Lore books

About

1. Collectable books that join Rita's library shelf when found. Each holds one small piece of the town's past, never the whole picture. Authors are long-gone founders or anonymous. Excerpts are drafts.

1. The Founding Days (`book_founding`)

1. Author: "M. Calder, Archivist (first shelf)"
2. Carries: the Landing and the Y2K Charter.
3. Found: Rita's library, from the start. The gentlest entry point.
4. Excerpt: "We wrote it on the back of an arcade manual because paper was scarce. Rebuild it as it was in the good years. Nobody optimizes anything that should be enjoyed. Someone added 'and skating' in the margin. We left it in. We left everything in. That was rather the point."

2. Notes From the Falls (`book_falls`)

1. Author: an Old Falls scout, unsigned.
2. Carries: the first scouting of the land; the Earth-or-elsewhere tension.
3. Found: near the falls.
4. Excerpt: "Day nine. Found a sign half under the moss. Some of the letters we know. Some we don't. Moby's great-great-somebody says it means we're home. I looked up that night and counted two moons. I didn't tell him. Let him have home."

3. Moss and Memory (`book_moss`)

1. Author: a Mosswood Keeper.
2. Carries: the cargo hold, salvage craft, the rule of manners.
3. Found: Mosswood side of town.
4. Excerpt: "The lattice is unkind when it's made by nobody. Fold it into a broom your gran tied, and it lifts like it's glad to. We don't understand it. We just know it likes being made for someone."

4. The Orchard Ledger (`book_orchard`)

1. Author: the Cidertown Stowaways, many hands.
2. Carries: the people who didn't sign; what was lost.
3. Found: Cidertown, near the trees.
4. Excerpt: "Planted: four apple, one pear, one we can't name. Dated: the forty-first winter. Or the forty-second. The calendar stopped agreeing with itself somewhere in the dark. We planted anyway. You plant anyway."

5. Reels Under the Stars (`book_drivein`)

1. Author: the first projectionist.
2. Carries: the cargo of culture; why the town chose the early 2000s.
3. Found: the drive-in.
4. Excerpt: "Forty-one tapes survived the deep decks. We play them in order, always. The people in them are loud and silly and kind to each other, and they had no idea what was coming. That's why we play them. To remember what people were like when they weren't afraid."

6. Concrete Hymns (`book_halfpipe`)

1. Author: unknown; possibly the first skater.
2. Carries: why skating sits at the heart of the Charter.
3. Found: by the halfpipe.
4. Excerpt: "The Quiet made everything smooth so nothing would ever fall. So we built a ramp and fell on purpose. Over and over. Laughing. Nobody can tidy that."

7. The Field Guide With Missing Pages (new cover)

1. Author: Chilimanjaro Visionaries, Re-Taxonomy desk.
2. Carries: the Hum, woke and kept lines, the Re-Taxonomy.
3. Found: given once enough fish, bugs and shells are logged.
4. Excerpt: "Entry AN-???: a striped cat. Some are woke and run shops. Some are kept and sleep in the shop window. Same whiskers. Same stripes. We don't yet know why. Please keep logging. Every page you fill is one the world forgot."

8. A Broom Maker's Primer (new cover)

1. Author: a Mosswood broom-making family.
2. Carries: the brooms; tech taught manners.
3. Found: Mosswood, or later via Halfpipe World's broom makers.
4. Excerpt: "Rule one: bind it by hand. Rule two: make it for somebody. Rule three: if it won't fly, you weren't kind enough. Unwind it, apologise, try again."

More books

1. The shelf is never full. More books are out there.

Related

• Bug field guide: the full roster AlphaUp to 1000 bugs across every scene, with time, weather and season rules.
• Fish: Aquarium and Casino Alpha28 fish planned for an aquarium and the casino fountain.
• Milestone hats AlphaSix hats earned by fishing, shelling, farming, cards, followers and tricks.
• Punch card AlphaOne punch for each day you finish all three dailies. Seven punches pays out.
• Relics AlphaOdd old objects from before the town, each doing one impossible thing.
• Wildlife: Livestock Breeds Alpha76 animals planned for the Farm livestock area, behind the fence.
• Zine rack AlphaSmall lore zines, found about once a play day and read at the library.
• Achilles Tang AlphaThe Achilles Tang is a rare fish in Desktop Halfpipe. Planned for an aquarium and the casino fountain, not in the game yet.