{
    "model": {
        "rank": 16176,
        "code": "thing-q1371288",
        "model_id": "vr.tr.vassal-state",
        "name": "vassal state",
        "purpose": "Let an agent explain vassal states and their forms across history, identify examples with sources, describe obligations and autonomy, and present contested characterisations neutrally with attribution.",
        "family": "Thing Registry",
        "category": "Physical world and living systems",
        "status": "research-draft",
        "kind": "thing",
        "plane": "PHY",
        "domain": "PHY.PLC",
        "industry": "",
        "version": "",
        "url": "/models/thing/q1371288/",
        "tier": 2,
        "score": 33,
        "payload": {
            "layer": "wikidata",
            "aliases": [
                "satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire",
                "Modellstaat",
                "satrapy of the Seleucid Empire",
                "satrapy",
                "Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem",
                "satrapy of the Sasanian Empire"
            ],
            "aliasCount": 6,
            "merged": 6,
            "knownIn": 33,
            "facets": null,
            "markers": [],
            "lexicalClass": "",
            "senseRank": null,
            "alsoRegisteredAs": null,
            "source": {
                "dataset": "wikidata",
                "item": "Q1371288",
                "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1371288",
                "license": "CC0 1.0"
            }
        },
        "research": {
            "vercy": "1.0-draft",
            "publication": {
                "status": "research-draft",
                "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed",
                "publishableCanonical": false,
                "generatedAt": "2026-09-12T06:00:47Z",
                "providers": [
                    "Claude"
                ],
                "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify",
                "pass": 2,
                "wave": 2,
                "engine": "claude"
            },
            "metaModel": {
                "id": "THING-Q1371288",
                "registryId": "vr.tr.vassal-state",
                "name": "vassal state",
                "version": "0.2.0-wave.2",
                "entryKind": "thing",
                "family": "Thing Registry",
                "domain": [
                    "PHY.PLC"
                ],
                "status": "research-draft"
            },
            "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1371288/",
            "model": {
                "registry_id": "vr.tr.vassal-state",
                "name": "vassal state",
                "purpose": "Let an agent explain vassal states and their forms across history, identify examples with sources, describe obligations and autonomy, and present contested characterisations neutrally with attribution.",
                "definition": "A state that is subordinate to a more powerful state or empire, owing tribute, military service or allegiance while retaining internal self-government, in forms such as the satrapies of the Achaemenid, Seleucid and Sasanian empires, the vassals of medieval kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Jerusalem, tributary states of Chinese and Ottoman systems, and modern client and model states; vassal states are studied in political and imperial history and their status is often described differently by the parties involved.",
                "what_it_is_for": "Subordinate but self-governing states.",
                "affordances": [
                    "explain forms",
                    "identify examples",
                    "describe obligations and autonomy",
                    "present characterisations neutrally"
                ],
                "distinguishing_features": [
                    "Subordination",
                    "Internal autonomy",
                    "Tribute or service",
                    "Historical variety"
                ],
                "appearance": "Not physical; political relationships.",
                "visual_identification": [
                    "State subordinate to a suzerain",
                    "Satrapies, medieval vassals, tributary and client states",
                    "A province is directly ruled; a colony is a settled dependency; an ally is formally equal"
                ],
                "physical_properties": [],
                "families_and_kinds": [
                    "satrapies of Persian empires",
                    "medieval vassal kingdoms and lordships",
                    "tributary states in East Asian and Ottoman systems",
                    "protectorates and princely states",
                    "modern client states"
                ],
                "related_models": [
                    {
                        "relation": "is a kind of",
                        "target": "client state",
                        "why": "category"
                    },
                    {
                        "relation": "is related to",
                        "target": "historical country",
                        "why": "former vassal polities"
                    },
                    {
                        "relation": "is related to",
                        "target": "viceroy",
                        "why": "imperial governors over subordinate territories"
                    },
                    {
                        "relation": "is related to",
                        "target": "imperialism",
                        "why": "the wider context of subordination"
                    }
                ],
                "identifiers": [],
                "standards_and_regulation": [
                    "Historical treaties and charters",
                    "Academic standards in political history",
                    "No regulation of the historical concept"
                ],
                "failure_modes_and_hazards": [
                    "Anachronistic use of the term",
                    "Taking sides in contested characterisations",
                    "Confusing vassal states with provinces"
                ],
                "in_scope": [],
                "out_of_scope": [],
                "characteristics": []
            },
            "sources": [],
            "structure": {
                "bundles": [
                    {
                        "id": "understand",
                        "name": "Understand",
                        "description": "What a vassal state is.",
                        "rationale": "History.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "concept",
                                "name": "Concept",
                                "description": "Concept and forms.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "concept-finding",
                                        "name": "Concept",
                                        "description": "Concept.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "What is a vassal state, and how do satrapies, medieval vassals, tributary states and client states differ?",
                                                "kind": "definition"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "text": "Which period or empire is meant?",
                                                "kind": "boundary"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "obligations",
                                "name": "Obligations",
                                "description": "Obligations and autonomy.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "obligations-finding",
                                        "name": "Obligations",
                                        "description": "Obligations.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "What obligations did vassal states owe, and how much autonomy did they keep?",
                                                "kind": "provenance"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "text": "Which entry fits a specific system?",
                                                "kind": "action"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "examples",
                        "name": "Examples",
                        "description": "Examples and systems.",
                        "rationale": "Reference.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "ancient",
                                "name": "Ancient",
                                "description": "Ancient and medieval.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "ancient-finding",
                                        "name": "Ancient",
                                        "description": "Ancient.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "How did Persian satrapies and medieval vassal kingdoms such as those of the Kingdom of Jerusalem operate, according to historians?",
                                                "kind": "provenance"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "text": "Which entry fits a specific state?",
                                                "kind": "action"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "modern",
                                "name": "Modern",
                                "description": "Early modern and modern.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "modern-finding",
                                        "name": "Modern",
                                        "description": "Modern.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "How did tributary systems, protectorates and modern client states work, with characterisations attributed?",
                                                "kind": "provenance"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "text": "Is the presentation neutral?",
                                                "kind": "boundary"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "debate",
                        "name": "Debate",
                        "description": "Contested characterisations.",
                        "rationale": "Attribution.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "perspectives",
                                "name": "Perspectives",
                                "description": "Perspectives of the parties.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "perspectives-finding",
                                        "name": "Perspectives",
                                        "description": "Perspectives.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "How did suzerains and subordinate states describe the relationship differently, and how do modern scholars assess these claims?",
                                                "kind": "provenance"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "text": "Which findings are contested?",
                                                "kind": "boundary"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "modernuse",
                                "name": "Modern use",
                                "description": "Modern political use.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "modernuse-finding",
                                        "name": "Modern use",
                                        "description": "Modern use.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "How is the term used in contemporary political debate, and why is such use contested, with positions attributed?",
                                                "kind": "provenance"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "text": "Is the presentation attributed?",
                                                "kind": "boundary"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "learn",
                        "name": "Learn",
                        "description": "Teaching.",
                        "rationale": "Education.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "teach",
                                "name": "Teach",
                                "description": "Teaching.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "teach-finding",
                                        "name": "Teach",
                                        "description": "Teaching.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "How can vassalage and imperial systems be taught?",
                                                "kind": "action"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "text": "Which misconceptions arise?",
                                                "kind": "provenance"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "resources",
                                "name": "Resources",
                                "description": "Resources.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "resources-finding",
                                        "name": "Resources",
                                        "description": "Resources.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "Which scholarly works are standard on vassal and tributary systems?",
                                                "kind": "provenance"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "text": "Which references are standard?",
                                                "kind": "provenance"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            },
            "openQuestions": [
                "Should satrapies be a separate entry?",
                "How should historical sources be linked?",
                "How should modern uses be attributed?"
            ],
            "statistics": {
                "bundles": 4,
                "layers": 8,
                "findings": 8,
                "questions": 16
            }
        },
        "draft": {
            "generator": "vr.draft.v3",
            "status": "draft-generated",
            "researched": false,
            "archetype": "place or geographic feature",
            "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.",
            "facetsInferred": true,
            "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.",
            "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a vassal state, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.",
            "whatItIs": "Let an agent explain vassal states and their forms across history, identify examples with sources, describe obligations and autonomy, and present contested characterisations neutrally with attribution.",
            "characteristics": {
                "substance": "place",
                "origin": "natural",
                "agency": "inert",
                "mobility": "fixed",
                "scale": "geographic"
            },
            "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [
                "observed and measured",
                "entered, crossed or travelled along"
            ],
            "distinguishingFeatures": [
                "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, Modellstaat, satrapy of the Seleucid Empire, satrapy, Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, satrapy of the Sasanian Empire.",
                "6 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.",
                "Described in 33 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is."
            ],
            "openQuestionsForResearch": [
                "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?",
                "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?",
                "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a vassal state, and on what evidence are they told apart?"
            ],
            "whatItIsMadeOf": "a portion of the world with an extent",
            "physicalCharacter": [
                "On the scale of a landscape, measured in kilometres.",
                "Stays where it was put; moving it is a project.",
                "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.",
                "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing."
            ],
            "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [
                "observe it, measure it, record its state",
                "enter it, cross it, travel along it"
            ],
            "howItIsRecognised": [
                "Recognised by extent on the ground and by position, not by appearance. Two places that look alike are told apart by where they are."
            ],
            "relatedModels": [
                {
                    "relation": "covers",
                    "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.",
                    "targets": [
                        "satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire",
                        "Modellstaat",
                        "satrapy of the Seleucid Empire",
                        "satrapy",
                        "Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem",
                        "satrapy of the Sasanian Empire"
                    ]
                }
            ],
            "standing": "Described in 33 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 6 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.",
            "structure": {
                "bundles": [
                    {
                        "id": "identity-and-classification",
                        "name": "Identity, naming and classification",
                        "description": "How an agent tells one vassal state from another, and a vassal state from things that resemble it.",
                        "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "naming-and-identifiers",
                                "name": "Names and identifiers",
                                "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases",
                                        "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names",
                                        "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "id": "stable-identifiers",
                                        "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys",
                                        "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "stable-identifiers-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "stable-identifiers-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "stable-identifiers-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "classification-and-granularity",
                                "name": "Classification and granularity",
                                "description": "Where a vassal state sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "kind-and-parents",
                                        "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds",
                                        "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "kind-and-parents-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "kind-and-parents-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "kind-and-parents-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "id": "distinguishing-features",
                                        "name": "Distinguishing features",
                                        "description": "What separates a vassal state from the things most often confused with it.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "distinguishing-features-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "distinguishing-features-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "distinguishing-features-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "form-and-composition",
                        "name": "Form, composition and condition",
                        "description": "What a vassal state is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.",
                        "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "form-and-dimensions",
                                "name": "Form and dimensions",
                                "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples at geographic scale.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "measurable-dimensions",
                                        "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units",
                                        "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "material-and-composition",
                                "name": "Material and composition",
                                "description": "Materials, parts and how they are put together.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "parts-and-materials",
                                        "name": "Parts and materials",
                                        "description": "What a vassal state is built from and which parts are replaceable.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "parts-and-materials-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "parts-and-materials-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "parts-and-materials-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "condition-and-integrity",
                                "name": "Condition and integrity",
                                "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "condition-assessment",
                                        "name": "Condition, damage and health",
                                        "description": "How the condition of a vassal state is judged and by whom.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "condition-assessment-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "condition-assessment-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "condition-assessment-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "place-and-movement",
                        "name": "Place and movement",
                        "description": "Where a vassal state is, how it got there and where it may go (fixed).",
                        "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "location-and-placement",
                                "name": "Location and placement",
                                "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "position-and-frame",
                                        "name": "Position, container and reference frame",
                                        "description": "Where a vassal state is, and what that position is measured against.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "position-and-frame-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "position-and-frame-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "position-and-frame-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "movement-and-transfer",
                                "name": "Movement and transfer",
                                "description": "How a vassal state is carried, installed or relocated.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "movement-events",
                                        "name": "Movement events and constraints",
                                        "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "movement-events-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "movement-events-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "movement-events-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "state-and-lifecycle",
                        "name": "State and lifecycle",
                        "description": "The states a vassal state passes through and the events that move it between them.",
                        "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "lifecycle-stages",
                                "name": "Lifecycle stages",
                                "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "stages-and-transitions",
                                        "name": "Stages and transitions",
                                        "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a vassal state between them.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "observations-and-status",
                                "name": "Observations and current status",
                                "description": "What is observed about a vassal state, how often and by whom.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "observation-record",
                                        "name": "Observation record",
                                        "description": "How an observation of a vassal state is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "observation-record-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "observation-record-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "observation-record-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "use-and-operation",
                        "name": "Use and operation",
                        "description": "What can be done with a vassal state and what it takes to do it.",
                        "rationale": "An agent that can recognise a thing but not act on it has only half a model.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "intended-use",
                                "name": "Intended use and function",
                                "description": "What a vassal state is for, and what it is used for anyway.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "function-and-purpose",
                                        "name": "Function, purpose and misuse",
                                        "description": "The function a vassal state performs and the uses that fall outside it.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "function-and-purpose-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the use of a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "function-and-purpose-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the use of a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "function-and-purpose-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the use of a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "handling-and-procedure",
                                "name": "Handling and procedure",
                                "description": "The steps, skills and tools involved in using a vassal state.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "procedures-and-skills",
                                        "name": "Procedures, skills and required tools",
                                        "description": "What an agent needs before it can act on a vassal state at all.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "procedures-and-skills-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes handling a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "procedures-and-skills-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about handling a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "procedures-and-skills-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once handling a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "extent-and-geometry",
                        "name": "Extent, geometry and naming",
                        "description": "Where vassal state is, how far it reaches, and what it is called.",
                        "rationale": "A boundary is claimed by an authority rather than observed in the world, so the claimant belongs in the record with the geometry.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "geometry",
                                "name": "Geometry and reference system",
                                "description": "Coordinates, extent and the frame they are given in.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "geometry-record",
                                        "name": "Geometry, precision and frame",
                                        "description": "What is recorded about position and shape, and to what accuracy.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "geometry-record-q01",
                                                "text": "What geometry describes vassal state, in which coordinate reference system, at what precision?",
                                                "kind": "measurement"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "geometry-record-q02",
                                                "text": "Which authority publishes that geometry, and who publishes a different one?",
                                                "kind": "provenance"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "names",
                                "name": "Names and endonyms",
                                "description": "What it is called in different languages and by different parties.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "naming-record",
                                        "name": "Names and who uses them",
                                        "description": "Official names, local names and contested names.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "naming-record-q01",
                                                "text": "By what names is vassal state known, in which languages, and which are official to whom?",
                                                "kind": "definition"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "naming-record-q02",
                                                "text": "Where naming is contested, what should an agent record instead of choosing?",
                                                "kind": "action"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "containment-and-access",
                        "name": "Containment, jurisdiction and access",
                        "description": "What vassal state sits inside, who governs it, and who may enter.",
                        "rationale": "Administrative containment decides which rules apply, and it changes without the place moving.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "containment",
                                "name": "Administrative containment",
                                "description": "The units it belongs to and the date each holds from.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "containment-record",
                                        "name": "Containing units and effective dates",
                                        "description": "Where it sits administratively and since when.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "containment-record-q01",
                                                "text": "Which administrative units contain vassal state, and since when does each containment hold?",
                                                "kind": "definition"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "containment-record-q02",
                                                "text": "Which containment is disputed, and by which parties?",
                                                "kind": "boundary"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "access",
                                "name": "Access and permitted use",
                                "description": "Who may enter or use it and under what conditions.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "access-rules",
                                        "name": "Access rules and their source",
                                        "description": "Entry, use and restriction, with the rule behind each.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "access-rules-q01",
                                                "text": "Who may enter or use vassal state, under what conditions, and by whose rule?",
                                                "kind": "action"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "access-rules-q02",
                                                "text": "What seasonal or conditional closure applies, and how is it announced?",
                                                "kind": "definition"
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "provenance-and-evidence",
                        "name": "Provenance, evidence and time",
                        "description": "Where every claim about a vassal state came from and when it held.",
                        "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.",
                        "layers": [
                            {
                                "id": "source-and-authority",
                                "name": "Source and authority",
                                "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "claim-provenance",
                                        "name": "Claim provenance and confidence",
                                        "description": "The authority behind each claim about a vassal state and how confident it is.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "claim-provenance-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "claim-provenance-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "claim-provenance-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            },
                            {
                                "id": "time-and-versions",
                                "name": "Time, versions and supersession",
                                "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.",
                                "findings": [
                                    {
                                        "id": "validity-and-supersession",
                                        "name": "Validity period and supersession",
                                        "description": "How an old claim about a vassal state is retired without being erased.",
                                        "questions": [
                                            {
                                                "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01",
                                                "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a vassal state, and in what units or vocabulary?",
                                                "kind": "definition",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "identifiers",
                                                    "types and classes",
                                                    "values with units",
                                                    "explicit unknowns"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02",
                                                "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a vassal state, by which method, and when was it true?",
                                                "kind": "provenance",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "authority",
                                                    "method",
                                                    "evidence",
                                                    "event time",
                                                    "knowledge time"
                                                ]
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03",
                                                "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a vassal state is known, and what must it refuse?",
                                                "kind": "action",
                                                "answer_data": [
                                                    "permitted actions",
                                                    "preconditions",
                                                    "refusals",
                                                    "escalation"
                                                ]
                                            }
                                        ]
                                    }
                                ]
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            },
            "statistics": {
                "bundles": 8,
                "layers": 17,
                "findings": 19,
                "questions": 53
            }
        }
    }
}