Laelith is unique in the depth and breadth of its Lore, as evidenced by the remarkable Index of entries compiled by Frédéric Vallat from the pages of Laelith's most recently published French version. As such, it really matters to get its ontology right.
Here is the classification we devised and propose using to classify and label all index entries.
Main Categories
Each index entry belongs to a unique Main Category:
Location: Category of all index entries that have a fixed, permanent or long-term defined, position on a (usually cadastral) map.
Examples: The High terrace, Paladins ladder, Vorn's Cliff, the Grand Duchy of Agramor.
Living: Category of all index entries capable of moving on a map by themselves, or of their own volition.
Examples: Didier Guiserix, Fanrod Mornedoc, a Doodlyn, Teaphanerys XIV the Long-lived (when alive).
Thing: Category of all index entries that can be moved on a map, though not by themselves.
Examples: A Laelophone, a tankard of Schtoob, a finger-snap, the Killhem tree.
Concept: Category of all index entries that are neither a Location, nor a Living, nor a Thing.
Examples: Snooper, God-King, Celestia, Segur & Knight's disease, to go mist-hunting.
Sub-categories
When needed, main categories are further divided into mutually exclusive sub-categories, as follows:
Locations sub-categories
All index entries in the Location category are either:
an Area: Sub-category of Locations that cover a substantial area of the map and contain either multiple Lots and Arteries, or a major Geographical feature. An area is always defined by one or more closed polygons.
Examples: Laelith the mystical city, the Bath-Oh! neighborhood, the Languishings marshes, Barony of Kaoca.
an Artery: Sub-category of Locations that form the public thoroughfare through which the general public can usually travel along or move through. Arteries can either be open (roads, pathways, waterways, bridges & gates) or closed (gardens, plazas) polygons.
Examples: Buttery ladder, bone bridge, dispatchers garden, Zyglute square.
a Lot: Sub-category of Locations that are man-made and contain no other Lot than those of type Subdivision.
Examples: House of the Thousand Flowers, the Divine lock, ruins of Cuss Castle, the Forbidden library.
Living sub-categories
All index entries in the Living category are either:
Thing sub-categories
All index entries in the Thing category are either:
Concept sub-categories
All index entries in the Concept category are either:
Attribute: Sub-category of Concepts that are a skill, trait or title linked to a Living.
Example: Snooper, Dwarf, High Priest.
Location Types
Locations are also classified according to their type (and, often, sub-type) and usually identified by a corresponding marker type on the Map. Unlike Categories, types are often, but not always, mutually exclusive and a Location could be of two distinct types or sub-types at once.
Area types
Artery types
Road
Impasse: Killhem impasse
Ladder: Puppeteer's ladder
Stairs: Stairway of the ineffable faith
Street: Fountain of Youth street
Trail: The Unhinged
Lot types
Construct
Bridge: Bridge of smiles
Cemetery: God-Kings graveyard
Enclosure: Sacred lizard beasts enclosure
Fountain: Fountain of wishes
Gate: Gate of delightful ecstasy
Mine: Dwarven colony mine shaft
Moat: Great moat
Monument: Stele of remembrance
Pool: Elemental pool
Rampart: Northern ramparts, Wall of Muggy Finepalette
Tower: Beacon towers
Subdivision
Floor/Level
Room: Forbidden library
Lots Classification by Activity
It can also be useful to categorize various Lot types by the genre of activity conducted in them.
Activity Genre
Concept Types
Concepts are also classified according to their type (and, sometimes sub-type).
Attribute types
Condition types
Event types
Organization types
Organizations are groups of Livings capable of demonstrating Proof of Humanship and assembled around a common cause or purpose, their Domain of expertise. Depending on the Powers it holds, an Organization can be a:
Council
Councils are organizations that hold (compulsory) Voting, (advisory) Polling and/or (meta) Governance powers & privileges over their Domain(s) of expertise:
Voting councils have the power to hold procedurally-binding votes over matters falling under their own Domain of Expertise.
Example:The God-King's Inner Council has voting powers over all matters under the purvey of the four Temples, with a tie-break going to the High Priest controlling the domain of expertise being voted upon.
Fellowship
Fellowships are organizations that have a direct say or control over a set of beliefs in Laelith, as expressed in the Wiki's Lore pages. As such, Fellowships usually have supervisory editing and tagging rights over Wiki pages corresponding to their beliefs set.
Beliefs are layers of lore one can choose to make visible or not, in the wiki and on the map.
Guild
Guilds are the only type of organizations owning a multi-sig wallet that can hold their common resources (NFTs, digital currency and other shared digital resources). Guilds are organized around a common purpose or activity belonging to one of the following sub-types:
Crafting Guild: Dedicated to the crafting of goods, digital or
IRL.
Example: The Guild of Armorers & Blacksmiths
Tags are also used to designate specific properties of certain guilds. For instance:
Design Notes
Each Category/sub-category/type/sub-type is designed to be mutually exclusive from all others, so that an index entry can only ever belong to one, and one only, category/sub-category/type/sub-type. If an index entry belongs to two (or more) distinct categories, this simply means there are multiple entries with the same name, each belonging to a distinct category.
Ontology Dictionary on the API