diff --git a/docs/architecture/index.html b/docs/architecture/index.html
index 0de54b7..54f4713 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/index.html
+++ b/docs/architecture/index.html
@@ -90,7 +90,9 @@
   --hero-stat-b:#f3eedd; --hero-stat-span:#b9b8cb;
   --wire-line: rgba(212,175,55,.5); --wire-end-bg:#182050;
   --code-bg:#0a0e26; --code-ink:#cdd0ea; --code-key:#d4af37; --code-str:#8fd0e0; --code-num:#e6c454;
-  --orn-opacity: .16;
+  /* .16 read as noise directly behind small prose (66px hex6 tile, high edge density);
+     cut toward the enso/vine baseline that never got a legibility complaint (see docs/the-fleet/). */
+  --orn-opacity: .07;
 }
 :root[data-theme="japanese"]{
   --bg:#f4efe4; --surface:#efe8d8; --surface-2:#e9e0cc;
@@ -124,7 +126,9 @@
   --hero-stat-b:#f7ead0; --hero-stat-span:#d2b48c;
   --wire-line: rgba(232,160,32,.5); --wire-end-bg:#421a21;
   --code-bg:#210a0d; --code-ink:#f7ead0; --code-key:#e8a020; --code-str:#2bb3ad; --code-num:#f0b840;
-  --orn-opacity: .17;
+  /* .17 was the densest overlap of any theme (64px tile, six large overlapping
+     circles) -- cut toward the enso/vine baseline that never got a legibility complaint. */
+  --orn-opacity: .07;
 }
 :root[data-theme="codex"]{
   --bg:#ece0c0; --surface:#e4d5ad; --surface-2:#dccb9c;
@@ -158,7 +162,9 @@
   --hero-stat-b:#f0e6d2; --hero-stat-span:#c2b294;
   --wire-line: rgba(201,150,60,.5); --wire-end-bg:#0e403c;
   --code-bg:#04201e; --code-ink:#cdeae4; --code-key:#c9963c; --code-str:#2fb3a6; --code-num:#e0ba6a;
-  --orn-opacity: .17;
+  /* .17 on a 72px tile of bold rotated squares -- straight edges at many angles
+     compete hard with letterforms; cut toward the enso/vine baseline. */
+  --orn-opacity: .07;
 }
 :root[data-theme="terminal"]{
   --bg:#080b0a; --surface:#0d120f; --surface-2:#111814;
@@ -175,7 +181,10 @@
   --hero-stat-b:#c9d6c9; --hero-stat-span:#7f9a83;
   --wire-line: rgba(72,208,106,.5); --wire-end-bg:#111814;
   --code-bg:#050807; --code-ink:#c9d6c9; --code-key:#48d06a; --code-str:#59d0c0; --code-num:#8fe0a0;
-  --orn-opacity: .1;
+  /* .1 is already low, but the scan tile repeats every 5px -- close to a text
+     stroke's own width, so it reads as noise regardless of opacity. Widened the
+     tile below (see #scan) and trimmed opacity a little further to match. */
+  --orn-opacity: .05;
 }
 
 html{scroll-behavior:smooth}
@@ -415,6 +424,11 @@
 .orn-g{stroke:var(--accent);stroke-opacity:var(--orn-opacity);stroke-width:1;fill:none}
 .orn-scan-a{fill:var(--accent);fill-opacity:calc(var(--orn-opacity) * .5)}
 .orn-scan-b{fill:var(--accent);fill-opacity:var(--orn-opacity)}
+/* legibility backstop for the four densest motifs (hex6/jaali/star8/scan), same fix as
+   docs/the-fleet/: everything in .col/.mod/.inspector/.stage/.stepdesc/.tabs/.msg/.judge/.dec
+   already sits on an opaque --surface and doesn't need this -- only the bare section
+   intros/headings and the footer provenance line sit directly over the ornament layer. */
+:root:is([data-theme="arabic"],[data-theme="indian"],[data-theme="andalus"],[data-theme="terminal"]) :is(section h2,p.intro,p.prov){text-shadow:0 0 2px var(--bg),0 0 4px var(--bg),0 0 7px var(--bg)}
 
 /* switcher lives inline in the sticky nav, not fixed -- the nav already claims that strip */
 .theme-switcher{position:relative;margin-left:auto;flex:none}
@@ -482,9 +496,10 @@
         <circle cx="9.5" cy="-16.45" r="11"/>
       </g>
     </pattern>
-    <!-- terminal : CRT scanlines -->
-    <pattern id="scan" width="5" height="5" patternUnits="userSpaceOnUse">
-      <rect x="0" y="0" width="5" height="1" class="orn-scan-a"/>
+    <!-- terminal : CRT scanlines (widened from a 5px repeat -- that was close enough to a
+         text stroke's own width to alias against glyph edges rather than just sit behind them) -->
+    <pattern id="scan" width="6" height="10" patternUnits="userSpaceOnUse">
+      <rect x="0" y="0" width="6" height="1" class="orn-scan-a"/>
       <rect x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" class="orn-scan-b"/>
     </pattern>
     <!-- japanese : ensō, wide-spaced and incomplete -- ma, the negative space, is the point -->
diff --git a/docs/the-fleet/index.html b/docs/the-fleet/index.html
index b9a54c8..42b296e 100644
--- a/docs/the-fleet/index.html
+++ b/docs/the-fleet/index.html
@@ -56,11 +56,16 @@
   :root[data-theme="arabic"] {
     --ground:#0d1233; --ground-2:#131a45; --ground-3:#182050;
     --hair:rgba(212,175,55,.18); --hair-2:rgba(212,175,55,.09);
-    --bone:#ece7d6; --bone-dim:#b9b8cb; --bone-faint:#7d7f9c;
+    --bone:#ece7d6; --bone-dim:#b9b8cb;
+    /* lifted from #7d7f9c: at .07 orn-opacity that still only cleared 4.24:1 worst-case
+       against the pattern's own color -- short of AA on the math alone, halo notwithstanding. */
+    --bone-faint:#8688a3;
     --gold:#d4af37; --gold-deep:#a8862a; --jade:#4fb0c4; --flare:#c1523f; --merged:#6bab7d;
     --display: "Futura", "Century Gothic", "Avenir Next", "Segoe UI", sans-serif;
     --display-tracking: .02em;
-    --orn-opacity: .16;
+    /* .16 read as noise directly behind small prose (66px hex6 tile, high edge density);
+       cut toward the enso/vine baseline that never got a legibility complaint. */
+    --orn-opacity: .07;
   }
   /* Japanese -- sumi-e minimalism, ma (negative space), washi ground, single vermillion seal */
   :root[data-theme="japanese"] {
@@ -77,11 +82,15 @@
   :root[data-theme="indian"] {
     --ground:#2a0f14; --ground-2:#37151b; --ground-3:#421a21;
     --hair:rgba(232,160,32,.20); --hair-2:rgba(232,160,32,.1);
-    --bone:#f7ead0; --bone-dim:#d2b48c; --bone-faint:#96806a;
+    --bone:#f7ead0; --bone-dim:#d2b48c;
+    /* lifted from #96806a: 4.25:1 worst-case pre-fix, short of AA on the math alone. */
+    --bone-faint:#a0886f;
     --gold:#e8a020; --gold-deep:#c07f14; --jade:#2bb3ad; --flare:#c81d3a; --merged:#5a9d5f;
     --display: "Didot", "Bodoni MT", "Playfair Display", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;
     --display-tracking: 0;
-    --orn-opacity: .17;
+    /* .17 was the densest overlap of any theme (64px tile, six large overlapping
+       circles) -- cut toward the enso/vine baseline that never got a legibility complaint. */
+    --orn-opacity: .07;
   }
   /* Codex -- illuminated manuscript, parchment + rubrication + blackletter, its own deliberate world */
   :root[data-theme="codex"] {
@@ -98,21 +107,32 @@
   :root[data-theme="andalus"] {
     --ground:#062a28; --ground-2:#0a3532; --ground-3:#0e403c;
     --hair:rgba(201,150,60,.18); --hair-2:rgba(201,150,60,.09);
-    --bone:#f0e6d2; --bone-dim:#c2b294; --bone-faint:#8d8267;
+    --bone:#f0e6d2; --bone-dim:#c2b294;
+    /* lifted from #8d8267: only 3.66:1 worst-case pre-fix -- the biggest gap of the four. */
+    --bone-faint:#a3967a;
     --gold:#c9963c; --gold-deep:#a2761f; --jade:#2fb3a6; --flare:#c1633f; --merged:#5f9d6e;
     --display: "Avenir Next", "Century Gothic", "Futura", sans-serif;
     --display-tracking: .01em;
-    --orn-opacity: .17;
+    /* .17 on a 72px tile of bold rotated squares -- straight edges at many angles
+       compete hard with letterforms; cut toward the enso/vine baseline. */
+    --orn-opacity: .07;
   }
   /* The Terminal -- now : CRT phosphor green on near-black, monospace everywhere */
   :root[data-theme="terminal"] {
     --ground:#080b0a; --ground-2:#0d120f; --ground-3:#111814;
     --hair:rgba(80,220,120,.16); --hair-2:rgba(80,220,120,.08);
-    --bone:#c9d6c9; --bone-dim:#7f9a83; --bone-faint:#4f6654;
+    --bone:#c9d6c9; --bone-dim:#7f9a83;
+    /* lifted from #4f6654: only 2.98:1 worst-case pre-fix -- the token that started this
+       follow-up. The 5px->6x10 scan widening in #scan below still helps, but this value
+       now clears AA on the color math alone, independent of the halo. */
+    --bone-faint:#6e8772;
     --gold:#48d06a; --gold-deep:#33a552; --jade:#59d0c0; --flare:#e0574a; --merged:#48d06a;
     --display: var(--mono);
     --display-tracking: -.02em;
-    --orn-opacity: .1;
+    /* .1 is already low, but the scan tile repeats every 5px -- close to a text
+       stroke's own width, so it reads as noise regardless of opacity. Widened the
+       tile below (see #scan) and trimmed opacity a little further to match. */
+    --orn-opacity: .05;
   }
 
   * { box-sizing: border-box; }
@@ -149,6 +169,16 @@
   .orn-scan-a { fill: var(--gold); fill-opacity: calc(var(--orn-opacity) * .5); }
   .orn-scan-b { fill: var(--gold); fill-opacity: var(--orn-opacity); }
 
+  /* legibility backstop for the four densest motifs (hex6/jaali/star8/scan): a tight
+     ground-colored halo on the prose that has no card behind it (everything inside
+     .role/.chan/.callout/.manifest/.laws-sec already sits on an opaque --ground-2 and
+     doesn't need this). Lower --orn-opacity above does most of the work; this covers
+     the residual edges right at the glyph boundary where density alone won't. */
+  :root:is([data-theme="arabic"], [data-theme="indian"], [data-theme="andalus"], [data-theme="terminal"])
+    :is(.lede-h, h2, .section-lede, .inc .idx, .inc h3, .inc .refs, .inc p, .inc .law, .standdown .final, .sig, footer) {
+    text-shadow: 0 0 2px var(--ground), 0 0 4px var(--ground), 0 0 7px var(--ground);
+  }
+
   /* prose self-caps at --measure; the section shell is wider so multi-column blocks breathe */
   .wrap { max-width: 62rem; margin-inline: auto; padding-inline: var(--edge); }
 
@@ -507,9 +537,10 @@
         <circle cx="9.5" cy="-16.45" r="11"/>
       </g>
     </pattern>
-    <!-- terminal : CRT scanlines -->
-    <pattern id="scan" width="5" height="5" patternUnits="userSpaceOnUse">
-      <rect x="0" y="0" width="5" height="1" class="orn-scan-a"/>
+    <!-- terminal : CRT scanlines (widened from a 5px repeat -- that was close enough to a
+         text stroke's own width to alias against glyph edges rather than just sit behind them) -->
+    <pattern id="scan" width="6" height="10" patternUnits="userSpaceOnUse">
+      <rect x="0" y="0" width="6" height="1" class="orn-scan-a"/>
       <rect x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" class="orn-scan-b"/>
     </pattern>
     <!-- japanese : ensō, wide-spaced and incomplete -- ma, the negative space, is the point -->
diff --git a/docs/the-fleet/night-two/index.html b/docs/the-fleet/night-two/index.html
index 54b5b39..f829e42 100644
--- a/docs/the-fleet/night-two/index.html
+++ b/docs/the-fleet/night-two/index.html
@@ -56,11 +56,16 @@
   :root[data-theme="arabic"] {
     --ground:#0d1233; --ground-2:#131a45; --ground-3:#182050;
     --hair:rgba(212,175,55,.18); --hair-2:rgba(212,175,55,.09);
-    --bone:#ece7d6; --bone-dim:#b9b8cb; --bone-faint:#7d7f9c;
+    --bone:#ece7d6; --bone-dim:#b9b8cb;
+    /* lifted from #7d7f9c: at .07 orn-opacity that still only cleared 4.24:1 worst-case
+       against the pattern's own color -- short of AA on the math alone, halo notwithstanding. */
+    --bone-faint:#8688a3;
     --gold:#d4af37; --gold-deep:#a8862a; --jade:#4fb0c4; --flare:#c1523f; --merged:#6bab7d;
     --display: "Futura", "Century Gothic", "Avenir Next", "Segoe UI", sans-serif;
     --display-tracking: .02em;
-    --orn-opacity: .16;
+    /* .16 read as noise directly behind small prose (66px hex6 tile, high edge density);
+       cut toward the enso/vine baseline that never got a legibility complaint. */
+    --orn-opacity: .07;
   }
   /* Japanese -- sumi-e minimalism, ma (negative space), washi ground, single vermillion seal */
   :root[data-theme="japanese"] {
@@ -77,11 +82,15 @@
   :root[data-theme="indian"] {
     --ground:#2a0f14; --ground-2:#37151b; --ground-3:#421a21;
     --hair:rgba(232,160,32,.20); --hair-2:rgba(232,160,32,.1);
-    --bone:#f7ead0; --bone-dim:#d2b48c; --bone-faint:#96806a;
+    --bone:#f7ead0; --bone-dim:#d2b48c;
+    /* lifted from #96806a: 4.25:1 worst-case pre-fix, short of AA on the math alone. */
+    --bone-faint:#a0886f;
     --gold:#e8a020; --gold-deep:#c07f14; --jade:#2bb3ad; --flare:#c81d3a; --merged:#5a9d5f;
     --display: "Didot", "Bodoni MT", "Playfair Display", Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;
     --display-tracking: 0;
-    --orn-opacity: .17;
+    /* .17 was the densest overlap of any theme (64px tile, six large overlapping
+       circles) -- cut toward the enso/vine baseline that never got a legibility complaint. */
+    --orn-opacity: .07;
   }
   /* Codex -- illuminated manuscript, parchment + rubrication + blackletter, its own deliberate world */
   :root[data-theme="codex"] {
@@ -98,21 +107,32 @@
   :root[data-theme="andalus"] {
     --ground:#062a28; --ground-2:#0a3532; --ground-3:#0e403c;
     --hair:rgba(201,150,60,.18); --hair-2:rgba(201,150,60,.09);
-    --bone:#f0e6d2; --bone-dim:#c2b294; --bone-faint:#8d8267;
+    --bone:#f0e6d2; --bone-dim:#c2b294;
+    /* lifted from #8d8267: only 3.66:1 worst-case pre-fix -- the biggest gap of the four. */
+    --bone-faint:#a3967a;
     --gold:#c9963c; --gold-deep:#a2761f; --jade:#2fb3a6; --flare:#c1633f; --merged:#5f9d6e;
     --display: "Avenir Next", "Century Gothic", "Futura", sans-serif;
     --display-tracking: .01em;
-    --orn-opacity: .17;
+    /* .17 on a 72px tile of bold rotated squares -- straight edges at many angles
+       compete hard with letterforms; cut toward the enso/vine baseline. */
+    --orn-opacity: .07;
   }
   /* The Terminal -- now : CRT phosphor green on near-black, monospace everywhere */
   :root[data-theme="terminal"] {
     --ground:#080b0a; --ground-2:#0d120f; --ground-3:#111814;
     --hair:rgba(80,220,120,.16); --hair-2:rgba(80,220,120,.08);
-    --bone:#c9d6c9; --bone-dim:#7f9a83; --bone-faint:#4f6654;
+    --bone:#c9d6c9; --bone-dim:#7f9a83;
+    /* lifted from #4f6654: only 2.98:1 worst-case pre-fix -- the token that started this
+       follow-up. The 5px->6x10 scan widening in #scan below still helps, but this value
+       now clears AA on the color math alone, independent of the halo. */
+    --bone-faint:#6e8772;
     --gold:#48d06a; --gold-deep:#33a552; --jade:#59d0c0; --flare:#e0574a; --merged:#48d06a;
     --display: var(--mono);
     --display-tracking: -.02em;
-    --orn-opacity: .1;
+    /* .1 is already low, but the scan tile repeats every 5px -- close to a text
+       stroke's own width, so it reads as noise regardless of opacity. Widened the
+       tile below (see #scan) and trimmed opacity a little further to match. */
+    --orn-opacity: .05;
   }
 
   * { box-sizing: border-box; }
@@ -149,6 +169,16 @@
   .orn-scan-a { fill: var(--gold); fill-opacity: calc(var(--orn-opacity) * .5); }
   .orn-scan-b { fill: var(--gold); fill-opacity: var(--orn-opacity); }
 
+  /* legibility backstop for the four densest motifs (hex6/jaali/star8/scan): a tight
+     ground-colored halo on the prose that has no card behind it (everything inside
+     .role/.chan/.callout/.manifest/.laws-sec already sits on an opaque --ground-2 and
+     doesn't need this). Lower --orn-opacity above does most of the work; this covers
+     the residual edges right at the glyph boundary where density alone won't. */
+  :root:is([data-theme="arabic"], [data-theme="indian"], [data-theme="andalus"], [data-theme="terminal"])
+    :is(.lede-h, h2, .section-lede, .inc .idx, .inc h3, .inc .refs, .inc p, .inc .law, .standdown .final, .sig, footer) {
+    text-shadow: 0 0 2px var(--ground), 0 0 4px var(--ground), 0 0 7px var(--ground);
+  }
+
   /* prose self-caps at --measure; the section shell is wider so multi-column blocks breathe */
   .wrap { max-width: 62rem; margin-inline: auto; padding-inline: var(--edge); }
 
@@ -508,9 +538,10 @@
         <circle cx="9.5" cy="-16.45" r="11"/>
       </g>
     </pattern>
-    <!-- terminal : CRT scanlines -->
-    <pattern id="scan" width="5" height="5" patternUnits="userSpaceOnUse">
-      <rect x="0" y="0" width="5" height="1" class="orn-scan-a"/>
+    <!-- terminal : CRT scanlines (widened from a 5px repeat -- that was close enough to a
+         text stroke's own width to alias against glyph edges rather than just sit behind them) -->
+    <pattern id="scan" width="6" height="10" patternUnits="userSpaceOnUse">
+      <rect x="0" y="0" width="6" height="1" class="orn-scan-a"/>
       <rect x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" class="orn-scan-b"/>
     </pattern>
     <!-- japanese : ensō, wide-spaced and incomplete -- ma, the negative space, is the point -->