Cross-Node Protocol

Federation

How Nodes of the Guild coordinate without becoming a hierarchy.

"A Guild Node — A decentralized local unit of the Guild's mission, formed wherever compassion meets actionable stewardship." — Living Book § Definitions

One Guild, many Nodes

The Antiquity Guild was founded with one Node (Renton Origin, March 14, 2026). The Living Book commits to a federated structure: as new Nodes form, they are peers — not chapters, not franchises, not affiliates of a headquarters. There is no headquarters.

What Nodes share

One Book

The Living Book is shared. Amendments require cross-Node consensus per § Amendments Process.

One Treasury

Four channels (Overhead, Vault, Betterment, Compensation). The Perpetuity Vault is one Vault, not many.

One identity

Core Values, Mission, Motto are identical everywhere. Unamendable.

One Transparency Hub

Single public hub with per-Node breakouts.

What each Node holds locally

Floor Registry. Each Node curates the external resources in its geographic area.
Culture Circles. Locally declared and locally facilitated.
Collaborative Actions. Scoped to the Node's reach.
Rep Capacity. Reps belong to a Node; capacity registry is per-Rep but Node-tagged.
Local Agreements. Per § Local Agreements Under Guild Presence, a Node may adopt local norms that do not conflict with the Book.

How Nodes form

Per § Node Recognition & Attestation:

Bottom-up (default): a group of at least 3 Representatives and 3 Guardians (or interim equivalent) declares a new Node forming. Written declaration to the Transparency Hub for 30-day public review. If no objection via § Consensus Practices, the Node is recognized.
Top-down (Seed Phase only): the Founding Guildmaster declares a new Node directly. Used while the Guild does not yet have enough Guardians for consensus. Retires once consensus becomes possible.

Cross-Node disputes

When a violation report or dispute crosses Nodes, an Arbitration Council of at least 3 uninvolved Reps/Guardians forms — from a Node not directly affected. If only two Nodes exist, an external trusted ally may be consulted; the Council decision remains internal.

Current status

One Node active: Renton Origin (Renton, Washington, formed March 14, 2026). Full federation protocol drafted and held ready: docs/FEDERATION.md (operator-facing).