The Naming Ceremony
Oct 2025
Dear Friends,
A few weeks ago I wrote about true names, signatures, and proof of authorship. I described a tool I’m building for alias generation and cryptographic digital signatures.
My Player Alias + Cryptonym tool is now live: byemarianne.com/cryptonym
How It Works
Answer three questions while thinking about a fictive version of you (this is your beta tester identity). The tool will use semantic embeddings to match your responses to an Alias and Cryptonym from a database of vectorized names.
Then it generates a 12-word recovery phrase and creates your Ed25519 keypair. Your public key gets registered in the directory; your private key is yours alone.
In the coming weeks after your registration, I’ll give you a public guestbook to sign with your private key.
If you claim an Alias/Cryptonym now and keep your private key safe, you’ll be able to sign future actions with this identity. Your authorship will be cryptographically verifiable, and no one else should be able to forge your signature.
This is beta testing for Serpent/Dove, my “magical warfare” alternate reality game launching in Spring 2026. Since we’re in beta:
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The tool may have rough edges
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Your feedback will shape the final implementation
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Early participants will influence the game design
The Invitation
Try out my tool and let me know what you think. Generate your character name and save your recovery phrase somewhere safe. If you lose it, there’s no way to restore it (not even by me).
Then let me know: Does the name fit? How did it feel to answer those questions? Is it weird to hold a private key for someone who doesn’t really exist?
DM me your alias and cryptonym if you want. I’m so curious who we’re all becoming.
More soon,
Marianne 🩵
_P.S. There are some small changes to byemarianne.com. Maybe a taking a little waltz around the site will yield a fun result.