Every tile walks through the same five states. Decay eats at the page on a timer, faster beside the tear and beside ground that has already gone.
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Stable | Whole ground. Walkable, buildable. |
| Cracked | Taking damage. Still holds anything. |
| Fraying | Nearly gone. Structures on it are in danger. |
| Unfinished | Ground that was never written - on the page from the start. |
| Void | A hole. Nothing walks it, nothing builds on it, and the Unwritten can climb out of it. |
The Anchor wards the ground around itself: its own tile never decays, the ring at one step is strongly resistant and at two steps half resistant. A Bridge Maker can lay a temporary crossing over a hole; when it expires, whatever is standing on it falls.