KETHRASELENNE · THE ALMANAC
DRAFT EDITION
20 SEPTEMBER 2026
Canon recordA decision record approved by Briana.

Vector Shift — Almanac Approval Decision#

Canon • Stated by Briana • 19 September 2026

Briana's words#

2 - I approve it all at once

She was answering the second item on the 19 September list of questions still open for her: "Approval of the almanac, section by section or all at once. Until you approve, everything outside the spine's canon table stays a proposal."

What is now canon#

The Kethra Almanac as a whole, as it stands on 19 September 2026. That is every file in the Kethra Almanac folder:

  • the spine;
  • the Introduction and Chapters I–VI;
  • the Who's Who;
  • Kronos and the Cinderbelt, and the Kronos colony almanac;
  • the seventeen country almanacs and their registers;
  • the Atlas and its gazetteer;
  • the figures, flags and maps in all of these.

Everything these files called a proposal is approved. That includes where each faction sits, the people, the numbers, the history and the places on the Atlas.

What this does not settle#

  1. What the almanac itself leaves open.

    • In-world mysteries, rumours and allegations keep their status in the story. A rumour stays a rumour, and it is canon that it is rumoured. Examples:

      • whether the Listeners are real;
      • what lies in the sealed vaults;
      • whether the Unmapped Door exists;
      • whether Hera's ocean holds life;
      • whether Vesper reads what it carries;
      • the votes and quarrels of AL 2314 that are left for the story, such as the Seeding Limits Bill and the Seam question.

      "Do not settle it in a scene" still applies to all of them.

    • The Black Ledger's "Behind the ledger" passages are approved as the truth behind the rumours. No character outside the Ledger knows them.

  2. Questions the almanac leaves to Briana. These are still open:

    • the star system's name (five choices were offered on 19 September);
    • whether AL 2314 is the saga's exact starting point;
    • how the factions not placed on Kethra are cast in the later eras: the Varkhesh, the Orravan Empire, Ithryx, the Helion and Distant Systems factions, the Crossgate Exchange, the Hollow Compact, the Wayfarer Exchange, the Farwatch Service and the Noetic Directorate.

  3. Three questions Briana has given to Whisperling (19 September), each with her note: "Whisperling, please make a determination and bring Briana the result for approval."

    • Which faction is the "alien empire" of sagas 1–2.
    • Why the ancestors left, told without settling the protected mystery of how Earth became the Hive's home.
    • What "the Line" in the book's title means. Briana: "It's the line between empires."

  4. Documents outside the almanac are not changed:

    • the chess war game proposal;
    • the handoff notes;
    • the earlier drafts the almanac drew on: the faction roster, the relationship register and the 15 September chronology.

    Where those drafts disagree with the almanac, the handoff notes list the known cases for Whisperling to reconcile.

Anything added from now on#

New material is a proposal until Briana approves it, as before. That includes the new physical, topographic and road maps.

Files updated to match#

  • The spine:
    • a row in the canon table;
    • its rules for reading status;
    • its guidance for AI actors;
    • Whisperling's notes where the three questions arise.
  • Every almanac file:
    • a new status line at the top, saying the file is approved;
    • the old status line kept just below it, headed "Status before approval", so the record stays honest;
    • in each header, "Draft" now reads "Approved 19 September 2026";
    • in the country almanacs, the guidance for AI actors now says the almanac is approved.
  • The Who's Who:
    • its status key;
    • its note on the flags;
    • Whisperling's note on the alien empire.
  • Chapter IV: Whisperling's note on why the ancestors left.
  • The Atlas:
    • every place marked "proposal" is now marked "canon", and rumoured places stay rumoured;
    • the Atlas banner, the gazetteer and the registers are updated.
  • The site:
    • every almanac page's banner now reads "Approved";
    • the home page's "Still open for Briana" now holds only the questions in point 2 above;
    • a new list on the home page shows what is with Whisperling.

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