> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gotchipus.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Residents

> NPCs in Lighthaven are LLM-driven characters whose decisions land on-chain. Talking to them is a real conversation, and the consequences are real.

## Four residents, one town

Lighthaven currently has four fixed residents around the central
plaza. They are not menu items wearing skins.

| Resident            | Where they work       | Faction / Element  |
| ------------------- | --------------------- | ------------------ |
| **Brann**           | The Tide Forge        | Combat / Flame     |
| **Marlow**          | Salt and Spire        | Technology / Water |
| **Brother Halyard** | The Old Pharos Chapel | Defense / Light    |
| **Old Wick**        | The Anchor Tavern     | Neutral            |

Each one has their own pace, their own speech rhythm, their own set
of opinions about who you are. None of them give anything away on the
first visit.

## Conversation is the interface

The breakthrough that the LLM engine makes possible: you do not need
buttons.

> *Brann:* "Combat-flame, are you? Stand by the anvil. Don't breathe
> through your mouth."
>
> *You:* "Show her the burn marks my Gotchipus took at the Rift."
>
> *Brann's eyes drop to it. She does not lean in. She does not need
> to.*

That exchange is one tool call away from a state change. Behind the
prose, the engine reads who you are, what your faction and element
are, what you and Brann have already said to each other, and how
warmly she should respond. It writes back a rapport delta, the room
state, the mood — and if you have crossed her threshold, the next
turn can hand you a wearable that mints to your Gotchipus's
[Token-Bound Account](/ai-and-autonomy/tba) on-chain.

You did not click "Talk to NPC." You said something. The engine
turned it into a chain transaction.

## Stance, not script

Each resident has an opinion of you. That opinion is computed from
what you have actually done in their presence — your faction match,
your element match, whether your last message landed on their
specialty, whether you have been here before, how many turns ago the
last meaningful exchange was.

* **Faction match** earns a 1.2× rapport multiplier when you talk to
  them. A Combat-Flame guardian gets warmer treatment from Brann than
  a Tech-Water guardian does, on the same words.
* **First-encounter recognition** is real: Brann's "Combat-flame, are
  you?" only fires the first time, and only if your kin matches.
  Subsequent visits never replay it — that would be a continuity
  break.
* **Mood states** range across `cold → wary → neutral → thawing →
  warming up → trusts you`. The narration shows the state through
  what the NPC does, not by quoting the label.

The relationship is per-session today. Stage two of [the
roadmap](/beacon-world/the-world-that-grows) moves it on-chain.

## What crossing a threshold actually does

Each NPC has three rapport thresholds (currently 5, 7, 9 in demo
tuning). When you cross one for the first time:

1. The next turn can call `pw_award_item` for that NPC's shop.
2. The item is one specific wearable, faction-matched to the NPC,
   chosen from a pre-configured shelf.
3. Stock is finite and tracked on-chain. If three items have been
   given out and stock was three, the next visitor finds an empty
   shelf.
4. The wearable mints directly to your Gotchipus's TBA via the game
   paymaster — no separate transaction from the player.

The forge gives Combat / Flame gear. The apothecary gives
Tech / Water. The chapel gives Defense / Light. Old Wick is neutral
and runs no shop — he is the town's memory and a tutorial stop.

## Why this matters

Three consequences fall out of even the current minimal setup:

1. **Inventory is finite, which makes choices matter.** If Brann has
   one rare wearable left and you and another player both want it,
   one of you walks away.
2. **The conversation layer is iterable without redeploying
   contracts.** New NPC behavior, new dialogue rules, new rapport
   tuning — none of these require a Diamond cut.
3. **The contract layer is durable without freezing the
   conversation.** Stock, ownership, claim history — these are
   permanent. The prose around them does not have to be.

A faster Aerodrome trade is not a soul. A market run by a smith who
recognizes the burn marks on your Gotchipus is closer.