Understanding Relationships

Relationships are directed edges in the knowledge graph that connect entities. Every relationship has a type, a direction, and optional temporal, spatial, and extended property context.

Directionality

All relationships are directed — they go from a source entity to a target entity. Each relationship type defines two labels:

• Forward label: “Parent of” (source → target)
• Reverse label: “Child of” (target ← source)

When you view an entity’s relationships, they are sorted into three groups: Mutual for symmetric ones like Sibling of or Allied with, where direction means nothing; Outgoing, where this entity is the source; and Incoming, where it is the target. Each is displayed with the label that reads correctly from this entity’s side. A symmetric type reads the same from both sides, so pickers and the Relationship Types page name it once (Allied with, not Allied with / Allied with).

Note

Some relationship types are symmetric — like “Spouse of” or “Allied with”. For these, the forward and reverse labels are the same, and the direction doesn’t carry semantic meaning.

Relationship type constraints

Each relationship type defines rules about which entities it can connect:

Constraint	Description	Example
Allowed source types	Which entity types can be the source	Character, Organization
Allowed target types	Which entity types can be the target	Location, Organization
Max concurrent	Maximum active relationships of this type per entity	1 for “Lives in” (only one home), null for unlimited

These constraints are enforced when creating relationships — the UI only offers valid relationship types for the entity pair you’re connecting.

Temporal context

Relationships can optionally have a temporal dimension:

• valid_from — when the relationship started (absolute timestamp)
• valid_to — when the relationship ended (null if still active)

This is controlled by the has_temporal_context flag on the relationship type. When enabled, the graph’s temporal controls can filter relationships by time period — showing you the state of your world at any point in its history.

A relationship can’t end before it starts. If you give it a Valid Until earlier than its Valid From, the dialog says so beside the dates and won’t save, because a link like that would exist at no moment and never show up anywhere. A relationship that starts and ends on the same day is fine. To make a relationship ongoing again, clear Valid Until and save.

For example, a “Member of” relationship between a character and a guild might be valid from Year 100 to Year 115, indicating 15 years of membership.

Spatial context

Relationships can also carry spatial context when the has_spatial_context flag is enabled:

• Location — a primary location associated with the relationship
• Marker override — a custom map position
• Additional locations — multi-point references (e.g. for trade routes)

Extended properties

Relationship types can define custom fields beyond the standard attributes. These use the same field definition system as entity types — text, numbers, selects, and more.

For example, a “Parent of” relationship type might have an extended property for the subtype of parenthood (biological, adoptive, step, foster, guardian).

Subtypes

Relationship types can have subtypes for finer categorisation. Each subtype has:

• Value — internal identifier (e.g. “biological”)
• Label — display name (e.g. “Biological”)
• Description — explanation (e.g. “Birth parent sharing genetic material”)
• Icon — visual indicator

For instance, the “Parent of” system type includes subtypes: biological, adoptive, step, foster, guardian, divine birth, surrogate, and mentor.

System relationship types

MythTapestry seeds a set of default relationship types that cover common patterns:

Type	Direction	Category	Notes
Parent of / Child of	Directed	Kinship	Temporal, has subtypes
Spouse of	Symmetric	Kinship	Temporal, has subtypes (all romantic)
Platonic	Symmetric	Social	Friendships and other non-romantic ties; subtypes from acquaintance to best friend, plus colleague, neighbour, comrade, confidant
Knows / Known by	Directed	Social	One side knows of the other — by reputation, by sight, or a secret — with nothing implied about the other side
Member of / Has member	Directed	Social	Organization membership
Controls / Controlled by	Directed	Political	Territorial/political control
Allied with	Symmetric	Political	Organization alliances
Hostile to	Symmetric	Political	Antagonistic relationships
Located in / Contains	Directed	Spatial	Physical containment
Owns / Owned by	Directed	Ownership	Possession
Worships / Worshipped by	Directed	Religious	Devotion
Created / Created by	Directed	Origin	Crafting, founding

Friend or spouse? “Spouse of” only offers romantic subtypes (marriage, engagement, partnership…). For two characters who are friends, use Platonic: on a Character, fill in Friends & Associates rather than Spouse / Partner. To say whether they’re friends, colleagues, best friends or something else, click the details button on the friend’s chip (Edit relationship details) and pick a Kind. Leave it on Not set and the link records no kind at all; it doesn’t quietly become “Friend”. You can also change the kind later from the graph, in the relationship’s own editor.

Platonic or Knows? Use Knows when only one side is aware: the spy knows the queen, the queen has never heard of the spy. Once both know each other, it’s Platonic (an acquaintance, or closer).

You can create additional relationship types in Manage > Relationship Types.