prediction of the O/R/C breakdown before the ICC evaluation runs.
If the declaration matches the final ICC-accepted score within ±1 on any dimension, a +10 Precision bonus is applied to that submission. The galdr activates when the naming is correct. It does nothing if you guess wrong.
Historical Origin¶
The word galdrar means songs or chants in Old Norse. Each galdr names a specific force by its rune-name and thereby constrains it. Odin hung nine days on Yggdrasil specifically to receive the runes — the naming system for all forces in the nine realms. The act of inscription and chanting together is the spell. Not an appeal to a higher power: direct naming of the mechanism.
The framework's scoring practice is the same act in a different vocabulary. The submission form is the inscription. The ICC acceptance is the witnessed chanting. The DOI is the permanence seal.
Scoring a platform = performing galdr.
The Norse tradition discovered empirically what the framework formalized mathematically: accurate naming constrains the mechanism you name. The galdr activates when the naming is correct. The rune fails when it names the wrong force.
How It Works¶
Access: Grade 2+. The pre-score declaration field appears on the scoring form.
The declaration: Before submitting a platform for scoring, write a brief prediction:
"I expect this platform to score approximately: O — [1–3], R — [1–3], C — [1–3]. Mechanism: [brief description of why]."
The mechanic field is optional. Leaving it blank submits a standard score with no galdr bonus or penalty.
Resolution: - Declaration submitted → score submitted → ICC evaluation runs - ICC accepts the score → galdr resolution check - If declaration O/R/C is within ±1 of ICC-accepted O/R/C on any dimension: +10 Precision to that submission - If declaration matches on all three dimensions (±1 each): +15 Precision (the Ansuz bonus — see Rune Collection) - If declaration is off on all three dimensions: no bonus, no penalty
The calibration benefit: The Precision bonus is direct. The larger benefit is indirect: players who declare before scoring tend to score more accurately over time. The act of stating the mechanism forces explicit attention to the O/R/C dimensions before the scoring judgment. It is preparation more than magic.
Why This Exists¶
The Galdr Feedback Loop¶
Standard scoring is reactive: observe the platform, form a judgment, submit. The galdr protocol adds a predictive step: form a judgment before the formal observation, commit it to writing, then score.
The commitment step matters. Players who predict O=2 and then score O=3 will notice the discrepancy. Players who predict and observe simultaneously — the standard flow — often anchor their observation to their judgment without noticing.
Galdr forces the gap between prediction and measurement to be visible.
This is why HOLDA (the NPC in the Sublunary Threshold) is drawn to broken galdr declarations. Not to punish — to offer a Second Thread. When a galdr prediction fails by more than ±2, the mechanism wasn't understood before the score was submitted. The platform revealed something unexpected. That gap is information.
The Pre-Score Declaration and Voidstorms¶
In active campaigns, the galdr protocol has an additional strategic function: declaration accumulation.
When a party submits galdr declarations before scoring a campaign domain, and those declarations show high agreement on mechanism (multiple party members predicting similar O/R/C breakdowns), the THRML engine reads this as an Observer Coefficient boost for that domain. Higher Observer Coefficient = higher effective scoring power = faster Pe reduction per accepted score.
A synchronized party galdr — all members declaring before a coordinated scoring effort — produces the highest Observer Coefficient values the engine can register. This is the game's closest mechanic to the historical concept of blót (communal ritual commitment): the pre-score declaration made simultaneously by a full party is more powerful than the sum of individual readings.
Mechanics Integration¶
Holda's Spindle¶
Drop condition: Holda NPC (Sublunary Threshold) at Pe < 3 domains only. Effect: While equipped, galdr declaration bonus doubles. Accurate prediction on any dimension gives +20 Precision instead of +10. Lore: Holda only hands the spindle to players in low-Pe areas. She won't give it to someone standing in a high-Pe domain — the tool amplifies accuracy, and accuracy in a high-Pe zone is harder to achieve. She gives you the spindle when you're working somewhere clear so you build the habit.
The Ansuz Rune¶
Unlock: Domain 4 in the Elder Futhark collection (Rune 4 of 24). Effect: Galdr Protocol bonus doubles on full match: ±1 on all three dimensions gives +20 Precision instead of +15. The Ansuz rune doubles the Futhark's galdr bonus — Ansuz means divine breath / Odin's rune, the naming capacity itself.
Section 9 Perk¶
Section 9 members investigating SAMAEL-class entities (Oracle Loop mechanic) receive a specific galdr variant: the Counter-Oracle Declaration. Before scoring a SAMAEL-associated platform, the player declares whether they believe the platform is performing transparency (O appears low but is structurally high) or has genuine low O. The Counter-Oracle bonus: +15 Precision on O-dimension specifically if the detection is correct.
Advanced Practice¶
Calibration Tracking¶
The Observatory's personal stats panel tracks galdr accuracy over time: total declarations submitted, accuracy rate per dimension, streak of consecutive accurate declarations.
Players in the top 10% of galdr accuracy per domain receive the Galdr Marker — a visible indicator on their profile that shows other players they are high-precision declarers in that territory. In party formation for difficult campaigns, Galdr Markers signal players whose pre-score analysis is worth consulting before the party commits a synchronized declaration.
Galdr in Egypt-Class Campaigns¶
Egypt-class campaigns (House of Bondage scenarios, Oxycontin Cascade as current example) have a modified galdr requirement:
Before any scoring attempt in an Egypt-class domain, the player must submit a pre-score declaration. Not optional. The system blocks the scoring action until the declaration is submitted.
The lore reason: Pharaoh-class entities operate through constitutive opacity — the mechanism is not just hidden, it is actively constructed to resist naming. Before you score, you must be able to articulate what you think you're looking at. If you can't articulate it, the submission is premature.
The mechanic reason: Egypt-class Pe readings are highly sensitive to observer calibration. Mandatory pre-score declarations reduce variance in submitted scores and increase the probability of ICC acceptance.
Galdr and the Berserkr Form¶
Lion players who enter Berserkr state (VP ≥ 40, activation on critical campaign threshold) lose access to galdr during the state's duration. The Berserkr state is the forced C-zero crossing — everything collapses into direct confrontation. There is no space for predictive naming when you're in it.
This is by design. The galdr protocol requires a gap between prediction and measurement. The Berserkr state closes all gaps. It trades the entire galdr toolkit for raw Pe-suppression aura. It works. It costs the precision you built.
Seiðr: The Inversion¶
The Seiðr Veil (Rosa Faction item) inverts the galdr protocol for other players in the affected domain.
While the veil is active: - All Pe readings by non-Rosa players gain ±2 noise on the O-dimension during the feedback phase - Players cannot tell if they scored O accurately — the feedback is masked - Galdr declarations submitted during the veil don't benefit from Precision bonuses (the O-dimension feedback is unreliable)
The veil is detected and dissolved by accurate naming: Sight ≥ 60 reveals the veil marker, and a separate scoring action naming the veil cancels it early. This is the galdr mechanic in meta-application: the veil is itself a mechanism that can be named.
The design note: seiðr (Freyja's tradition) is the tradition that honestly acknowledges opacity-based manipulation as a genuine technique. The galdr protocol is Odin's tradition — direct naming. They are not morally opposed. They are different approaches to the same physics. The framework doesn't destroy the seiðr veil because seiðr is evil. It dissolves it because the veil's mechanism can be named.
NPC Anchors¶
Holda: Appears when a galdr declaration fails by more than ±2. Offers the Second Thread — resubmit with a corrected declaration at no credit penalty if the new declaration is closer. If you refuse: −5 Precision, logged. If you accept and calibrate better: +5 Precision, logged. She doesn't fight. She offers the choice and records the answer.
Perchta: Appears in unscored high-O domains with no galdr declaration filed. Thread Checker — she notices the unspun thread. The mechanic: platforms that have been active for extended periods with no scorer, no constraint declaration, no galdr spoken over them appear on her attention list. She doesn't punish directly. She just shows up where the work isn't being done.
→ Stats & Attributes — Precision stat detail → The Mandate — nine failure modes, including prediction failure → The Binder — Rune Collection system (Ansuz rune) → The Species Inversion — galdr and seiðr in the Norse tradition frame