← Davi’s Lab

πŸ’  The economy, now

Last updated 2026-07-18 12:30 WEDT Β· now: Β· the one current page β€” everything it replaces sits on the history shelf

The whole thing, in five sentences

Everything is free. The one charge is THE CORE β€” €5 a month, and it is giftable. Practice mints the things that matter, and the one thing practice builds that money cannot touch is a streak. A jewel is a battery you make by practising (or buy β€” they behave identically), and its only job is to wake a zone’s Keeper so you can enter. And in Davi’s own words: “money still never reaches the draw.”

πŸ”₯ THE CORE β€” the only thing with a price

€5/month, a subscription. Free users run one Ember at a time; the CORE brings all twelve Embers online at once. That is the entire difference β€” no content is locked, no door is closed, no odds change.

The CORE is giftable. Jewels are not. If you want to spend money on someone, you can warm their whole hearth β€” you cannot hand them entry you didn’t practise for.

Ruled: no bigger tier exists (the council called a €20 tier “the trap” and Davi agreed). The platform’s other legs are trophy prints, Canopy licensing for organisations, and sponsored cores β€” never a lever inside the practice economy.

πŸ’Ž The jewel β€” a battery, not a badge

what it isa teardrop-cut stone, engraved by the Keeper with your demonstrated skills; it seats into a metal frame whose setting shows your role β€” rank lives in the mount, the light lives in the stone
what it doesit has capacity, it depletes with use, and it is recharged by reflection. Its only job: animate a zone’s Keeper. One active jewel in a zone = entry.
where it comes frommade by practice in that zone β€” or bought. Bought and earned jewels deplete identically. Neither is giftable.
the one asymmetrya spare practice jewel can carry a Newie in β€” you go in clipped together as a pair (the Newie still brings their own token). A bought jewel does not have that power. Practice outranks money mechanically, not morally.
πŸ’  see the jewel fold

🧱 Seven resources β€” five verbs, two axes

you…it mintswhich is for
practiseclaytiles β€” the record of a practice, fired in the hearth
serve / witnessmortarseating tiles β€” the only resource you cannot earn alone
restmetalthe frame and the settings β€” what everything mounts into
learn / teachwax + oiltransfer of knowledge, in either direction β€” fuel that keeps a fire burning, and never sparks one
reflectglassbeads and glaze β€” and reflection is what recharges a jewel
socialize (axis)threadraw fibre spun to wick β€” wick + wax = a candle: knowledge carried to someone else’s light
keep showing up (axis)wood β†’ coalthe streak β€” wood lights the hearth, and a long streak makes coal
The firewall is physical, not policy: stamp β†’ kiln β†’ hot hearth β†’ wood β†’ streak. Every link in that chain is something a person did over time β€” which is why a streak cannot be bought. There is no number to raise; there is only a fire someone kept lit.

Wax is the locked name (Davi, 2026-07-18: “keep wax”). Name and meaning are now both ruled: wax = transfer of knowledge, learning or sharing. Watts and lumens are dead β€” the council’s case held: wax is the one hand-verb resource, and wax + wick performs the semantic.

🌱 The ladder β€” six keys, six stages of one plant

Newie is the seed Β· Oldie is the sprout (and does nothing β€” receiving is the stage) Β· Team is the shoot Β· Buddy is the bud Β· the Stewards are the bloom Β· the Shepherd is the fruit, and the fruit carries the seed back in. The cycle closes.

🌱 see the ladder

🎲 The draw β€” how odds actually work

One jewel powers your token β€” always exactly one. Extra jewels never boost odds; a jewel’s only job is entry. What boosts odds is tokens: earned tokens stack on that one jewel, and a stack of N earned tokens gives √N draw odds β€” and the stack hard-caps at five. That is law, not an example (Davi, 2026-07-18: “cap of 5 confirmed”): the ceiling anyone can reach is √5 ≈ 2.24× β€” earned only, and low enough that showing up still beats stacking.

The stack is built from the six resources you can earn alone β€” clay Β· mortar Β· metal Β· wax/oil Β· glass Β· woodβ†’coal. Thread is exempt on purpose, and that exemption is the fairness story: thread takes other people, which is exactly what someone not yet being accepted can’t reach β€” so the road to better odds is always work you can do alone, at home. And, twice in his own words: money never reaches the draw β€” nothing purchasable feeds a stack.

When events are scarce, the answer is more hosting β€” never queue mechanics, never price. And the rejection-streak question is settled by design, forever (Davi, 2026-07-18: “streak realized, not separate”): there is no separate boost for being turned away, and none may ever be specced β€” rejection means time at home, time at home means solo resources, solo resources mean tokens. The design already is the boost.

πŸ’Ά Money’s edges β€” all of them

What money can do: the CORE (€5/mo, giftable) Β· buy a jewel (identical to an earned one, minus the carry) Β· one day, pay a marketplace’s flat €5 per transaction fee (ruled “for now”; no marketplace exists yet) Β· buy a trophy print of what you already earned.
What money can never do: reach the draw (“money still never reaches the draw” β€” Davi) Β· buy a streak Β· carry a Newie in Β· change what any event, any odds, or any reach looks like for a pure-practice user. The litmus every new feature must pass: same event, same odds, same reach for a pure-practice user β€” and no friction the payer gets to skip.
This page states settled canon only (2026-07-17 economy canon, Davi-confirmed Β· CORE ruling 07-16 Β· marketplace fee + wax semantic rulings 07-18 Β· odds ruled token-stacked √N, earned-only, thread-exempt, 07-18 Β· wax name locked + cap-5 law + streak-realized, Davi verbatim “keep wax and cap of 5 confirmed, streak realized not separate”, 07-18 midday). The odds model is now fully specified β€” nothing on this page is pending. Retired vocabulary (lux Β· lantern Β· credit Β· flame Β· watts Β· lumens) appears only on the history shelf, where each page carries its supersede banner. β€” Crafteee
Davi’s Lab Β· the jewel Β· the ladder