Be here
at the beginning.

Every $1 in membership payments earns $1 in Foundry store credit, plus credit bonuses.

Your full membership payments earn credit; processing fees and taxes do not reduce that amount. Foundry store credit is a loyalty discount for eligible purchases, not cash, a loan, or an investment. No Foundry store credit expires.

Vanguard membership is $10 monthly or $120 yearly. Monthly members receive credit with each payment; yearly members receive the full $120 in membership credit when they join, plus, if they haven’t had them before, $10 in welcome credit and the $100 Vanguard Legacy bonus, for $230 in Foundry store credit on day one.

• On the monthly plan, the second consecutive qualifying paid month earns a one-time welcome bonus equal to your monthly membership fee.
• On the monthly plan, three consecutive qualifying paid months earn the Legacy bonus: $100 Vanguard, $50 Visionary, or $25 Torchbearer.
• New yearly members receive both welcome bonuses immediately on joining. These are once-per-person bonuses, not recurring renewal bonuses. Every tier’s yearly price is 12 times its monthly price.
• The $50 Kindling credit is a separate milestone award for its qualifying cohort, not a three-month bonus.
• Qualifying direct referrals can earn $10 in bonus credit when a never-before member pays a second consecutive month and the referrer is active. Grace counts; refund and chargeback conditions apply.

Credit earned from membership payments and bonus credit are recorded separately. Credit you earned from payments stays yours even if you lapse. Bonus credit stays on your account too, but you need an active membership to spend it, because the Foundry store is for active members.

Foundry membership must be paid in money. At Sphere Launch, credit earned from Foundry membership payments ends; existing balances remain, and all Foundry store credit, including bonus credit, may be applied to Sphere membership. Wider Sphere purchase use follows the final terms for each credit category.

Active Founders can purchase Aetherwood material through the Foundry store. Strategic partner and creator arrangements are handled separately. Five Pack Studios is the public storefront for finished Aetherwood products.

Your tier discount is permanent: 10% Vanguard, 7.5% Visionary, or 5% Torchbearer. Using it requires active membership; it is waiting if you return. Discounts apply before available purchase credit.

• Aetherwood orders start at two board feet. Payment is collected at checkout.
• Production capacity is limited. Membership does not guarantee stock, an immediate purchase slot, or a delivery date. Available order windows and potential waits are disclosed before purchase.
• Quality issues are addressed with replacement material.
• Limits on store credit for larger orders are being considered. Any dollar threshold or percentage cap will be published before taking effect; none is active here.

If you’re joining mainly to buy Aetherwood, check the stock and order terms first. We’d rather you know before you pay.

A qualifying paid Foundry membership establishes permanent Founder recognition, your original Legacy tier, and the Founders Suite entitlement attached to your account. Earned recognition and credit are not erased by cancellation.

Active paid membership is required for Founder-exclusive benefits. Returning Founders retain their original tier pricing rights, including after that enrollment window closes. On the monthly plan, a break can restart the consecutive-paid-month qualification for bonuses; unpaid months earn no membership credit. Yearly membership is paid up front for the year, with membership credit and welcome bonuses received on joining.

For yearly membership, cancel within 14 days of payment, if you have never used any Foundry store credit, for a full refund of the year; the credit it added is removed, and the welcome bonuses are removed for good. After that, cancelling stops the next yearly renewal; access continues through the paid year.

If a payment fails, you have 14 days to fix it, and you count as active the whole time. Inactive Founders Suite access and detailed future Sphere packaging remain to be finalized.

The Founders Suite is the continuation of the Foundry inside the Sphere. Its planned benefits include VIP invitations, exclusive access, behind-the-scenes updates, first looks, and tier-based advantages.

Help shape the Sphere through alpha and beta access; try the live demo now and send feedback directly to the developers. First looks and early feedback remain part of the experience.

Seller priority is planned within Luster and Resonance. Marketplace discounts are meant to be covered by Emberwright, so creators are still paid in full. Existing purchase credit is intended to carry into the ecosystem, subject to the terms for its category.

The published vision includes access across all applicable Sphere suites at Founder pricing, including the lowest price tier, and the ability to use credit toward Sphere membership. This is not a promise that separately priced goods, courses, bookings, licenses, or services are included. Detailed packaging remains in development.

The physical Founders Suite in the picture is a dream, not a building. Yet.

The First 250 are the members active when the active-member count first reaches 250, including members in the applicable grace period. This is a milestone cohort, not simply the first 250 signup numbers.

The approved benefit is lifetime free access to all Sphere suites, when they open. That is separate from ordinary Founders Suite entitlement and from the $50 Kindling credit. Once earned, lifetime access to all Sphere suites remains usable even if you cancel or pause paid Foundry membership. Access, usage and membership fees across the Sphere are waived for qualifying recipients; commerce-related taxes and fees remain payable. The separate $50 Kindling credit never expires. Its redemption rules are separate from lifetime access.

Ordinary milestone Marks recognize accounts that exist at unlock, including inactive accounts; owning a Mark does not by itself qualify someone for its rewards. Milestone achievements are cumulative and permanent. That does not automatically grant every past benefit to later joiners, remove an individual benefit’s eligibility conditions, or mean software and services are available before they are ready.

Makers Marks recognize your history, contribution, and participation. Legacy cohort Marks are Masterworks. The planned reward is one year of Sphere access per qualifying earned Masterwork; purchased Marks are excluded. Distinct qualifying awards extend access, and earlier qualifying awards count. Repeated instances of the same award remain under review. Final eligibility, included services, and redemption details will be published before this reward becomes available.

Legacy introductory benefits stay attached to their Legacy Mark; the same benefit is not granted twice through the general Masterwork program. Lifetime holders keep their lifetime access. An alternative reward, including possible giftable access or replacement Foundry store credit, remains under review; no substitute or value has been approved. Legacy and milestone Masterworks remain excluded from the proposed replacement store credit.

Physical keepsakes, further community rewards, and transferable promotional store credit are also being explored. Specific rewards, conversion values, transfer conditions, safeguards, and redemption limits will be confirmed before these benefits are offered.

The Founders Rebate: a proposed way to return a share of membership payments after the Sphere launches, as cash or additional Foundry store credit, with a planned start at 2,500 active members and a planned doubling at 10,000, subject to final published terms.

A separate Foundry store credit thank-you bonus is proposed for members who back our Kickstarter campaign.

Store credit earned from membership payments, the proposed membership rebate, and the campaign thank-you are separate programs.

Read the background in the About FAQ

Sphere Launch is the shared public-launch event for the Sphere and the planned Kickstarter campaign. Open beta comes earlier. At Sphere Launch, new Foundry enrollment closes permanently and the Foundry transitions into Founders Suite / Sphere membership.

Founder recognition, pricing rights, earned balances, and approved bonus-qualification paths survive the transition. Consecutive qualifying paid Sphere months can complete the established bonus paths. The ordinary credit earned from Foundry membership payments stops at the transition.

Foundry membership helps sustain development; the campaign is intended to scale flagship manufacturing and support delivery of Founder commitments. No launch date is promised here.