STRUCTURE / SILHOUETTE
8 sentinel archetypes across four signal families. Structure implies posture, function class and the types of cores/interfaces that make sense.
family → posture → presumed functionNOCKVEIL is a 1,337-Sentinel network built around compatibility, relationships, productive state and irreversible transformation.
The image is the first interface. It reveals a Sentinel's signal role. The protocol layer determines what that Sentinel can do. A visually quiet Sentinel can still be structurally important, while a rare appearance can remain operationally unresolved.
Acquisition is external. Protocol activity begins after a Sentinel enters a wallet and is read by the network.
Every entity is generated as a sentence. Trait categories are not independent decoration; each layer constrains the next.
8 sentinel archetypes across four signal families. Structure implies posture, function class and the types of cores/interfaces that make sense.
family → posture → presumed function6 active core types plus the Absent Core state. The core can confirm a structure, complicate it, or deliberately disappear. Absent Core is a socket, not a Void Core.
structure + core → physical logic7 interface types describe what the entity expects: input, output, connection, control or perception.
interface → directionality6 materials are grouped into three fictional eras. Material is historical information, not a color skin.
material → origin / era7 states describe current condition: dormant, active, incomplete, contained, awaiting, fractured and more.
state → permitted transitionsAnomalies are controlled grammar breaks. Most are quiet. A small set create cross-entity clues.
rule break → possible signalThe Nockveil genesis population is fixed at 1,337 Sentinels. Distribution is weighted by signal role rather than simple trait-count rarity.
Nockveil pairings resolve complementary signal roles. The registry can connect a Sentinel that emits a route with one capable of receiving and stabilizing it.

An active output Sentinel that publishes an Arrow-Link route into the Nockveil registry.

Its receiver stabilizes the authored Arrow-Link signal emitted by Sentinel #0124.
Matching is a constrained registry query, not a similarity score. The engine checks whether a Sentinel's authored signal link can be stabilized by a compatible core and whether both states permit connection.
compatible(a, b) = a.socketType != null AND b.detachedCore == true AND a.requiredCoreIdentity == b.coreIdentity AND stateGate(a) == OPEN AND stateGate(b) == OPEN
This is the conceptual compatibility predicate. The production contract can encode the same invariant with a different implementation.
A match does not silently mutate an NFT. Both sides authorize the relationship. Once active, the pair becomes a productive protocol state and begins generating Credits.
The entities can belong to different wallets. Connection therefore behaves like a handshake: discovery is permissionless, activation is bilateral.
Connection keeps both genesis entities alive. Fusion is the later irreversible transformation that consumes the connected relationship and creates a Composite Entity.
Credits are the protocol's productive accounting unit. Connected machines generate Credits. Credits are then routed into one of the protocol's available stock-linked reward markets.
Fusion is not a second sale. It is a state transition. A valid connection can be transformed by burning 25,000 $NKV. The burn is the fuel required to make the relationship permanent enough to become something new.
The token and the reward unit therefore have different jobs. Credits measure productive state; $NKV pays the irreversible cost of changing state.
The genesis registry contains 83 anomaly-bearing Sentinels. Most anomalies are quiet: a single proportion deviation, a mismatched component, a strange material patch or a cross-entity clue that only becomes legible after a match is discovered.
The public experience can remain simple while the underlying system stays modular. Ownership, registry state, reward accounting and transformation are separate concerns.
The architecture intentionally leaves the reward settlement adapter replaceable. The protocol's accounting and routing logic do not need to be rewritten when the production settlement rail changes.
No. The authored registry contains a finite set of explicit fusion relationships. Unresolved entities remain valid protocol participants through fallback operation.
Yes. Visual resemblance is not the compatibility key. The relationship is determined by protocol identifiers and state gates.
Yes. The protocol includes a standalone/fallback operating path so unresolved entities are not dead ends.
Credits are the productive accounting unit generated by protocol activity. They are routed toward stock-linked reward output according to protocol rules.
$NKV is the transformation fuel. A production Fusion requires a permanent burn of 25,000 tokens.
The connection is consumed and a Composite Entity state is created. The result inherits protocol information from both parents.
Outside the operating surface. The Protocol website is designed to become the technical home for entities after acquisition.