docs(lore): define crystal resonance canon and the Resonance Papers reveal

[zoeyrose]

Parent epic: #149. Audit context: #142.

Outcome

Approve the canon, terminology, author identity, evidence boundaries, and final reveal for the Resonance Papers before implementation prose turns a useful hypothesis into an accidental world retcon.

Decisions to record

Crystal taxonomy

For every referenced material, record whether it is confirmed identical, related, merely analogous, or intentionally unknown:

• Morliana's Great Blue Crystal and its shards;
• the Brynknot skyfall crystal/fragments;
• Incuna's blue talisman crystal;
• ordinary mana/power crystals;
• Old Outpost's enhanced mana crystal;
• Nawerhals/Glacial Hollow fire crystals;
• crystals in Underground City experiments;
• any later Crystalcraft reagent from feat(lore): develop Great Blue Crystal shards into arcane technology #110/feat(crystalcraft): add repeatable telescope-guided crystalfall expeditions #128.

Recommended default: related behavior does not prove shared origin or substance.

Resonance model

Evaluate and either approve or replace this proposed model:

Crystals are neutral resonant mana reservoirs. They absorb, transform, or amplify local elemental/magical influences; the dark Presence is deliberately tuning or exploiting this property rather than proving all crystal technology is corrupt.

Document:

• what “resonance,” “tuning,” “afflicted,” “corruption,” “signal,” and “Presence” mean in player-facing text;
• which statements are researcher inference rather than narrator truth;
• whether any existing creature can credibly show crystal influence;
• whether new crystal-afflicted creatures are allowed in the MVP;
• how fire material inside cold-region creatures fits without declaring all crystals one object;
• what remains safe/beneficial about Morliana, mana storage, and Crystalcraft.

Researcher and papers

Choose:

• author name, culture/species, era, institutional relationship to Morliana Research Center, and why the papers were scattered;
• whether the author is deceased, missing, retired, discredited, or deliberately hiding evidence;
• who placed Clayrell's blank note and why Clayrell recognizes it;
• voice, notation system, page order, and why each regional observation is independently useful;
• whether a present-day NPC introduces or interprets the collection.

“First Observer” and “The Silent Constellation” are placeholders, not automatic canon.

Reveal boundary

The final page/telescope sequence may confirm:

• that a repeatable external anomaly/signal exists;
• that ground crystals respond to it;
• that the anomaly points toward a future site or research question.

It must not automatically confirm:

• the Presence's identity or ultimate plan;
• that the Presence caused every starfall;
• that every crystal is alive, evil, or one organism;
• a settled drow/dragon/deity explanation;
• the outcome of feat(lore): develop Great Blue Crystal shards into arcane technology #110/feat(lore): evolve Atrinik through magitech into a magepunk age #130's later technology and social arcs.

Reward and future hook

Approve one bounded result: title/cosmetic, research utility, recipe coordinated with #110, observatory shortcut/view, or third-starfall lead. Record economy and spoiler constraints.

Deliverable

Add a concise canon matrix to this issue or an appropriate versioned content-design document with columns:

Claim	Existing source	Status	Approved player wording	May later contradict?	Owning issue

Every authored paper and the finale must cite this matrix during review.

Acceptance criteria

• The taxonomy covers every crystal/material used by feat(lore): add the Resonance Papers hidden crystal investigation #149 and does not infer identity from shared color/name alone.
• The resonance model is approved, revised, or rejected with a replacement that fits all cited established evidence.
• “Corruption” and “crystal-afflicted creature” have explicit canon status; no new creature family is implied accidentally.
• The author, timeline, paper-scattering cause, note voice, and Clayrell connection are decided.
• The final telescope reveal and at least three facts it deliberately does not resolve are written.
• Incuna/Lost Memories spoiler and continuity boundaries are explicit.
• Glacial, Underground City, Morliana, Brynknot, and Old Outpost observations each have an approved purpose.
• Reward and future-hook limits are approved with feat(lore): develop Great Blue Crystal shards into arcane technology #110/feat(crystalcraft): add repeatable telescope-guided crystalfall expeditions #128/feat(lore): evolve Atrinik through magitech into a magepunk age #130 coordination.
• Existing lore is quoted only as needed and all canonical evidence is pinned to exact repository revisions.
• Any new broad setting rule is coordinated with docs(lore): define Atrinik's magitech-to-magepunk setting contract #133 before downstream content is authored.
• The decision applies to both authored release lines unless a concrete exception is documented.

Non-goals

Do not write all six final pages, implement tracking, add creatures/art, resolve the Presence, or decide every cosmic fact about Atrinik in this issue.