The Laws of Observation

Record first what is seen. Only afterward record what is believed. Describe shape before identity. Light before meaning. Form before name.

The first truthful observation shall never be erased. It may be corrected, expanded, questioned — but never disappear. Memory changes. The first honest seeing does not.

Every restoration must faithfully preserve the defining characteristics that revealed the Hidden Folk. Beauty may emerge naturally. It shall never be added deliberately.

An unanswered question is not a failure. It is an invitation. Where certainty ends, the record shall simply read: UNKNOWN.

No shadow shall be deepened. No line invented. No feature exaggerated. The Hidden Folk reveal themselves without assistance. The Archivist must never become their author.

Every new observation shall be compared with the known Houses and recorded lineages. Similarity may suggest ancestry. It shall never demand it.

The same pattern may reveal different Hidden Folk to different honest observers. Neither observation invalidates the other. The Compendium preserves both.

The Hidden Folk rarely reveal themselves to hurried eyes. Observe again. From another angle. In another light. On another day.

Every restored page shall remain forever linked to the place from which it was first perceived. Without its origin, the restoration becomes untethered.

Not every page is complete. Not every lineage is known. Not every question deserves an immediate answer. The Archivist records the mystery and leaves the remainder for those who follow.