Documentation and articles about Emstrata's features, architecture, and philosophy
A comprehensive guide to understanding Emstrata, how it works, and how to use its features to create compelling collaborative narratives. Learn about the four AI systems—Discovery Layer, Narration Layer, Groundskeeper, and Chron-Con—and discover platform features like the Invisible Hand, Protest Function, and multi-participant simulations.
AI storytelling systems face a consistent set of technical and philosophical problems that undermine their ability to create coherent, engaging collaborative narratives. This article explores five fundamental roadblocks: Redescription, Probability Punditry, Entity Drift, Groundless Sims, and Shielding Breaks—and why understanding these challenges is essential for building better AI storytelling platforms.
Emstrata's feature set reflects a fundamental design philosophy: collaborative storytelling requires tools that enhance human creative agency rather than replacing it. From the Invisible Hand and Protest Function for narrative intervention, to multi-participant infrastructure and template publishing—each capability exists because it solves a specific problem in AI-mediated narrative simulation.
Pela stands for Performing Emergent Lives Artistically—the artistic discipline of collaborative storytelling through AI-mediated narrative simulation. It represents a fundamental shift in narrative creation, moving away from the author-as-sole-creator model toward something closer to live performance art, producing stories that emerge rather than being written.