diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 8a5dbce..0f32062 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -17,10 +17,12 @@ Studio's job, not Huginn's.
   it persists and admits an instance's mind, over `cultcache-rs` and
   `epiphany-pipeline` pinned by git rev. `huginn-daemon` and `eureka-state`
   are stubs with no dependencies; nothing here publishes or connects yet.
-- Owned: an instance's memory documents, their admission, and their CultNet
-  publication.
-- Depends on: Qdrant, directly. Unreachable Qdrant is a loud refusal, never a
-  fallback store.
+- Owned: an instance's memory documents and their admission, in `huginn-mind`,
+  over a redb CultCache store at `<state_root>/minds/<instance>/mind.redb`.
+  Their CultNet publication is owned here and not built; `huginn-daemon` is a
+  stub.
+- To depend on: Qdrant, directly, once retrieval exists. Unreachable Qdrant is
+  to be a loud refusal, never a fallback store. No crate connects to it yet.
 - Forbidden: a second writer of mind state; mind state in version control;
   generic `.cc` inspection, which is CultCache Studio's; renderer-owned truth.
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b99689c..e942ff6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,11 +11,13 @@ Upstream: `https://github.com/GameCult/Huginn.git`
 - An instance owns its mind; Huginn owns the state. Huginn is the single
   writer of an instance's memory documents. No other service, script, or agent
   writes them.
-- Memory documents are CultCache `.cc` state. Huginn persists them through
-  CultLib's Rust runtime and publishes them as typed documents over CultNet.
-- Huginn depends on Qdrant directly for retrieval. When Qdrant is unreachable
-  Huginn refuses loudly; it does not fall back to a second store or a second
-  writer.
+- Memory documents are CultCache state. `huginn-mind`, the one live crate,
+  persists them through CultLib's Rust CultCache into a redb store at
+  `<state_root>/minds/<instance>/mind.redb`. Publishing them over CultNet is
+  `huginn-daemon`'s, and that crate is a stub: nothing here publishes yet.
+- Retrieval is to depend on Qdrant directly, refusing loudly when Qdrant is
+  unreachable rather than falling back to a second store or a second writer.
+  No crate opens that connection yet.
 - Mind state is not version-controlled. It lives in Huginn's store, not in
   any repository.
 
diff --git a/crates/huginn-mind/src/admission.rs b/crates/huginn-mind/src/admission.rs
index 9c60ff2..8847d46 100644
--- a/crates/huginn-mind/src/admission.rs
+++ b/crates/huginn-mind/src/admission.rs
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ fn check(docs: &Docs, staged: &Staged, mind: &Slug) -> Result<(), MindRefusal> {
     match &staged.document {
         D::Campaign(campaign) => {
             if campaign.repos.is_empty() {
-                return Err(PipelineRefusal::FieldBound { field: "campaign.repos".into(), limit: 1, actual: 0 }.into());
+                return Err(MindRefusal::EmptyRepos { campaign: key.into() });
             }
             for repo in &campaign.repos {
                 if docs.stewardship_of(mind, repo, None).is_none() {
@@ -644,6 +644,12 @@ fn outcome_name(outcome: &ResolutionOutcome) -> &'static str {
 
 /// The resolution matrix: which outcomes a subject kind admits, and of which
 /// kinds its referents must be. Admission's, never the leaf's.
+///
+/// A subject resolves at most once, and a resolution is not itself
+/// resolvable: `resolution` joins `campaign`, `cut_report`, `verdict`,
+/// `instance` and `hand_off` in admitting no outcome at all. The key grammar
+/// can still spell the resolution of a resolution; this is where it is
+/// refused. (Q17, Self's default ruling pending the operator.)
 fn matrix(subject: PipelineKind, outcome: &ResolutionOutcome) -> bool {
     use PipelineKind as K;
     use ResolutionOutcome as O;
@@ -663,7 +669,6 @@ fn matrix(subject: PipelineKind, outcome: &ResolutionOutcome) -> bool {
         (K::FollowUp, O::Withdrawn { .. }) => true,
         (K::Stewardship, O::Superseded { by }) => all(by, K::Stewardship),
         (K::Stewardship, O::Withdrawn { .. }) => true,
-        (K::Resolution, O::Withdrawn { .. }) => true,
         _ => false,
     };
     fits
@@ -1030,14 +1035,10 @@ mod tests {
         committed(admit(&mut world(), vec![resolution(finding_ref.clone(), ResolutionOutcome::Deferred { to: follow_up_ref.clone() })]));
         committed(admit(&mut world(), vec![resolution(follow_up_ref.clone(), fixed())]));
         committed(admit(&mut world(), vec![resolution(stewardship_ref.clone(), withdrawn())]));
-        let mut mind = world();
-        committed(admit(&mut mind, vec![resolution(question_ref.clone(), withdrawn())]));
-        let nested = r(K::Resolution, &id("resolution", "question.Q1"));
-        committed(admit(&mut mind, vec![resolution(nested.clone(), withdrawn())]));
 
         // Refused, one per kind, and every non-resolvable kind.
         assert_eq!(refusal(admit(&mut world(), vec![resolution(target_ref, withdrawn())])), incompatible(K::Target, "Withdrawn"));
-        assert_eq!(refusal(admit(&mut world(), vec![resolution(question_ref, fixed())])), incompatible(K::Question, "Fixed"));
+        assert_eq!(refusal(admit(&mut world(), vec![resolution(question_ref.clone(), fixed())])), incompatible(K::Question, "Fixed"));
         assert_eq!(refusal(admit(&mut world(), vec![resolution(ruling_ref, withdrawn())])), incompatible(K::Ruling, "Withdrawn"));
         assert_eq!(
             refusal(admit(&mut world(), vec![resolution(spec_ref.clone(), ResolutionOutcome::Answered { by: r(K::Ruling, &id("ruling", "R1")) })])),
@@ -1062,8 +1063,16 @@ mod tests {
             refusal(admit(&mut world(), vec![resolution(stewardship_ref, ResolutionOutcome::Recorded { reason: "no".into() })])),
             incompatible(K::Stewardship, "Recorded")
         );
+        // A resolution records that a subject resolved; it is not itself a
+        // subject. The nested key exists and is well formed, and admission
+        // refuses it anyway, whatever the outcome.
         let mut mind = world();
-        committed(admit(&mut mind, vec![resolution(r(K::Question, &id("question", "Q1")), withdrawn())]));
+        committed(admit(&mut mind, vec![resolution(question_ref.clone(), withdrawn())]));
+        let nested = r(K::Resolution, &id("resolution", "question.Q1"));
+        assert_eq!(
+            refusal(admit(&mut mind, vec![resolution(nested.clone(), withdrawn())])),
+            incompatible(K::Resolution, "Withdrawn")
+        );
         assert_eq!(
             refusal(admit(&mut mind, vec![resolution(nested.clone(), superseded(&[nested]))])),
             incompatible(K::Resolution, "Superseded")
@@ -1273,6 +1282,15 @@ mod tests {
             MindRefusal::RepoNotStewarded { repo: REPO.into() }
         );
         committed(admit(&mut mind, vec![instance(INSTANCE), stewardship(INSTANCE, REPO), campaign(&[REPO])]));
+        // A campaign of no repos is the organ's refusal, not a leaf bound:
+        // "every repo is stewarded" is vacuous and the campaign steers
+        // nothing.
+        let D::Campaign(mut empty) = campaign(&[]) else { panic!() };
+        empty.slug = slug("other");
+        assert_eq!(
+            refusal(admit(&mut mind, vec![D::Campaign(empty)])),
+            MindRefusal::EmptyRepos { campaign: "other:campaign:self".into() }
+        );
         let mut spec = cut_spec("1", 1);
         spec.repo = repo(OTHER_REPO);
         assert_eq!(refusal(admit(&mut mind, vec![D::CutSpec(spec)])), MindRefusal::RepoNotInCampaign { repo: OTHER_REPO.into() });
diff --git a/crates/huginn-mind/src/mind.rs b/crates/huginn-mind/src/mind.rs
index 926b92d..12f7961 100644
--- a/crates/huginn-mind/src/mind.rs
+++ b/crates/huginn-mind/src/mind.rs
@@ -185,20 +185,34 @@ fn refuse_foreign_types(raw: &[CultCacheEnvelope]) -> Result<(), MindRefusal> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// Step 3: a non-empty store carries exactly one epoch record, at the epoch
-/// this binary writes.
+/// Step 3: a non-empty store carries exactly one epoch record, keyed by the
+/// epoch it names, at the epoch this binary writes. A store with no epoch
+/// record at all is `MissingIdentity`; every other defect is `ForeignEpoch`,
+/// whose `found` names the defect: the stored epoch when the value is
+/// foreign, the record's key when a record is keyed by anything else, and the
+/// record count rendered as `"<n> records"` when more than one is stored. The
+/// count is decided before any value is read, so a current record beside a
+/// foreign one refuses the same way whichever the store returns first.
 fn refuse_foreign_epoch(raw: &[CultCacheEnvelope]) -> Result<(), MindRefusal> {
     if raw.is_empty() {
         return Ok(());
     }
+    let foreign = |found: String| MindRefusal::ForeignEpoch { found, expected: PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH.into() };
     let mut records = raw.iter().filter(|envelope| envelope.r#type == HuginnMindEpoch::TYPE);
     let Some(record) = records.next() else {
         return Err(MindRefusal::MissingIdentity);
     };
+    let extra = records.count();
+    if extra > 0 {
+        return Err(foreign(format!("{} records", extra + 1)));
+    }
+    if record.key != PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH {
+        return Err(foreign(record.key.clone()));
+    }
     let record: HuginnMindEpoch = rmp_serde::from_slice(&record.payload)
         .map_err(|error| MindRefusal::Unavailable { detail: format!("epoch record does not decode: {error}") })?;
     if record.schema_epoch != PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH {
-        return Err(MindRefusal::ForeignEpoch { found: record.schema_epoch, expected: PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH.into() });
+        return Err(foreign(record.schema_epoch));
     }
     Ok(())
 }
@@ -260,10 +274,18 @@ mod tests {
         envelope
     }
 
-    fn foreign_epoch() -> CultCacheEnvelope {
+    const FOREIGN_EPOCH: &str = "epiphany.pipeline.epoch.v0";
+
+    /// An epoch record under an arbitrary key naming an arbitrary epoch, so a
+    /// key defect and a value defect can be planted apart.
+    fn epoch_record(key: &str, schema_epoch: &str) -> CultCacheEnvelope {
         let cache = schema_cache().unwrap();
-        let record = HuginnMindEpoch { schema_epoch: "epiphany.pipeline.epoch.v0".into() };
-        cache.prepare_entry_named("epiphany.pipeline.epoch.v0", &record).unwrap().0
+        let record = HuginnMindEpoch { schema_epoch: schema_epoch.into() };
+        cache.prepare_entry_named(key, &record).unwrap().0
+    }
+
+    fn foreign_epoch() -> CultCacheEnvelope {
+        epoch_record(FOREIGN_EPOCH, FOREIGN_EPOCH)
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -276,12 +298,27 @@ mod tests {
                 MindRefusal::ForeignStore { r#type: "epiphany.runtime_spine.v47".into() },
             ),
             // Step 3 before step 4: a foreign epoch with no identity at all.
+            // Its key is foreign too, which is what refuses it here.
             (
                 vec![foreign_epoch()],
-                MindRefusal::ForeignEpoch {
-                    found: "epiphany.pipeline.epoch.v0".into(),
-                    expected: PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH.into(),
-                },
+                MindRefusal::ForeignEpoch { found: FOREIGN_EPOCH.into(), expected: PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH.into() },
+            ),
+            // Step 3: the value, under the one key the record may have.
+            (
+                vec![epoch_record(PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH, FOREIGN_EPOCH), prepare(&instance(INSTANCE))],
+                MindRefusal::ForeignEpoch { found: FOREIGN_EPOCH.into(), expected: PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH.into() },
+            ),
+            // Step 3: the current epoch under any other key is not the epoch
+            // record, whatever it says about itself.
+            (
+                vec![epoch_record("not-the-epoch", PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH), prepare(&instance(INSTANCE))],
+                MindRefusal::ForeignEpoch { found: "not-the-epoch".into(), expected: PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH.into() },
+            ),
+            // Step 3: two records are no record, counted before either value
+            // is read.
+            (
+                vec![epoch(), epoch_record("second", PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH), prepare(&instance(INSTANCE))],
+                MindRefusal::ForeignEpoch { found: "2 records".into(), expected: PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH.into() },
             ),
             // Step 3: an identity without an epoch record.
             (vec![prepare(&instance(INSTANCE))], MindRefusal::MissingIdentity),
@@ -301,6 +338,15 @@ mod tests {
             assert_eq!(store.pull_count(), 1, "{expected:?}: refused before attaching");
             assert_eq!(store.rows(), before, "{expected:?}: bytes unchanged");
         }
+        // A current record beside a foreign one is refused on the count, not
+        // on whichever of the two the store happens to return first.
+        let pair = (epoch(), foreign_epoch());
+        for rows in [vec![pair.0.clone(), pair.1.clone()], vec![pair.1, pair.0]] {
+            assert_eq!(
+                refuse_foreign_epoch(&rows).err(),
+                Some(MindRefusal::ForeignEpoch { found: "2 records".into(), expected: PIPELINE_SCHEMA_EPOCH.into() })
+            );
+        }
         // A store that passes every gate attaches, which is the second pull.
         let store = planted(vec![epoch(), prepare(&instance(INSTANCE))]);
         let mind = Mind::open_with(store.clone(), &yggdrasil).unwrap();
diff --git a/crates/huginn-mind/src/refusal.rs b/crates/huginn-mind/src/refusal.rs
index cba00fa..571f1a2 100644
--- a/crates/huginn-mind/src/refusal.rs
+++ b/crates/huginn-mind/src/refusal.rs
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ pub enum MindRefusal {
     InvalidOptions { question: String },
     InvalidChoice { ruling: String, choice: String },
     QuoteWithoutOperator { ruling: String },
+    EmptyRepos { campaign: String },
     RepoNotStewarded { repo: String },
     RepoNotInCampaign { repo: String },
     CutReportWithoutSpec { report: String },