# Glimmerroot, the Waywarden

An original, unofficial **tile-first** hero and mechanic concept for Spell
Valley. Spell Valley's public screenshots show character artwork on tactical
tiles, so the primary proposal is the 2D tile pack and Waylight mechanic. The 3D
model is a reusable design source and bonus artifact, not a proposed runtime
battlefield model.

This package does not use or contain Spell Valley geometry, textures, logos,
interface art, character art, or production files.

The separate live browser mockup uses two small Ranger and Skeleton portrait
crops from a user-supplied gameplay screenshot to make ally/enemy roles visually
recognizable. Those reference crops are not included in this download package.

## Primary delivery

- `glimmerroot_tile_pack.zip` — painterly artwork master; masked 512, 256, 128,
  96, and 64 px RGBA tile crops; Waylight marker; provenance and rules notes.

The circular mask is an evaluation mockup, not a claim about the game's private
UI specification. Connor should test the master in the real tile safe area.

## Playable browser proof

The live concept page includes a guided, deterministic interaction on a 19-cell
axial hex board. Resize-aware flat-top coordinates keep the cells from
overlapping, while contained unit cards, numbered routes, source labels, and
destination labels keep the next action visible on the board. It supports
pointer drag, touch-style tap selection, and keyboard activation while
enforcing one legal move at each step. Two complete scenarios demonstrate both
the intended payoff and its counterplay:
an ally consumes Waylight for one extra connected move and reaches a three-hex
objective, or an enemy arrives first, extinguishes Waylight, and leaves the ally
at two of three hexes. Resetting or switching scenarios restores every piece and
rule state.

The board layout, two-hex baseline reach, three-hex objective, and turn sequence
are transparent demo assumptions for evaluating the mechanic; they are not
claims about private Spell Valley balance data.

## Proposed Waylight v0.2

- Spend the ability to place one visible Waylight on an adjacent, empty,
  connected walkable tile that is not an objective, hazard, tower, or castle.
- Waylight is non-blocking and does not count as a unit. Only one may exist.
- The first other ally to enter through normal movement consumes it and may
  immediately move one additional connected tile.
- The first enemy to enter through normal movement extinguishes it and gains no
  bonus.
- Teleport, spawn, and forced movement do not trigger it. Waylights do not stack
  or chain.
- If unused, it expires at the start of Glimmerroot's next activation.
- Ability cost, cooldown, line-of-sight, and whether the bonus ends movement are
  explicit tuning variables for a real rules and telemetry review.

## 3D source package

- `glimmerroot_waywarden.blend` — editable Blender 5.2 source, including the
  render stage in a separate `Render_Stage_DO_NOT_EXPORT` collection.
- `glimmerroot_waywarden.glb` — compact game interchange export with materials,
  armature, and three animation clips.
- `glimmerroot_waywarden.fbx` — alternate engine/DCC export with triangulated
  geometry and three baked clips.
- `asset_stats.json` — source-scene geometry, rig, animation, and file-size data.
- `verification_report.json` — results of clean-scene GLB and FBX re-imports.
- `../source/build_glimmerroot.py` — reproducible procedural build script.

## Model profile

- Source geometry: 2,054 triangles, 1,157 vertices, 62 mesh parts
- Clean-import geometry: 2,134 decoded triangles, 63 imported mesh nodes
- Rig: 9 bones, segmented rigid-part prototype rig
- Clips: `Idle_Breathe` (49 frames), `Cast_Waylight` (40 frames), and
  `Plant_Waylight` (56 frames) at 24 fps
- Materials: 10 game-asset materials, no texture files
- Size: approximately 2.91 m tall including the staff
- Blender convention: +Z up, character faces -Y

The source/import triangle difference is exporter-side triangulation and node
reconstruction. Both GLB and FBX clean-imported with one 9-bone armature, all
three clips, no cameras, and no lights.

## Artwork provenance

The portrait is AI-assisted original artwork. The project’s own Blender portrait
render was the authoritative visual reference. A second focused refinement made
the eyes the primary read, reduced competing chest/staff light, and simplified
the backdrop for small-tile clarity. Official game art was not provided to the
image-generation model.

## Import notes

### Blender

Open the `.blend` for the editable source. The character lives in
`Glimmerroot_Asset`; the pedestal, lights, and camera are isolated in
`Render_Stage_DO_NOT_EXPORT`.

### Unity

Use the FBX directly or a maintained glTF importer for the GLB. The FBX uses
`-Z Forward / Y Up`; keep scale factor at 1 and import all three animation takes.
The body pieces are rigidly attached to bones rather than skinned through vertex
weights.

### Godot

Prefer the GLB. Set `Idle_Breathe` to loop. Treat `Cast_Waylight` and
`Plant_Waylight` as one-shot clips.

### Unreal

Import the FBX as a skeletal asset, enable animation import, and verify scene
unit conversion. FBX takes are namespaced but retain all three clip names.

## Production caveat

This is a design and rules prototype, not a drop-in production claim. The
highest-value next test is the PNG inside Spell Valley's actual tile mask,
followed by a graybox of Waylight using the real action economy, terminology,
roster, map constraints, and telemetry. The browser proof makes that discussion
concrete but deliberately does not substitute for an in-engine balance test.