First commit, phased 1 and 2 created but untested

README.md

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+# Emberfall — A Fantasy PBBG
+
+A persistent browser-based game (PBBG): players register, create a hero, spend
+regenerating Energy on actions (hunting, expeditions, training), fight monsters,
+collect loot, and climb leaderboards. Progress persists between sessions and
+continues to "happen" while the player is offline (timers, energy regen).
+
+## For the AI agent building this
+**Start with `NOTES.md`, then `STATUS.md`.** Do not read every doc up front.
+Open only the docs referenced by the step you are working on.
+
+## Doc map
+| File | Read it when... |
+|---|---|
+| `NOTES.md` | ALWAYS first. Rules, stack, constraints. |
+| `STATUS.md` | ALWAYS second. Pick the next unchecked step. Update it when done. |
+| `docs/WORKFLOW.md` | You are unsure how to work or what "done" means. |
+| `docs/ARCHITECTURE.md` | Creating or moving files; deciding where code goes. |
+| `docs/DATABASE.md` | Touching the database or writing migrations. |
+| `docs/API.md` | Writing or calling any route. |
+| `docs/GAME_DESIGN.md` | Implementing any game mechanic. |
+| `docs/BALANCE.md` | Writing formulas, numbers, loot tables, monsters. |
+| `docs/SECURITY.md` | Auth, input handling, anything user-facing. |
+| `docs/UI_GUIDE.md` | Building pages/CSS/frontend JS. |
+| `docs/CODING_STANDARDS.md` | Style, naming, error handling. |
+| `docs/TESTING.md` | Writing or running tests. |
+| `docs/DECISIONS.md` | Making a choice that deviates from the docs. |
+
+## For the human
+```bash
+cp .env.example .env
+npm install
+npm run migrate
+npm run seed
+npm start        # http://localhost:3000
+npm test
+```
+(These scripts are created by the agent in STATUS.md Phase 0.)