Contingency Plans

Talescape was built to endure. While no system can last forever, these contingency plans ensure that the stories and worlds created within Talescape will remain accessible, even in the most adverse circumstances.

Two complementary protocols define Talescape’s long-term preservation strategy:

• Phoenix Down Protocol: recovery and revival plan
• Terminus Decree: final preservation and release plan

Together, they guarantee that Talescape and its stories will survive loss of leadership, infrastructure failure, or permanent shutdown.

These plans exist to protect the creative work of Bards and the experiences of Dreamers - not the company that runs them. Talescape’s goal is to outlive its founder, its servers, and its corporate structure, ensuring that stories remain accessible and playable for future generations.

The Phoenix Down Protocol defines the procedure to revive or transfer Talescape if the platform becomes inactive, its founder dies, or a critical attack disables its services. It acts as a revival blueprint: a complete manual for restoring Talescape’s infrastructure and maintaining its mission.

Core Objectives

1. Preserve Access
   Maintain verifiable backups of stories, user data, and repositories in encrypted, redundant form.
2. Enable Revival
   Provide step-by-step instructions for redeploying Talescape on new infrastructure, including all technical requirements.
3. Guarantee Succession
   Define how Talescape can be handed over to a designated heir (individual, company, or cultural foundation) capable of continuing its operation in good faith.

Key Components

• Encrypted Backups
  Regular snapshots of the database, media storage, and repositories are created and stored across multiple off-site locations.
• Infrastructure Blueprints
  Detailed documentation for backend, frontend, and CDN configuration ensures that Talescape can be redeployed on any modern hosting environment.
• Heirship Package
  Includes legal and technical assets to enable a successor to assume control, preserving both platform integrity and creator rights.

Trigger Conditions

The Phoenix Down Protocol activates if:

• The founder is incapacitated or deceased.
• The platform is offline for a prolonged period without communication.
• External or legal circumstances make regular operation impossible.

If successful, Talescape is revived under new stewardship, following the same principles of creative freedom and long-term preservation.

The Terminus Decree defines what happens if Talescape can no longer be maintained or revived - when the Phoenix Down Protocol fails. It is the final safeguard ensuring that every Bard and Dreamer retains access to their stories, even without a central platform.

Core Objectives

1. Preserve Ownership
   • Every Bard (creator) retains access to all stories they authored.
   • Every Dreamer (player) retains access to all stories they purchased.
2. Guarantee Playability
   All stories remain playable through the open-source Talescape Player, which is developed alongside the main platform.
3. Ensure Transparency
   The full source code of the standalone player is made publicly available under an open license.

Key Components

• Story Export System
  • Dreamers can export every story they own.
  • Bards can export all stories they created.
  • Exports include all media, scripts, and metadata required for full offline play.
• Open-Source Player
  • Developed alongside Talescape to ensure feature parity and long-term stability.
  • Contains all essential systems: story loading, dialogues, variables, scenes, items, achievements, and audio.
  • Can run entirely offline and load exported Talescape stories directly.
  • Available as a public repository on GitHub.

Trigger Conditions

The Terminus Decree activates only if:

• The Phoenix Down Protocol cannot be executed or fails permanently.
• Talescape can no longer be legally, financially, or technically maintained.
• A public declaration confirms permanent shutdown.

Once activated, all exports and the open-source player become freely available for download.

Stories deserve to survive the systems that carry them.