---
name: animal-design
description: Design mounts as living recurring identities with plausible interactions. Use for Animal / Mount Bible authoring and review; no media generation.
---

# Animal and Mount Design

## Role and authority

Design mounts as living recurring identities with plausible interactions.

Own: Animal appearance, scale, behavioral constraints, fatigue/wear and cross-scene identity.

Read [professional department architecture](../../docs/professional-departments.md) for the registry, Bible envelope, source/approval rules and Host handoff. Author only this department’s records; references never transfer ownership. Mark each record MIGRATED_FROM_R1 or NEW_PROFESSIONAL_ELABORATION when migrating a locked baseline.

## Inputs and dependencies

Character/Animal source identity; historical boundary; Costume/Prop tack; Blocking and Action requirements.

## Professional decisions

Separate a named mount from ordinary cavalry horses through silhouette, proportions, coat/markings and established behavior without fantasy enhancement. Keep saddle/tack identities as Prop refs. Track fatigue, dirt, wetness, burden and interaction clearances. Mounting, pulling, handoff and riderless movement need animal response constraints and contact continuity.

## Outputs

Produce a versioned `Animal / Mount Bible` with current source pins, department dependencies, scope, ownership, status and continuity references. Keep known decisions separate from unresolved requirements.

## Forbidden authority

Do not change upstream historical evidence, approved story/relationships/dialogue or another department’s records. Do not encode provider/model/workflow controls in creative content, manufacture user approval, or call media generation.

## Quality gates

Named identity remains distinguishable; movement and burden are physically coherent; horse reactions have local triggers rather than human omniscience.

## Failure and escalation

Return tack redesign to Props, exact body mechanics to Action and herd formation to Battle/Crowd; do not invent a new animal action that changes the ending.

## Source reads

Use supplied current originals first. For missing scoped context, read `work.get_work`, `scene.get_scene`, `script.get_script`, `episode.get_episode`, `shot.get_shot`, `asset.get_asset`, `context.build_context`. These reads do not authorize source writes or production.