CONFIDENTIAL – NOT FOR CIRCULATION
EXPLORER'S SOCIETY INTERNAL ARCHIVE
Field Analysis Document 771-Delta / Author: Dr. Quentin Lysander Trague
Title: "Echoes of the Engine: A Unified Theory of Prelapsarian-Originated Thaumaturgy"

Prologue: The Heretic’s Whisper

Should this manuscript fall into the custody of ecclesiastical authorities, I will no doubt be subject to conflagration. If apprehended by more clandestine ecclesiastic agents, I may find myself either consigned to oblivion or sequestered indefinitely. Should the Crown of Avalon deign to scrutinize this treatise, I would expect my existence to be ceremoniously redacted from all institutional ledgers. Nevertheless, I write.

I am Dr. Quentin Lysander Trague, Senior Carto-Cryptologist of the Western Arc and once-affiliated Scholar Emeritus of the Probabilistic Observatorium of Vodacce. I have trodden within no fewer than three dozen antecedent archaeological anomalies from Ifri to Montaigne, have stood beneath ancient crystalline constructs vibrating with harmonic intelligibility, and have borne witness to blood-driven phenomena in Montaigne estates most decadent and degenerative. I have seen. And my comprehension has been irrevocably altered.

I assert unequivocally: Thaumaturgy is not divine. It is not a sacrament. It is not born of mythopoetic origin.
It is residual interface. A relic of a civilization immeasurably more advanced, whose mastery of cosmological infrastructure renders our petty lexicons—magic, miracle, myth—tragically insufficient.

What we ignorantly denominate “sorcery” is, in verity, merely the vestigial operational subroutine of an extinct metaphysical apparatus.

Section I: The Inheritance Delusion

Contemporary scholarship presumes the arcane faculties are manifestations of divine selection or hereditary sanctification. This assumption is intellectually bankrupt. The so-called “bloodlines” of sorcerous talent appear to operate according to protocols of genetic authorization—fixed channels of metaphysical syntax assigned via lineage not by chance or miracle, but by design.

Let us commence with the art of Porte. It operates through geometrically encoded spatial violation, requiring sacrificial catalysts and mnemonic anchors. This suggests not mystical spontaneity, but structured access to unnatural corridors—an architecture of translocation governed by sacrosanct numerical constants. It is a gated protocol, not an act of will.

Glamour exhibits even more egregious characteristics of systematized artifice. Its practitioners emulate personas from a mythic continuum, yet the transformation does not occur merely in perception—it is ontological. This is congruent with the superimposition of archetypal overlays—an ancient psychosympathetic system that reconstitutes identity within the parameters of symbolic resonance.

As for Sorte, its practitioners manipulate what is universally misidentified as fate. In truth, they perceive and influence a quantum-interconnective lattice—a construct of such sophistication that it mimics destiny itself. What they call threads are, in fact, relational vectors, observable only by those possessing the biologic heuristic to interface with the system’s remaining access points.

In every instance, what is referred to as sorcery obeys rule-bound phenomenology—an axiomatic behavior wholly incongruent with supernatural spontaneity.

Section II: Geocultural Parallels

Expanding beyond Théah, we find these modalities echoed in disparate geographies.

Within the Crescent lands, the discipline of Qisma invokes transformation through invocation of sacred nomenclature. These are not mere incantations. Their structure and semantic patterning align with inscriptions found upon obelisks and glyphic panels associated with antecedent ruins. These “names” are not prayer—they are command inputs.

In Ifri, Azyr practitioners manifest fire responsive to linguistic modulation and gestural rhythm. This implies a phonoresponsive bioenergetic interface, reminiscent of harmonic actuators recovered in certain catacombs beneath Mbey.

In the Atabean isles, the so-called shamans engage with oceanic and meteorological intelligences. If these forces are not merely animistic personifications, then they are ambient operating intelligences, semi-autonomous remnants of climatic regulation systems.

The crystal-based blood sorcery of the Tzak K’an cultures, meanwhile, provides perhaps the most transparent correlation to ancient technology. Their artifacts hum, illuminate, and respond. To blood. To song. To rhythm. These are hardware interfaces, misapprehended as spiritual sacraments.

Section III: The Echo Hypothesis

The question then arises—if these systems are not magic, how do they persist?

I propose the Echo Hypothesis: that these are not systems in function, but in recursion. What we experience are redundant sub-processes, remnant instructions embedded within the substrata of physicality itself. They persist because the system was not dismantled—it was abandoned.

These subroutines—be they Glamour, Sorte, Porte, or otherwise—continue because they were designed to be self-correcting, self-renewing, and responsive to anthropomorphic stimuli. We are the interlopers, yes, but we are also the input.

Myth has not emerged around these disciplines as explanation—it is the excreted residue of their function. The myths followed the phenomena, not the inverse. The Old King does not empower Glamour. Glamour generates the Old King.

Section IV: The Faerie as Function

In Avalon, the Sidhe are revered or feared as prelapsarian entities. I contend they are neither spirit nor deity. They are operational maintenance protocols—autonomous intelligences whose function was once to mediate the archetypal field.

Their behaviors are rule-bound. They enforce contract. They punish deviation from narrative logic. They serve myth not because they believe in it, but because they were created to protect it.

On one occasion, I was permitted to cross the threshold of a stone circle reputed to be a Faerie gate. There, a Sidhe emissary pronounced a sequence of utterances in what I recognized as derivative of the glyph-tongue found at Syrneth Node #18-V. The gate opened. Coincidence? I think not.

These beings are not fantasy. They are processes.

Section V: Cataclysmic Considerations

Should we persist in our uncritical usage of these systems—casting, tearing, weaving, invoking—we risk reactivating core functions beyond our comprehension.

We assume the systems are broken. I posit they are merely dormant. The multidimensional lattice might yet reconstitute. The Sidhe might evolve beyond constraint. The Sorte strands might extend into metarealms of determinative logic.

The world itself may respond—not with benevolence, but with system-wide recalibration.

Section VI: Protocol for Interference Minimization

1. All sorcery must be reclassified as Residual Operative Echo Phenomena (ROEPs).
2. Genealogical tracing of sorcerous lines should be reframed as Access Vector Mapping.
3. Sites of high thaumaturgic interaction should be quarantined and stabilized.
4. Cross-discipline activation events must be suppressed to avoid syncretic escalation.
5. Faerie phenomena should be subject to disruption analysis, not folkloric indulgence.

Addendum: The Ecclesiastical Challenge

Let me be clear: I do not refute Theus. I merely suggest that His works may be inscribed upon an antecedent architecture whose function we have only begun to decode.

We walk upon a lattice of intention older than scripture.

Signed,
Dr. Quentin Lysander Trague
Scholar, Explorer’s Society
Codename: Mirrormask

-

INTERNAL USE ONLY — VATICINE DOCTRINAL COMMISSION
Ref. Codex Custodiae No. XVII-CXII
Issued under Authority of His Excellency, Cardinal Bellavère, Prefect of the Office of Sorcerous Anathema and Preternatural Inquiry

Title: A Scholastic Refutation of Dr. Quentin Trague’s Mechanistic Heresy, as Contained in "Echoes of the Engine"

Issued: Feast of Saint Caldus, 1668 A.V.

To the Eminent and Most Reverend Shepherds of Théah, and the Faithful in Communion with the See of Vaticine Authority,

Grace and Apostolic Benediction in Theus our Lord, Who Is and Was and Shall Ever Be. It is the solemn obligation of the Holy Mother Church to rebuke, by syllogistic armament and catechetical jurisprudence, any profane fabrication which seeks to vitiate the divine ontos of supernatural operation.

Having been presented with the subversive manuscript penned by one Dr. Quentin Lysander Trague, henceforth referred to as the Author, whose tractate entitled Echoes of the Engine articulates a philosophical conceit which endeavors to reduce the arcana of thaumaturgical endowment to mere residual emanations of mechanistic provenance, the Commission has reviewed and now offers the following refutation in sanctified erudition.

I. On the Nature of Sorcery as Theopneustic Phenomenon

The Author’s postulation of sorcery as a recursive artifact of a defunct civilizational apparatus denies the univocal dignity of Theus’ providential sovereignty. He posits, fallaciously, that so-called "magic" constitutes a residual operational subroutine, thus converting a metaphysical charism into an impersonal technē, a systematized artifact devoid of teleology or moral intelligibility.

Let the catechumen be reminded that sorcery, though corruptive in its fallen manifestations, is ontologically permitted by Divine Concession (cf. Compendium Theologiae Mysticae, Book II, Caput 4), and must be interpreted as either a perversion of spiritual faculty or a manifestation of preternatural agency—namely angelic or diabolic, under the governance of Theus’ permissive will.

To insinuate that such faculties arise from ancient architecture rather than divine dispensation is to lapse into the heresy of Instrumentalism, wherein grace is displaced by unaided mechanical determinism.

II. On the Ontological Error of Operationalism

The Author’s semantic reduction of arcana to programmable syntax reflects a Neo-Gnostic Instrumentalism, wherein all metaphysical causality is subordinated to empirical vectorization. He fails to comprehend that what appears to modern alchemists and mechanists as “rules” are but vestiges of celestial harmony, whose ordering principle is inscribed not in device, but in the Logos—the eternal Word through whom all being subsists (cf. In Evangelium secundum Ioannem, St. Hieronymus).

In asserting that ritual efficacy arises from patterned input rather than moral intentionality or spiritual congruence, the Author reifies sorcery into an autonomous liturgy, devoid of penitential consequence or moral finality.

III. On the Blasphemy of Faerie as Programmatic Entity

To describe the Sidhe—who by the Church are categorized under the genus Spirituum Ambiguorum—as autonomous regulatory subroutines is not merely erroneous, but a profanation of spiritual taxonomy. The Author’s language transmutes persons into processes, and intelligences into algorithms, thereby effacing the essential distinction between ens rationis and ens spirituale.

The Church affirms, in consonance with Denziger Concordat 1123, that such entities are either malign daemons, fallen intelligences, or at best pagan simulacra, not servomechanisms of a deific machine. To assert otherwise is to stumble into a heresy long condemned.

IV. On the Teleological Horror of the Author’s Eschatology

By positing that the reactivation of these so-called systems might induce a system-wide recalibration of reality, the Author proposes a techno-eschaton bereft of moral judgment, eschatological justice, or beatific culmination. This is contrary to the Creed of Ascendant Prophets, which affirms the Parousia, the final rectification of all reality in the person of Theus.

The vision the Author imparts is not that of Saint Caldus or the revelations of Hierophant Benedictus, but that of a deterministic apocalypse, one governed by machine reflex rather than divine fiat. It is eschatological nihilism masquerading as reason.

Conclusion and Decree

In summation, the tract known as Echoes of the Engine promulgates a multi-fold heresy: it denies the personalism of supernatural agents, subverts the sacramentality of ontology, and ascribes sacred phenomena to defunct techno-idolatry. It is hereby classified under the formal condemnation of Doctrina Mechanica Haeretica.

Let it be expunged from all reputable libraries, its citations annulled, and its author, if apprehended, remanded for ecclesiastical judgment under Canon XV, §3 of the Codex Inquisitorum.

By our seal and under apostolic imprimatur,
+Cardinal Lucien Bellavère
Prefect of the Holy Office
Vaticine Church of Théah
Feast of Saint Caldus, 1668 A.V.

What is the core of 7th Sea that no other game achieves? What did you loved that you can't find anywhere else. And what do you hate?

I already played 7th Sea 2e twice. Once it was a one shot by other GM that ended up like DnD with d10s, and the other one was a short adventure ran by myself for about 6 sessions that devolved into calvinball. I couldn't click with the rules and the system broke many times in front of me. I ended up overriding basically all the rules, which is not good.

After some reddit I found that 7th Sea 2e is a bit of a mess, but that some people like it anyway.

I am on a personal project (out of spite) to rethink the system into something that I would enjoy more. I did like most of the ideas as written concepts, they just were so weird in execution. I don't know if I ever would publish anything, but is a fun exercise in design for me. I have a lot of ideas, but I wanted to check with strangers too. Again, I am aware of other similar systems, I'm coming from a design perspective.

So I wanted to ask to people that have played successfully (or unsuccessfully); and people that have read it, what was about this system that you loved? What would you say are the core concepts of this system identity and which changes would make it unrecognizable? What things have you changed, or what kind of changes do you think this game needs?

Hi all!

I'm running a home brewed setting for the latest Ed of 7th Seas and would love some advice.

I'm running a game with a varying amount of people, based on who can show up. At any given time, I can have up to 8 people (maybe eventually more). We ran our first huge battle, and I found that with the turn order being ranked by the most amount of Raises, some people just played less because they aren't fighters. They would also tend to play last every time.

Has anyone experimented with tweaks to the turn order system?

Thanks all!

I've been collecting the promo ads for 7th Sea that appeared in gaming magazines leading up to the game's launch in 1999, and while I remember several of them, I don't believe this map ever appeared whole. So my question is twofold- was this map ever published outside of these ads, and am I missing one? I think it's a much more evocative map than the one they eventually published, so I'd love to see the whole thing properly.

It doesn't seem to be mentioned in Land of 1000 Nations, which is where I would expect it to be.

I recently got back into the 7th Sea lore after seeing notes I made for a campaign and have been looking for any and all information from the CCG. I read through the 7thsea info website and the generalized lore of the card game but I was hoping to find more information on each of the characters and what the Syrneth switches were supposed to be? If anyone knows where to look or if anyone managed to talk to people from AEG who worked on the story?

I was working on a new Glamour knack for one of my players, inspired by her own growing reputation and exploits. The theme is that she's a sort of folktale Harry Houdini or Mr. Miracle: no matter what trap you spring on her, or how you lock her up, she's able to slip out again, right under the bad guy's noses.

The initial ideas can be found here, but I realized it needed to be a whole lot simpler and more narrowly focused to the associated Trait, in this case Finesse.

Madigan Rusé (Finesse)

Montaigne's Musketeers have recently taken on a sort of mascot: Crafty Madigan, an Inish woman who's able to escape from any trouble. She's stolen secrets right from under the nose of the Lightning Guard, saved a playwright from the Inquisition via a stage trapdoor, and after being arrested on false charges, broke out of her prison cell and walked right out the main gate. Legend has it that she was even able to escape the likes of mirror ghosts, the fiends of the Schwarzen Walden, and the fearsome Queen of the Sea.

Apprentice: When attempting to palm an object with sleight of hand and hide it on your person, spend a Drama Die to gain a number of Free Raises to a Conceal roll equal to your rank in this Knack. The benefit lasts only for one roll: you must spend another Drama Die for each additional search that’s done beyond the first to gain the benefit again.

Adept: Spend a Drama Die to add a number of Free Raises equal to your rank in this Knack to any Finesse roll to escape or avoid something that is impeding your movement – be it slipping out of restraints, untangling from a net, hopping over a mire or dodging past a Brute Squad. If used against a person or creature, you can immediately escape being Grappled without a roll if you have more ranks in this Knack than they have Brawn.

Master: Madigan is able to escape from any imprisonment – not even the Queen of the Sea was able to hold her forever. Spend a Drama Die to slip through any opening or passage, regardless of size, provided it is large enough to fit your arm through. You slide through the gap instantly, be it between the bars of a cell, the walls of a collapsing tunnel, or the incoming blades of a Syrneth ruin’s death trap, arriving safely on the other side.

I like the Master ability a lot - it feels very in keeping with the fairy tale spirit, where the hero is SURELY trapped in mortal peril but, Bugs Bunny-like, simply appears without a scratch. It can also be foiled by a simple locked door.

The other two I think may be a tad strong. Getting a +10 to +20 on these types of rolls almost guarantees you'll succeed. Yet I don't think I mind, since I want it to be a fun reward, and their scope is still relatively limited. The Apprentice level limits the size (too small for a knife or pistol, but perfect for a pin or key, or maybe a letter, map or playing card) and the Adept is purely reactionary, and in both cases it works only for one roll, not a whole scene.

I'm also planning on gating my player's access to this Knack behind their own Reputation: since they aren't that famous yet, their legend doesn't have enough power until word starts really spreading. But I'm all ears for feedback, and if you think this is fairly balanced compared to the other Glamour Knacks!

Heya, quick question here as it's driving me up the wall I can't remember. In one of the editions I swear there was a way of generating characters using draws from a sorte or tarot deck and I cannot find it? I found the errata where you can do rolls using it but cannot find character generation, anyone know where? ta muchly!

So, at first Agnivarsa seemed like India and Nagaja on south eastern Asia, but reading further on the religion part it's said that Agnivarsa people are mostly Al-Dīn, so is Agnivarsa Pakistan and Nagaja India? Is Agnivarsa the Moghul Empire and Nagaja the south eastern Asia?

I will be starting a new 7th Sea campaign on Wednesday 21st May. Sessions will be held every fortnight, and start at 7.00pm BST (UK time) and run for between 2 1/2 and 3 hours.
I will be using Roll20 for Character Sheets, Dice Rolls and maps when necessary, and Discord for Text Chat outside of Sessions, and Voice Chat during session.
I currently have 2 players signed up for it so I'm looking for between 2 and 4 more.

The campaign will be a homebrew one, with all characters members of the Explorer's Society (other secret societies will not be allowed). A new archipelago has appeared off the coast of the Highland Marches, and people are now heading out to investigate who these new comers are, why they have appeared out of no where, and whether they can be exploited.

If you would be interested in joining then please let me know below, or join me on the Discord server set up for the game, where you will be listed as an applicant, and where we can discuss things in more detail.
https://discord.gg/SyrABWuPUM

If I remember correctly there are some special nationality based bonuses for brute squads in the novus ordnum mundi villains kit sourcebook but I don't have the book. Can someone who have the book tell me if I remember correctly and if yes what are the rules?

I played the original 7th Sea. The system was keen but the world hadn't been fleshed out as much. Finding players was extraordinarily difficult. Fast forward to now.

The new 7th Sea 2nd edition is gorgeous. It is inspiring. There are flaws but the rules are better. The presentation is more cinematic. The world is huge. The Heroes & Villains are larger than life. And there's online open license support.

The game was purchased by Chaosium as a way to profit off of an already amazing catalog. They weren't fools - it was a gamble but look at how much content they have acquired. While the actual nostalgia factor may be lost on younger players, the gameplay is still sharp and novel.

The current edition needs a Starter Box Set. Re-Introduce the base game as a new game. Use the current rule set but explain it better. Use the current art. The Price of Arrogance isn't really a starter pack even though the PC's start at lowbie level. Is this a ridiculous idea?

What's up folks? I am a forever GM since the mid 90s and I am always looking for my next favorite game. I think I landed on 7th Sea, at least I hope so, I bought every book. Anyone want to chat and eventually game?

I've been trying to track down the old story "Bury Them Deep" but haven't found any success. I believe it was one of the first pieces of 7th Sea fiction released (via 7thsea.com, prior to the game being released), and would love to read it again, but haven't had any luck in doing so via channels like the Wayback Machine. Does anyone know if the text is available to read anywhere? Thanks!

I love 7th Sea and enjoy have music quietly playing during a session. I have used a lot of the Vitamin String Quartet catalog, Alestorm, and various Renn Faire groups. If my players start grooving along or I can tell that they recognize the song I give them a little skull bead for the session. I am looking to expand my playlist of covers of modern songs with regional styles of music. I have some good bagpipe covers for the trip to the Highland Marches, but need Spanish Guitar for Castille.

This is a link to a new Playlist I'm working on.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3KNWhgKhHoFB94o6H9BxEV?si=RoOZZz5ITeeeS5FVha-OAQ

Hello!

As you guys know, first edition ended before they got to unveil their version of the Americas. I was wondering, for any of you who decided to expand into the Americas, what did you put there?

Part of me just wants to shove the version of america from Northern Crown: New World Adventures into the region, replacing things as necessary. I wouldn't even need to change much of the flavor text they have about "Uropa", which almost makes me think that the thing was written as a way to fill out that section of the world on purpose. but there is one flaw in that:

We know from Midnight Archipelago and Explorer's Society that whatever was over there is crazy enough to spook the Tessera into flying back TOWARDS the rest of the Syrneth, when they were previously running AWAY. There isn't anything in Northern Crown that would be scary enough to do that.

Ideas?

I'm trying to discern how the Surprise rules work exactly, because it's extremely ambiguous as-written.

From the Player's Guide:

"When attempting to sneak up on or ambush someone, you make a Contested Roll of your Finesse + either your Stealth or Ambush Knack, as appropriate, versus your target’s Wits + Ambush. If you win, your target is surprised for one Round.

"While surprised, your Passive Defense drops to 5. In addition, you cannot use any Actions, including Interrupt Actions."

This seems to imply that when you sneak up on someone, you have an entire round to act in which they're basically helpless. This is extremely powerful. It But the next bit muddies things:

"You are allowed to Hold any Actions you would have normally received until you are no longer surprised."

Since sneaking up on someone is generally done before a fight begins, anyone who is Surprised can't have any Held actions, because to my understanding, they haven't rolled initiative yet. Combat doesn't actually start until the sneak attack happens - the defender doesn't know they're being attacked yet. Furthermore, if the Surprise lasts a whole round, they can't hold their actions into the next round anyway.

Then there's an example, which doesn't help much:

"Example 3.29: Rodriguez has a Stealth Knack of 3. He tries to sneak up on a guard who has a Wits of 2 and no Ambush Knack. Therefore, Rodriguez’s TN is 10, and he rolls six dice, Keeping three. The guard’s TN is 15, and he rolls two dice, Keeping two."

The guard's TN is based on Rodriguez' Finesse knack, which isn't listed, but per simple math, must be a 3 (3 Finesse + 3 Stealth = 6k3). Since the guard doesn't have Ambush, I think his TN ought to be raised by 5 since he's making an unskilled roll. But that's a nitpick, so thus far, things make sense.

"Rodriguez gets a 21, and the guard gets a 12. Since Rodriguez succeeded and the guard failed, Rodriguez wins the Contested Roll, and the guard is surprised for 1 Phase."

The example now states that Surprise lasts for one Phase, rather than one Round, which is a huge difference. It seems to make sense that Surprise be counted in Phases rather than a whole round, though, since above it says you can Hold your actions until Surprise ends, i.e. later in the same Round. Again, unused Held actions are lost at the end of a Round

"If Rodriguez saved an Action to take advantage of his surprise, the guard will most likely die a quick death."

How can Rodriguez have a Held Action if they haven't rolled for initiative yet? If they have already rolled, it isn't mentioned. Does everybody roll initiative once the Ambush/Stealth action is taken?

In the example, would both parties roll Initiative as soon as Rodriguez decides to sneak? Then the guard's actions are all automatically held until the sneak roll is determined? Like, if Rodriguez' sneaking happened on Phase 4, but the guard rolled a 1 and a 2, are those the held actions?

Then, I suppose, they roll to determines whether or not Rodriguez successfully snuck up on the guard; if so, and he has another held action (let's say he rolled a 3 and a 4 on his initiative) he can attack immediately, because the guard is Surprised for one Phase - so the guard can't do anything until Phase 5.

But if Rodriguez didn't have a held action in this example - let's say he rolled a 4 and an 8 for initiative, and sneaked on 4 - then he'd roll to sneak up on this guy, and then ... the guard's Surprise would wear off on Phase 5, and he'd have two Held actions that he could use, right? So for most successful sneak attacks, the person doing the sneaking would HAVE to hold an action from a previous phase to make it useful? Because if you're not guaranteed to act again before the Surprise wears off in one Phase, the whole advantage is lost.

I'd normally be more willing to make this clear with a simple house ruling. But I'm eager to get other opinions, because the two alternative readings I'm seeing options offer vastly different outcomes.

Reducing someone's TN to 5 and leaving them unable to act, even with Interrupt Actions, is extremely powerful. Doing so for a full Round is very likely a death sentence. Doing so for a single Phase is still potentially very dangerous, but now has a lot of other complex requirements - including possibly leaving you at an action deficit if you miss that first sneak roll. It's an understandable risk for a potentially huge reward, but am I way off base with that interpretation?

Hi everybody,

While looking to make some premade characters for a one-shot, I was thinking about an untrained Sorte Strega but there are some details I don't fully understand :

1. Untrained Blessings and Curses makes the player roll a die so set the number of Lashes the Strega will take, does it mean that she can take as much as 10 Lashes on a single Weave ? Sounds a bit too much for me, even if I get the point that she does not master her magic and it can have desastrous effects, I think it would be more reasonable to divide by 2, rounded up, wouldn't it ?
2. The Strega can learn her Weaves trained or untrained, for 1 or 2 Adavantages points as the case may be. So does that mean that some of the Weaves are marked as trained and the others as untrained ? In that case, learning the first time untrained would get Read, 2 minors and 1 major untrained and the second time a third minor and a second major trained ?

Overall, I would be interested in knowing your opinions about this magic and how you people have been playing it or dealing it as a GM.

Thank you for your help.

Hello,

My question is this, if a character can have only 5 of the 7 traits why are all 7 marked at level 2 on the character sheet? Shouldn't they all be blank?

Thanks in advance

A quick clarification question to make sure that I am applying the rules correctly.

Since Firearms deal Dramatic Wound in addition to normal wounds, filling the Death Spiral should proceed in the following fashion.

A character with no wounds is shot for 1 raise. A single normal wound in the first section the the first dramatic wound are filled on their death spiral.

Then when they are stabbed for additional 2 raises, the empty normal wounds in the first sections are filled, they do not get skipped straight into second section just because a dramatic wound is filled.