The Star Engine at Quiet Orbit

Treat the engine as a place whose function can be understood by comparing two independent phase observations. No astrophysics knowledge is needed. The west prism is visibly at sunset; the echo gallery preserves the night cadence; the east sail is visibly at dawn. One crystal and one work turn set each side to night. A third crystal and one turn couple the axle after both are set. The loop through the coolant garden or the echo gallery allows either approach to the axle. Reading the west prism reveals a hidden lens vault, which joins west to axle and contains the manual chart. A chart beacon costs two crystals, one chart-copy turn and one lighting turn, leaving the engine dormant but enabling one supervised crossing to Reed and Orchard Islands. The third light belongs to Hill Island, which has no current manual chart and must wait for the engine or a daylight position check. Discuss who waits and who travels before ending. Crystals never appear because a roll succeeds.

Truth and opening

Keeper Iven disengaged the engine to rescue a drifting seed basket. The west prism now remembers sunset while the east sail remembers dawn. Both must be set to the same night phase before a crystal pulse couples the axle. A forgotten lens vault gives a shorter route and a printed fallback chart; a fixed chart beacon uses fewer crystals but does not restore moving navigation.

120-minute route

Read the engine and compare phase records 25m → Explore the outer ring and discover the vault 25m → Save the chart and optional seed basket 25m → Establish the limited crossing and handover 25m

Use hall → echo → east → axle → garden → west → vault → axle → deck → dock. Five crystals retain the possibility of both a three-crystal restart and a two-crystal chart beacon, but each action also spends the nine-turn work window.

People

Tavi: wants Offer only a route whose limits are known. Offers A refuge and supervision of one chart-guided crossing. Boundary: Will not call a fixed chart a restored moving-route engine.

Iven: wants Finish the seed-basket rescue and rejoin the engine phases. Offers Every crystal counted on the cloth, maintenance access and plain explanations. Boundary: Will not couple visibly mismatched phases.

Sela: wants Preserve the last known night setting. Offers The echo-ring observations and a calibration card. Boundary: Will distinguish what was recorded from what is currently set.

Orr: wants Keep the recovered seedlings cool until they reach refuge. Offers Identifies the basket and the fixed garden path. Boundary: No seed basket is worth delaying a person’s return.

Events and costs

Navigation crystals at most 1: At most one crystal remains. A fresh chart beacon needs two; only a prepared final coupling or refuge is affordable now.

Station work turns at most 1: Tavi asks for the final service claim: restored engine, an already prepared chart crossing, or a night at refuge.

Closures

The stars take up their routes: Star axle coupled is true

One honest line through the dark: Fixed chart beacon lit is true

Lights around the kettle: Available

Recovery

If the garden-to-axle edge is blocked, the echo/east side of the outer ring still reaches the axle. The discovered vault is a second bypass from west. With too few crystals or turns for either service, refuge-night closes navigation and preserves actual incomplete settings.