#Object Tags and Names

Contents

#Scent — Object Tags and Names

Fiction-Only — A tag is a small claim that the world can be sorted. The world often disagrees.

The auction tag was tied with shrine cord, not merchant twine. The price had been crossed out three times, each time replaced by a different name. The final line did not say "sold." It said "recognized."

#Table — Tags and Names

#	Tag or Name	Loose Edge
1	"Comb, black lacquer. Returned from the bride's hair after cremation."	How did it return, and why is the hair absent?
2	"Small bell. Rings only when held by a liar. Do not test near children."	What truth do children make dangerous?
3	"Mirror shard, river-polished. Shows the viewer's previous apology."	What apology is someone trying to recover or erase?
4	"Name list: six retainers, one dog, one season."	Why is a season counted as a retainer?
5	"Empty jar, sealed. Contents removed before manufacture."	How can something be removed before it exists?
6	"Travel sandals, left pair only. Owner arrived with both feet."	Who or what took the right pair?
7	"Mask fragment. Actor unknown. Audience remembers performance differently."	Which memory is attached to the mask?
8	"Child's toy sword. Blunt edge. Real blood in grain."	Who was wounded by a toy?
9	"Account tag: debt paid in rain."	Who accepted weather as payment?
10	"Prayer bead strand, missing the bead for mercy."	Was mercy removed, spent, or never included?
11	"House name: Reed-Under-Moon. No house of that name in this province."	Is the name from elsewhere, or is the province wrong?
12	"Arrow without head, labeled for court use."	What kind of court receives headless arrows?
13	"Charcoal bundle. Smells of incense after being burned."	What was hidden in the wood?
14	"Medicine packet. Instructions: take after death, before regret."	Who can follow the instruction?
15	"Broken hairpin. Found in locked armor chest."	Who wore it into war?
16	"Ledger nickname: The Man Who Paid Twice."	What was the second payment, and who collected it?
17	"Stone from dry riverbed. Wet when accused."	What accusation does it answer?
18	"Scabbard, no sword. Label says 'sword delayed.'"	Where is the sword traveling from?
19	"Festival fan. Blank front, back painted with ashes."	Whose festival has an ash-facing side?
20	"Infant name tablet, never used, heavily worn."	Who handled an unused name for years?
21	"Rice scoop from temple kitchen. Marked 'for ghosts with rank.'"	Which ghosts are served formally?
22	"Key, bone handle. Opens nothing in daylight."	What changes after dark: the key, the door, or the owner?
23	"List of missing objects: one comb, one shadow, one younger brother, one winter."	Who wrote objects and kin in the same inventory?
24	"Red cord labeled 'cut after wedding, not before birth.'"	Which event is tied to which?

#Table — Object Pressure

Object Role	Scenario Use
Proof	The object verifies a claim no living witness can make safely.
Bait	The object is displayed so the right person will reveal knowledge of it.
Debt	Ownership of the object carries obligation, not value.
Vessel	The object holds a name, silence, promise, shadow, memory, or route.
Mistake	The label is wrong, and the wrong label is the clue.

#Note — Using Tags and Names

Object tags are strongest when the thing itself is ordinary. A comb, jar, bell, or rope can carry more pressure than a legendary relic if the label implies the wrong life around it.

When a name appears without a body, decide whether it is a person, house, season, office, spirit, oath, or alias. Do not reveal this immediately. Let the name be used incorrectly at least once.