The Banquet’s Empty Seat

Draw five adjacent chair boxes numbered 1 through 5 from the serving door to the window. Put movable name slips for Daro, Ilen, Omi, Nessa, and CREW beside them. The room survey says the chime is audible at 1–2, the centerpiece is at 3, and useful daylight reaches only 5. Reply slips say Nessa needs daylight; Daro needs an end seat away from the centerpiece; Ilen needs the chime; Omi must sit beside Ilen and cannot take the door chair. Therefore Nessa takes 5, Daro takes 1, Ilen takes 2, Omi takes 3, leaving 4 for the crew. The authorizing memo plus Pem’s lift record establish why the fifth setting exists and why cards moved; neither implies a snub. Have players explain one dependency each rather than guessing a complete permutation. A plausible equivalent accommodation, such as moving the drawing lamp, should use the quiet-meal ending with an explicit change, not silently rewrite the fixed room evidence.

Truth and opening

A spilled jug made steward Pem lift the place cards without preserving their order. The fifth setting was always a rotating meal place for the delivery crew, not an omitted guest. The room’s fixed features and the guests’ reply slips yield one workable arrangement: Daro at 1, Ilen at 2, Omi at 3, the crew place at 4, and Nessa at 5. Publicly correcting the preparation record restores a formal supper; seating by practical needs without speeches makes a quieter meal while the record waits.

120-minute route

Hear requests and map the room 25m → Investigate the fifth setting and spill 25m → Test the arrangement with the guests 30m → Write a welcome the evidence supports 20m

Give each player one requirement to defend and one record to question. The longer game allows a witnessed re-survey or an accommodation redesign, while a quiet meal remains preferable if the guests do not want a public explanation.

People

Ilen: wants Hear the chime without interrupting every course. Offers A clear seating request and help checking adjacency. Boundary: A promise to shout later is not the requested quiet accommodation.

Omi: wants Sit beside Ilen away from the busy doorway. Offers Movable name slips and a patient restatement of all requests. Boundary: Will not take chair 1 just to make the arrangement look tidy.

Nessa: wants Work where the remaining daylight reaches. Offers A drawing that documents the agreed setting. Boundary: Needs actual light, not a ceremonial window-facing title.

Pem: wants Correct the spill’s consequences and keep crew meals visible. Offers The wet runner, preparation memo, and a quiet-meal alternative. Boundary: Will not pretend the crew place belongs to an invented absent guest.

Events and costs

Table-setting intervals at most 1: Pem asks whether to serve the verified arrangement, begin quietly, or switch to flexible service. The soup can wait for that decision.

Closures

A place prepared for each need: All four needs accommodated is true and Preparation record corrected is true

Good soup before good speeches: All four needs accommodated is true

The supper leaves its seating plan: Available

Recovery

At the window recess, re-survey costs two intervals and recovers missing observational knowledge with direct witnesses. If no consistent fixed plan is available, shared-service changes the meal format openly, reserves crew food, and leaves the banquet arrangement unresolved.