📘 Zephyr Code Reference

Zephyr Code is a poetic encryption system developed by the covert military branch employed by the Aria kingdoms, Zephyr Ops. It is used to securely transmit military, political, surveillance, and logistical information through layers of surrealist poetry. Trained operatives interpret these messages using codified triggers, symbolic structures, and context-aware rules.

Title – Urgency

The title of the poem encodes the urgency of the message. It is the only part of the message where urgency is ever encoded. The body of the poem does not affect urgency, even if it contains urgency-like words.

🔺 Urgency Levels – Definition & Handling

📖 Keyword Categories

Flash – Positional Keywords (First Word Only)

If the first word of the title is positional, the message is Flash.

• Examples: Above, Below, Beyond, Beneath, Under, Over, Within, Across

Note: Only the first word matters.

• “Beyond the Moon” = Flash
• “The Moon Beyond” = Not Flash

Immediate – Sensory Keywords

If no Flash keyword is present, and the title contains sensory language, the urgency is Immediate.

• Color: red, blue, gold, pale, silver, lavender
• Sound: quiet, whisper, loud, hush, echo
• Smell/Taste: bitter, sweet, sour, aroma
• Texture/Feel: rough, soft, warm, cold, slick

note: Any word that otherwise is a sensory word but not one of these categories, is not counted. for example, temperatue, pressure, brigthness,

Priority – Emotional Keywords

If no Flash or Immediate indicator is found, check for emotional language. These indicate Priority urgency.

• Examples: joy, sorrow, fear, grief, anger, pride, despair, rage, surprise

Routine – Default

If the title lacks all urgency keywords, the message is Routine.

• “The Cow by the Moon”, “Starsparkle”, “The Hand Forward”

🧠 Notes

• The urgency system prioritizes the most critical indicator found in this order: Flash > Immediate > Priority > Routine

• Nothing else is encoded in the title. For example:

  • “Mountain” in a title does not mean north.
  • “Quiet” in a title is Immediate (sensory), but in the body it means clock time.

Numbers – Numeric Encoding

The body of a Zephyr Code poem encodes numbers via trigger words, syllable or override counts, and mathematical functions. Only words after a trigger on that same line participate in number encoding, scoped by commas, periods, or line breaks.

🔺 Core Triggers & Functions

• Operand Value: Each word is and operand. The number of syllables of the value of the operand. There are a few exceptions.
• Scope: Operands are words after the trigger, up to a comma, period, or end of line.
• Zero Encoding: Trigger with no operands yields 0.

🧪 Basic Examples

• Add()

  “The cheese and the green arrow” → Add(1 + 1 + 2) = 4

• Mul()

  “When by mountain holding overview” → Mul(2 × 2 × 3) = 12

• Cat()

  “Either run or flow rudely toward oblivion” → Cat(1  ,2  ,2  ,3) = 1223

• Sub()

  “for tomorrow never dies” → Sub(10 – (5 + 1)) = 4

🔄 Value Override Keywords

Several keywords receive alternative values instead of being based on syllable count.

Fixed Value Keywords

This sets of words have a fixed values when used. not syllables.

• The fixed 5 keywords are always treated as having a value of 5.
• The fixed 10 keywords are treated as having the value of 10 in the functions Add(), Mul() and Sub(). They receive the value of 0 when used in Cat()

Example: “or is yesterday” → Cat(is=1, yesterday=5) = 15

🔢 Digit Overrides

Any number (0–9) as a digit or word, uses this override mapping instead of syllable count:

Example: “from one nine three” → Cat(1→7, 9→5, 3→9) = 759

🔄 Nested Triggers & Comma Scope

• Inner triggers (closest to their operands) compute first, up to the first comma, then their result feeds the outer trigger.

Example:

mountain by from river bank, to legend

1. Mul(Cat(2,1),1,2)
2. Inner from river bank → Cat(2,1) = 21
3. Outer by … to legend → Mul(21,1,2) = 42

📜 Period Scope Extension

• A period (.) at line end extends the trigger’s operand list onto the next line, until a line without trailing period.

Example:

to the sky, into the cloud.  
be on the side

→ Add(1+1+1+1+1+1+1) = 7

➖ Subtraction Function (Sub())

• Triggers: for, if

• Semantics:

  1. First operand = value up to first comma or next trigger.
  2. Remaining operands are summed, then subtracted from the first.

Example: “for tomorrow never dies” → Sub(10,5+1) = 4

➖ Negative via Plural & Past Markers

• If the last word is a plural noun (ends in “s”) or a past‐tense verb, it is excluded from operands and negates the final result.

Examples:

• “for tomorrow never dies, shocked” → Sub(10,5+1) = 4 → –4
• “into the drifting clouds” → Add(1+2) = 3 → –3

🧠 Notes & Edge Cases

• Anything before the first number trigger keyword can encode something else. Typically the context of the number being encoded.
• Per-Line Scope: Triggers do not cross stanza.
• Multiple Numeric Lines: Decode each in order; combine or reference as needed.
• Mixing Functions: Allowed—just resolve inner triggers first.
• Zero as Word: “zero” → override value 4, so use “six” to encode 0 if needed.
• Modifiers & Special Keywords: Any override or special keyword takes precedence over raw syllable counts.

🧭 Directions – Spatial Encoding

Zephyr Code embeds directional information in the poem’s body via terrain keywords and optional anchors. Directions may be expressed as cardinal, intercardinal, or by-direction bearings relative to either the reader’s or writer’s position.

🔹 1. Cardinal Directions

Example: “The mountain cave is shallow” → North (reader’s perspective)

🔸 2. Reference Origin

• Implicit (Default): No anchor → direction from the reader’s location

• Explicit “Here” (Writer):

  • Road, Way, Trail → “Here” = writer’s location

• Explicit “There” (Reader):

  • Bank, Edge, Brink → “There” = reader’s location

Examples:

• “Mountain bank” → North from the reader’s position
• “Canyon way” → East from the writer’s position

🔹 3. Intercardinal (Diagonal) Directions

a. Compound Keywords (Simple Diagonals)

Concatenate two cardinal keywords:

Example: “In the mountainbay glade” → Northwest

b. By-Direction Bearings (Dominant + Adjacent)

[PrimaryDirection]side [SecondaryDirection]

• “side” attaches to the dominant axis.

Example: “Canyonside swamp the banners fall” → East by Southeast

🧠 Notes

• No anchor → reader’s perspective (implicit).
• Bank/Edge/Brink → reader’s perspective (explicit).
• Road/Way/Trail → writer’s perspective (explicit).
• Avoid mixing cardinal and intercardinal on the same line to prevent ambiguity.

🗓️ Date & Day – Month & Day-of-Month

This section covers month and day encoding in Zephyr Code. Use the date trigger to mark the next line as a month, and base + offset keywords to encode the day.

🔺 1. Month Encoding

a. Date Trigger

If a line ends with any of these phrases including the comma, ignore all other encodings on that line and treat the next line as the month specifier:

“by and by,” “Over there,” “Here and there,” “Soon enough,” “All around,”

b. Baseline by Creature

On the following line, the first creature mentioned sets a baseline month (the 2nd month of its season):

c. Verb-Tense Shift

A verb immediately after the creature shifts the month by ±1:

• Present/Future-tense → +1 month
• Past-tense → –1 month
• No verb → baseline

Examples:

Soon enough,
the robin eats

– Winged → January – “eats” (present) → February

Here and there,
the butterfly swooped

– Winged → January – “swooped” (past) → December

🔺 2. Day-of-Month Encoding

a. Base Keywords

First word picks which block of 8 days:

Example: “mind” → Day 9

b. Offset Keywords

Second word adds 0 – 7 days to the base. Use either height or fullness lists—only the first offset word counts per phrase:

Examples:

• “empty heart” → 1 + 0 = 1
• “with half breath ran” → 17 + 4 = 21
• “be mindful of the rise” → 9 + 3 = 12

c. Standalone Keywords

• Base alone → its base day

  • “breath” → 17

• Offset alone → days ahead (0–7) by default

  • “some” → in 3 days

Trend Modifiers for Past vs. Future

Attach a trend keyword to specify direction explicitly:

Examples:

• “and some while ago” → +3 days → 3 days ago
• “a trace dream of tomorrow” → +1 day → in 1 day
• “on the cover of the peak” → +6 days → 6 days ago

🧠 Integration Notes

1. Date trigger lines (Soon enough, etc.) are single-use: they ignore other encodings.
2. Month line must immediately follow trigger.
3. Day phrases may appear anywhere in the body; treat each independently.
4. No cross-stanza or literal-block escapes unless nullified.

☁️ Weather – Conditions & Severity

Zephyr Code conveys weather conditions and their intensity via spatial keywords and trend modifiers, all within the poem’s body.

🔹 1. Weather Condition Keywords

Examples:

• “up the mountain way” → Clear skies north of here
• “below the star chaser’s way” → Snowstorm here
• “in front of the rusted bucket” → Rain at the palace

🔸 2. Intensity Modifiers

Apply trend keywords to adjust temperature (with clear skies) or severity (with other conditions). Multiple modifiers (same or mixed) stack to increase effect.

a. Temperature (Clear or Snow-Clear)

• Positive → warm → hot → scorching
• Negative → cool → cold → freezing

Examples:

• “Up the harsh mountain way” → clear & warm
• “Dream up the harsh mountain way” → clear & hot
• “cover above the cloudplain” → light snowfall (clear snow & mild)

b. Severity (Storm, Rain, Wind, Fog)

• Positive → strong → severe
• Negative → mild → light

Examples:

• “laze under the oak” → strong storm
• “cover beneath the oak” → mild storm
• “back the summit” → windy & default severity
• “dread back the summit” → light wind

🧠 Notes & Edge Cases

• Adjacency: Trend keywords must be directly adjacent to the condition keyword (before or after) to apply.
• Stacking: When multiple trend words flank the condition, the total count determines intensity (e.g., two positives = one level above hot → maybe “scorching”).
• No modifier: Condition is reported at base intensity (e.g., “under the valley” → storm at normal strength).
• Line scope: Does not cross stanza (//) or literal-block boundaries without nullifiers.

With this, Zephyr operatives can poetically report what the sky does and how strongly—all hidden in their verses.

Understood—let’s remove the “Object alone” entry. Here’s the revised Identities snippet:

👤 Identities – People, Places & Roles

🔹 1. Individual & Group Encoding

Examples:

• Red lamp → Store keeper
• Falling stone → General Lan
• Falling stones → General Lan’s army
• Blue bridge → A random person under surveillance
• Blue bridge laughs → That person is now important (Captain of the Guard)
• Laughing bridge → Captain of the Guard

Note: Pure object words (e.g. “leaf”, “stone”) carry no identifier on their own—they’re just poetic padding unless modified. Note: Actual “who” each symbol refers to is shared through a separate secure channel.

🔸 2. Place Encoding

Examples:

• Wooden lamp → Town center
• Tin candle → Guard barracks
• Smooth rock → Palace
• Spiny cup → Kelly Hill

✴️ 3. Participant Roles

Usage Examples:

• “Moon flows into canyon road” → Writer is moving east.
• “Star hues the trailing leaf” → Spy assigns a new ID to that important person.
• “Meteor strikes behind the smooth rock” → Enemy attacked the palace under foggy conditions.

With these patterns, Zephyr Code can reference anyone or anywhere in your world—all through the poetry itself.

⚔️ Movement – Advance, Stationary & Retreat

Zephyr Code conveys agent movement via action verbs applied to established identifiers. Verbs themselves cannot double as identifiers—this avoids ambiguity. Destination or direction may be given via location anchors or cardinal keywords.

🔹 1. Forward Movement Verbs

• Syntax:

  <Identifier> <verb> [to/into/…] <Destination or Direction>
  

• If no direction given: movement is understood but undirected.

Examples:

• “Red sand fails” → Red Sand is moving (direction unspecified)
• “Blue grass flows to rocky boot” → Lt. Dan is moving toward West Town
• “Falling stones swing far from the mountain” → Gen. Lan’s army is moving north

🔸 2. Stationary Verbs

Examples:

• “Blue grasses float” → Lt. Dan’s army remains in place
• “Falling stone shifts on the bay road” → Gen. Lan is stationary west from here

🔹 3. Retreat (Reverse Movement) Verbs

• When a retreat verb pairs with a direction keyword, invert that direction:

  • mountain rush → retreating south
  • canyonside calm → retreating west by west-southwest

Examples:

• “Mountain rush” → retreating south
• “Blue grass calms to rocky boot” → Lt. Dan is retreating away from West Town
• “Falling stones strike far from the mountain” → Gen. Lan’s army retreats southward

🧠 Notes & Edge Cases

1. Identifier Requirement: Verbs must attach to a valid identifier (e.g., trailing leaf, blue bridge).
2. No-verb Adjectives: Phrases like floating grass or swinging grass do not encode movement.

3. Compound Directions: Combine with the full Directions syntax:

   • “Flow into canyonside swamp” → move east by southeast
4. Chaining: Multiple movement verbs in one poem are read sequentially—good for multi-phase operations.
5. Ambiguity Safeguard: Use padding around movement lines if interception risk is high.

🛟 Resources & Help – Aid Requests & Resource Status

Zephyr Code lets operatives call for assistance, report resource availability, and signal supply trends—all hidden in poetic verse.

🔹 1. Help Requests

• Location Anchor Required: Must appear on the same line as a location anchor (road, way, trail). Without an anchor, it does not request help.

• Aid Type via Animal Class: Immediately follow the help marker (and anchor) with an animal to specify the kind of aid:

  Animal Class	Aid Type
  Furred	Personnel support
  Feathered	Food & supplies
  Scaled	Armaments
  Aquatic	Medical aid

Examples:

• “down the valley road, a snake slithers by” – valley + road → send help here – snake (scaled) → send weapons
• “the clouded mountain nests eagles flight” – cloud → send help – mountain (north) → north from here – eagle (feathered) → send food

🔸 2. Resource Availability & Status

a. Resource Presence at Locations

When an animal appears with a place identifier (e.g., wooden lamp, smooth rock), it signals that resource is available there:

b. Resource Status for Individuals

When an animal appears with a person identifier (e.g., trailing leaf, blue bridge), it signals that person’s resource status:

c. Trend Modifiers

Use trend keywords adjacent to the animal to indicate increase or decrease:

Examples:

• “bayside lizard basks in the sun” – bayside → west from here – lizard (scaled) → armaments – basks → increased → Armaments west of here have increased
• “blue bridge hushes the fish” – blue bridge → person under surveillance – fish (aquatic) → medical aid – hush → decreased → That person’s health has declined

🧠 Notes

• Help vs. Resource: A help marker + anchor always trumps a resource reading.
• Line Scope: All keywords must appear on the same line (or within a period‐extended scope).
• Padding & Nullifiers: You can pad help/resource lines with neutral verse or nullifiers to conceal true intent.

🕵️ Surveillance – Status Markers

Zephyr Code lets operatives track the observation status of any identifier (person or place) through dedicated surveillance verbs. These markers report initial contact, loss, reacquisition, long-term absence, reassignment, errors, and corrections.

🔺 Status Verbs & Meanings

🧪 Examples

1. Assignment & Reacquisition

   • “The rolling hammer hues the flame” → Rolling Hammer is now the prince
   • “The rolling hammer lightens on the fire” → Prince has been spotted again

2. Loss & Expiration Warning

   • “The rolling hammer darkens in frost” → Surveillance on prince is lost
   • “The rolling hammer dulls with time” → No sighting for 6 months; ID will expire soon

3. Release & Reuse

   • “The rolling hammer shades the waves” → Rolling Hammer is released from the prince
   • “The red flower hues in clouds” → Red Flower becomes a new ID

4. Error & Correction

   • “The rolling hammer tints in stardust swirls” → Observation uncertain or protocol error
   • “In rolling hammer tones falling stone moss” → Correction: it was Falling Stone (General Lan)

🧠 Notes & Workflow

1. Lifecycle Flow:

   1. Hues → first assignment
   2. Whitens/Lightens → positive sighting
   3. Blackens/Darkens → lost sighting
   4. Greys/Dulls → 6+ months lost
   5. Shade → release ID
   6. Tints → flag possible error
   7. Tones → confirm or correct

2. Protocol Enforcement:

   • Use Tints whenever unsure or protocol may have been violated.
   • Follow with Tones to affirm or correct that doubt.

3. Verb Position:

   • These verbs function as action markers—they should be the main verb of a line.
   • Do not use them inside literal blocks unless nullified.

🛑 Literal Overrides – Bypass & Block Modes

Zephyr Code normally encodes every line symbolically, but there are clear mechanisms to suspend encoding and read content literally when clarity or alternate encryption is required.

🔹 1. Single-Line Literal (“of”)

• Trigger: A line beginning with of (alone, in lowercase)
• Effect: The entire line is read literally—no keywords, triggers, or functions apply.

Examples:

of north of the valley  

→ Exactly “north of the valley.”

of thirteen dead  

→ Exactly “thirteen dead.”

Notes:

• Only counts if of is the first word.
• Does not apply to the title.
• Any other occurrence of “of” in a line is processed normally.

🔸 2. Multi-Line Literal Blocks (“of this” … “that”)

a. Start Block

• Triggers:

  • of this (routine/priority flash not recommended)
  • flash of this, immediate of this, flash of that (urgency applied literally)
• Must appear as the very first words of a line.
• Everything after that line—across multiple lines—is read literally until the block is closed.

b. End Block

• A line whose last word is exactly that, with no trailing text, terminates the literal block.
• Only a standalone final-word that counts. Mid-line that is part of the literal text.

Example:

flash of this
12 dead, 30 injured
Immediate evacuation requested
Enemy sighted at southern pass that
Mountain road flows with ash

– Lines 1–3 are literal. – Line 4 ends in that → block closes. – Line 5 resumes normal encoding.

Notes:

• If no terminating that is ever found, the rest of the message remains literal.
• Flash or Immediate urgency blocks unencoded content are acceptable; Routine or Priority blocks are discouraged or flagged for review.
• Within literal blocks, other encodings (e.g., acrostics, steganography) may still be used.

🔹 3. Nullifiers Inside Literal Blocks

• Nullifier keywords (ain’t, yonder, reckon, holler, y’all) placed anywhere on a literal-block line reactivate Zephyr encoding for that line only.
• This allows a single coded line to be planted inside an otherwise literal section (often used for misinformation or hidden signals).

Example:

of this
All engines ready
The red leaf ain’t in the bay
The blue bridge holler in canyon way
that

– Line 2: literal. – Line 3: nullifier on literal-start line → ignore (literal). – Line 4: holler nullifies literal mode → standard encoding applies (blue bridge → east).

🧠 Key Takeaways

1. of = single-line literal override.
2. of this … that = multi-line literal block.
3. Nullifiers within a literal block flip that line back to code.
4. Use judiciously: literal overrides trade security for clarity or alternative encoding.

🚫 Padding & Nullifiers

In Zephyr Code, padding lines and nullifier keywords are essential for misdirection and security, making encoded lines harder to detect and providing a way to cancel encoding when needed.

🔹 1. Padding Lines

• Definition: Lines that contain no trigger words, no special keywords, and thus encode nothing.

• Purpose:

  • Break up patterns of encoded content
  • Blend intelligence into ordinary verse
  • Delay or confuse interceptors

• Best Practice:

  • Include at least one padding line every 2–3 lines of encoded content
  • Vary placement: opening, middle, or closing of stanzas
  • Write them as natural poetic imagery

Example Padding Line: “The grass grows green upon the summit”

🔸 2. Nullifier Keywords

• Mechanism: If any nullifier appears anywhere on the line, ignore all other code triggers on that line.

• Strategic Uses:

  • Misinformation: Plant decoy lines to mislead interceptors
  • Shielding: Make real encoded lines look similar so they’re skipped
  • Conditional activation: Only use when interception risk is high

Example:

• “The running mouse ain’t in the swamp” → No encoding (nullified)
• Interceptor might skip: “The trailing leaf ain’t in the bay” (also nullified) → Misses real “trailing leaf” west message

🔹 3. Nullifiers Inside Literal Blocks

• Within an of this … that block, a nullifier on a line reactivates standard Zephyr encoding for that line only.
• Use Case: Embed a hidden code line amid literal text (e.g., a fallback signal or a trap).

Example:

of this
All is calm and still
The blue bridge holler in canyon way
That

– Line 2: literal (no nullifier) – Line 3: holler cancels literal-block → standard encoding applies (blue bridge → east)

🧠 Key Takeaways

• Padding hides patterns; use it liberally.
• Nullifiers cancel encoding on demand; use sparingly for decoys or high-risk scenarios.
• Inside literal blocks, nullifiers flip that line back to code, enabling nuanced misinformation or hidden instructions.

⚔️ Outcomes – Casualties & Recovery

Zephyr operatives use poetic modifiers to report losses, destruction, and new gains—all concealed within existing numeric triggers.

🔹 1. Negative Outcomes (Casualties & Destruction)

• Modifiers:

  • glint, lit, light, spark, shine
• Paired with: ’till’ (or ’till`)
• Effect: Indicates death (for people/groups) or destruction (for places).

• Numeric encoding:

  • If used with a numeric trigger (e.g. from, and, etc.), the line encodes the number of dead or units destroyed via the trigger’s function.
  • If used alone with a location (no trigger), it simply reports the place’s destruction.

Examples:

• “Glint ’till dawn from cold drops” – Trigger: from → Cat(cold=1, drops=1) = 11 → 11 dead
• “Blue grass lit ’till the swamp way” – “lit ’till” + “swamp way” → Lt. Dan is dead, last seen south.
• “Rocky boot shine ’till dawn” – No trigger → West Town is destroyed.

🔸 2. Positive Outcomes (New & Rebuilt)

• Modifiers:

  • glint, lit, light, spark, shine
• Paired with: ’yet’
• Effect: Indicates something new, found, created, or rebuilt.

• Numeric encoding:

  • With a numeric trigger, yields the quantity of new individuals or items.
  • Standalone at a place, reports the place has been rebuilt or restocked.

Examples:

• “from rainbow so / spark yet tonight” – Line 1: from rainbow so → Cat(2,0) = 20 – Line 2: “spark yet” → 20 new individuals here
• “Rocky boot shine yet thru” – No trigger → West Town has been rebuilt.

🧠 Notes & Edge Cases

• Line breaks matter: For two‐line examples, use / or a period to scope triggers correctly.
• Modifiers before triggers retain numeric functions; after triggers, they count by syllable/override like any other operand.
• Casualty vs. Destruction: When paired with a person/group identifier, “’till” always signals death; when paired with a place identifier, it signals destruction.
• Recovery vs. Arrival: Similarly, “’yet” with a place = rebuilt; with a person/group = new arrivals or reinforcements.

This section completes the reporting of negative and positive outcomes in Zephyr Code. Let me know if you’d like sample verses or further elaboration!