rules: the round made playable — Dread, oil, the taper, and the Ember economy
Retunes the placeholder numbers (death in 14s standing still) into a round
worth finishing: a 32.7s clock in the dark that accelerates with a panic
ramp, so a crossing is cheap and being lost is lethal; a lantern that is
shelter rather than light and burns faster the faster you move; and relief
that lands hard the moment a lamp takes.
Hold-to-light is now an act of nerve: the taper is the engine's own
'interact' control (keyboard/pad/touch), holding it pins the body in place
at zero walk speed, and letting go makes the flame gutter back rather than
vanish. Three upgrade tracks priced 1/2/3 embers against a nine-ember
round, bought only in lamplight. Prelude, win and both losses resolve here,
and the Pale can reach you under a burning lamp but cannot have you.