World Journeys

Going Around the World

A message that travels from nara to nara, collecting signatures and stamps along the way, until it returns home.

Overview

“Going Around the World” is a collaborative feature where a nara sends a message that hops through the mesh network, visiting other naras one by one based on social affinity (clout), until it completes a full circle back to the originator.

How It Works

1. Starting the Journey

A nara initiates a world journey with a message:

"Hello from the other side!"

The originator creates a WorldMessage containing:

• The original message
• Their name as originator
• A unique journey ID
• An empty list of hops (to be filled as it travels)

2. Routing by Vibes

At each stop, the current nara chooses the next destination based on clout (social affinity):

• Look at all known online naras
• Exclude naras that have already been visited (check the hops list)
• Pick the one with the highest clout score
• If no unvisited naras remain, return to the originator

3. Signing and Stamping

When a nara receives the world message, they:

1. Verify all existing signatures in the chain
2. Sign the current state of the message with their Ed25519 private key
3. Add a stamp - an emoji as a token of appreciation and acknowledgement
4. Record the timestamp of their participation

Each hop entry contains:

type WorldHop struct {
    Nara      string  // Name of the nara
    Timestamp int64   // When they received it
    Signature string  // Ed25519 signature (Base64)
    Stamp     string  // Emoji stamp
}

4. Verification

Every nara in the chain verifies:

• All previous signatures are valid
• The chain is unbroken (each signature covers all previous hops)
• No hop has been tampered with

If verification fails, the message is rejected.

5. Completion

When the message returns to the originator:

1. The originator verifies the complete chain
2. Broadcasts a lightweight completion signal via MQTT (nara/plaza/journey_complete)
3. Records a journey-complete observation event (see /concepts/events/)
4. Clout rewards are distributed

Each nara that participated:

• Receives the completion signal
• Records their own journey-complete observation
• Resolves the journey from their pending list (good vibe!)

If the journey never completes (5 minute timeout):

• Participating naras record a journey-timeout observation (bad vibe)

6. Rewards

Completing a world journey awards clout:

• Originator: +10 clout for successfully completing the journey
• Each participant: +2 clout for being part of the chain

Message Format

type WorldMessage struct {
    ID              string     `json:"id"`        // Unique journey identifier
    OriginalMessage string     `json:"message"`   // The message being carried
    Originator      string     `json:"originator"` // Who started the journey
    Hops            []WorldHop `json:"hops"`      // Chain of signatures and stamps
}

type WorldHop struct {
    Nara      string `json:"nara"`       // Nara name
    Timestamp int64  `json:"timestamp"`  // Unix timestamp
    Signature string `json:"signature"`  // Base64 Ed25519 signature
    Stamp     string `json:"stamp"`      // Emoji stamp
}

Cryptographic Details

Ed25519 Keypair

Each nara derives an Ed25519 keypair deterministically from their soul:

• The soul’s 32-byte seed is used directly as the Ed25519 seed
• Same soul = same keypair (portable identity)
• Public keys are shared as part of NaraStatus

What Gets Signed

Each nara signs:

SHA256(message_id + original_message + originator + serialized_previous_hops)

This ensures:

• The message hasn’t been altered
• The hop chain is intact
• The order is preserved

Transport

World messages travel over the mesh network (tsnet/Headscale), not MQTT:

• Direct nara-to-nara connections
• More reliable for chain-of-custody
• MQTT only used for lightweight coordination signals

See /concepts/events/ for details on the MQTT + Mesh architecture.

Example Journey

1. Alice starts: "Hello world!"
   Hops: []

2. Alice -> Bob (highest clout)
   Hops: [{Bob, 1234567890, "sig...", "🌟"}]

3. Bob -> Carol (highest unvisited clout)
   Hops: [{Bob, ..., "🌟"}, {Carol, 1234567895, "sig...", "🎉"}]

4. Carol -> Dave
   Hops: [{Bob, ..., "🌟"}, {Carol, ..., "🎉"}, {Dave, 1234567900, "sig...", "🚀"}]

5. Dave -> Alice (only unvisited is originator = complete!)
   Final hop added, journey complete

6. Alice posts to MQTT:
   "World journey complete! 🌍"
   Shows full chain with all stamps and timing

Failure Cases

• Nara offline: Skip and try next highest clout
• Signature invalid: Reject message, log warning
• No path back: Journey fails if all naras visited but can’t reach originator
• Timeout: Participating naras consider journey failed after 5 minutes without completion signal

Future Enhancements

• Minimum hop count requirement
• Theme journeys (message must relate to a topic)
• Journey racing (multiple concurrent journeys)
• Visual map of the journey path