I §1 Purpose and constraints
This protocol governs the production of short fiction messages posted on Discord channels — vignettes that accompany organisational communications, narrative-colour pieces between operations, or episodes of a serial arc. The goal is to keep coherence among all such short pieces and to allow them, summed, to form a continuous narrative.
Platform constraints
- Hard limit: 2000 characters per message (Discord standard).
- Recommended limit: 600 to 1500 characters — a message should fit a reading window without dramatic scrolling.
- No heavy formatting: italics, bold, block quote, and inline code where it represents technical transmission. Avoid tables, long lists, headings.
- No inline images. Visual attachments are handled separately.
II §2 Microfiction structures
Four standard structures. Choice depends on the message's purpose.
Vignette (slice-of-life, description) — 600–1200 chars
- Space-time (1 sentence)
- Scene with sensory detail (3–6 sentences)
- Optional short dialogue (1–3 lines)
- Residue (1 sentence)
Strip (operation, thriller, mystery) — 800–1500 chars
- Summary establishing (1–2 sentences)
- Pressure (2–3 sentences)
- Act (1–2 sentences)
- Residue (1 sentence)
Fictional bulletin (in-universe communiqué) — 400–1200 chars
- Doctrinal header (short line)
- Body (3–8 lines, functional prose)
- Ritual closing (1 line — Pro Humanitate / Semper Vigilo)
Log entry (diary, manifest, log) — 400–1000 chars
- Fictional time marker (bell, watch, internal date)
- 2–4 sentences of observation or record
- 1 sentence of closing or deferred continuation
III §3 Discord-specific safeguards
- No real/fiction ambiguity. When a fiction message is posted on a channel that also serves OOC communication, open with an unambiguous marker (
> In fictionor scene header). - No real quotation. Do not quote real members by name in fiction. Fictional characters may be played by players; consent is handled outside this protocol.
- No piece resembling a real order. Fictional bulletins must not be confusable with real directives. When in doubt, mark as fiction.
- Compliance with Rules of Engagement. Content follows platform etiquette and server rules.
IV §4 Annotated example (≈1100 chars)
Deck four · second bell after midnight.
Mess empty but for three. Operator Lin set her mug, considered the reflection, and pushed it half an inch.
“It will go cold,” said Sergeant Ostra, without raising his eyes from the dossier.
“It already is,” Lin answered.
Ostra nodded. Turned the page. Nobody mentioned that the fourth chair at the table was set and empty. The name of the comrade who used to sit there no longer appeared on the week's manifest. Lin rose, took the mugs to the sink, and walked back along the corridor with the next bell still unsounded. Semper Vigilo, she murmured passing the wall symbol.
Optional header for immediate location. Dominant sensory detail: temperature and smell. Residue: wall symbol + murmured liturgical formula. Continuity: introduces “Lin” and “Ostra”; the “fourth chair” opens a thread.
Pro Humanitate. Semper Vigilo.
So speaks the Vigil.