And so it begins...

mods/artifact_story/init.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+artifact.story = {
+    states = enum { -- We use an enum for this so that we can use relational operators to determine if the current state is before or after a target state.
+        "loading", -- For mapgen
+        "init", -- For the opening cutscene
+        "pre_vix", -- The player doesn't have Vix yet
+        "main", -- The main game state. Progress is managed by checkpoints here.
+        "end", -- The game is over.
+    }
+}
+local ns = artifact.story
+local db = minetest.get_mod_storage()
+
+local state = db:get_int("state") -- Defaults to zero, i.e. "loading".
+
+function ns.set_state(to)
+    state = to
+    db:set_int("state", state)
+end
+
+function ns.get_state()
+    return state
+end
+
+function ns.before_state(target)
+    
+end
+
+minetest.register_globalstep(function()
+    if state == "init" then
+        
+    end
+end)

mods/artifact_story/mod.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+name = artifact_story
+depends = artifact_base