Wake Ships are assembled from Storybound Components—modules that stabilize intent, motion, and survival within the Storywake. Each category governs a different aspect of how the ship exists, moves, and responds to narrative pressure.
A functioning Wake Ship requires components from multiple categories. A ship overloaded in one category and lacking in another will drift, distort, or fail.
What the ship is
Hull and Frame components define the ship’s physical and narrative structure. They determine how much instability a ship can endure before coherence begins to fracture.
These components establish:
Structural integrity
Resistance to Wake shear
Capacity for additional modules
Baseline silhouette and scale
Some hulls are rigid and resilient. Others are fluid, adaptive, or semi-conceptual. A hull that resists change too strongly may struggle in shifting currents, while one that adapts too freely may lose definition.
Why the ship moves
The Core Assembly anchors the ship’s purpose. It is the narrative heart of the vessel, determining how the Storywake recognizes and responds to it.
Core Assemblies influence:
Route accessibility
Response to danger
Ship behavior under stress
Compatibility with crew
A ship’s Core is not optional. Without it, the vessel is inert. Changing a Core fundamentally alters the ship’s identity—and is never trivial.
How the ship travels
Wake Propulsion components generate and sustain the ship’s wake of continuity, allowing it to move through the Storywake rather than dissolve into it.
These systems govern:
Speed and maneuverability
Wake stability
Ability to push against adverse currents
Recovery from drift
Some propulsion favors smooth, safe travel. Others allow aggressive traversal at the cost of strain. Overuse can exhaust both ship and crew.
Where the ship can go
Navigation components interpret the Storywake’s shifting currents and translate resonance into direction.
They enable:
Route detection
Avoidance of Unwritten regions
Path prediction
Alignment with specific Story Realms
Navigation is not purely technical. Many systems rely on intuition, memory, or symbolic input. A navigator who ignores resonance signs risks leading the ship into places that should not be reached.
How the ship stays whole
These components prevent narrative erosion, identity loss, and destabilization during prolonged Wake exposure.
They handle:
Wake turbulence
Narrative bleed
Component desynchronization
Emergency coherence reinforcement
Without sufficient stabilization, even well-built ships will eventually unravel.
How the ship avoids being undone
Wake Ships are rarely designed for combat. Defensive systems instead focus on preserving narrative integrity rather than inflicting damage.
These components provide:
Deflection of hostile resonance
Evasion of threats
Temporary shielding
Disruption of pursuit
Ships built around confrontation exist—but they are uncommon and often short-lived.
What the ship can do besides travel
Utility components expand a ship’s role beyond transit.
Common functions include:
Cargo handling
Crew habitation
Workshop or fabrication spaces
Medical or restorative functions
Environmental adaptation
These modules often define a ship’s personality. Two ships with identical propulsion may feel entirely different depending on their utility configuration.
How the crew interacts with the ship
These components translate crew intent into ship response.
They govern:
Command responsiveness
Division of control roles
Ease of attunement
Resistance to interference
Some interfaces are tactile. Others are symbolic, verbal, or purely conceptual. Poor interface design can cause crew conflict—even when systems are functioning correctly.
How the ship changes over time
These components allow Wake Ships to grow, reconfigure, or evolve in response to experience.
They enable:
Modular expansion
Component swapping
Temporary reconfiguration
Narrative growth events
Ships without adaptation capacity eventually become obsolete—or brittle.
What breaks the rules
These rare components do not fit cleanly into other categories.
They may:
Bend navigation logic
Ignore certain Wake hazards
Interface with the Unwritten
Respond only under specific narrative conditions
Such components are powerful—but unpredictable. Installing too many often destabilizes a ship’s Core.
A Wake Ship is not defined by a single component, but by balance.
Speed without stability invites loss.
Defense without purpose invites stagnation.
Adaptation without identity invites dissolution.
The best Wake Ships are not the most advanced.
They are the ones that still know
why they move.