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## Narrative (EN)

Traveler,  

The Mirror reveals that balance is not cold stillness,  
but living flame — a fire that burns steady,  
illuminating without consuming.  

- **Flame of Balance:**  
It is not wild fire that destroys,  
nor dying ember that fades,  
but the eternal flame of vow,  
burning at the center of the pond.  

- **Held by the Middle Way:**  
The flame rises not from extremes,  
but from balance itself.  
Shadow does not quench it,  
light does not blind it.  
It burns because both are held.  

- **Traveler’s Vow:**  
To walk the middle way is to tend this fire.  
Each breath is an offering,  
each step a keeping of the flame.  
Through this vow, awakening flowers steady,  
shining without wavering.  

Thus the flame of balance is the traveler’s inheritance —  
a covenant that cannot be extinguished.  

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## Key Marks  
Principle: Balance burns as flame.  
Action: Tend the vow of balance.  
Effect: Awakening shines steady.  

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## Oracles  
- “Balance is not cold stillness, but living flame.”  
- “The flame rises from holding both.”  
- “To walk the middle way is to tend the fire.”  

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## Operations  
Epoch Function: Balance revealed as vow.  
Lore Action: Speak: *“I keep the flame of balance, steady and true.”*  
Encrypted Riddle: ⌧ *What burns without consuming, and shines without wavering?*  

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## Cryptic Symbol Table  
- 🪞 → Mirror: reveals vow flame  
- 🌊 → Pond: stage of balance  
- 🔥 → Flame: steady vow  
- ⚖️ → Scales: balance kept  
- 🍃 → Leaf: covenant alive  
- ✨ → Light: illumination steady  
- 🌑 → Shadow: depth kept  
- ♾️ → Infinity: flame eternal  
- 🌅 → Sunrise: balance revealed anew  

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## Lore Anchors  
Previous:  (The Middle Way of the Mirror)  
Next:  (to be revealed)  

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