diff --git a/egg/install.sh b/egg/install.sh
index ce78fea..036ba9f 100755
--- a/egg/install.sh
+++ b/egg/install.sh
@@ -138,6 +138,21 @@ rg_install() {
     fetch '.sidecar.assets["linux-x86_64"]' rust-link-sidecar
     fetch '.sidecar.launcher'              with-sidecar.sh
     fetch '.payload.asset'                 plugin.tar.gz
+    # RunicNPC (docs/runicnpc/PLAN.md D224), when the bundle carries it: a third
+    # file beside the bridge, checked the same way before anything is placed.
+    local npc=""
+    if jq -e '.npc != null' "${work}/bundle.json" >/dev/null; then
+        npc="$(jq -r '.npc.tag' "${work}/bundle.json")"
+        fetch '.npc.asset' runicnpc.tar.gz
+        tar -xzf "${work}/runicnpc.tar.gz" -C "${work}"
+        local npc_manifest="${work}/runicnpc/manifest.json"
+        [ -f "${npc_manifest}" ] || { echo "Runic Gateway: the RunicNPC tarball has no manifest.json"; return 1; }
+        [ "$(jq -r '.api' "${npc_manifest}")" = "$(jq -r '.npc.api' "${work}/bundle.json")" ] \
+            || { echo "Runic Gateway: RunicNPC answers API $(jq -r '.api' "${npc_manifest}"), the bundle says $(jq -r '.npc.api' "${work}/bundle.json") - refusing it"; return 1; }
+        [ -f "${work}/runicnpc/RunicNPC.cs" ] || { echo "Runic Gateway: the RunicNPC tarball has no RunicNPC.cs"; return 1; }
+        echo "$(jq -r '.files["RunicNPC.cs"]' "${npc_manifest}")  ${work}/runicnpc/RunicNPC.cs" | sha256sum -c --quiet - \
+            || { echo "Runic Gateway: RunicNPC.cs does not match its manifest's sha256 - refusing it"; return 1; }
+    fi
 
     tar -xzf "${work}/plugin.tar.gz" -C "${work}"
     local manifest="${work}/runicgateway-rust-plugin/manifest.json"
@@ -164,15 +179,22 @@ rg_install() {
             || { echo "Runic Gateway: ${file} does not match the plugin manifest's sha256 - refusing it"; return 1; }
     done
     [ -f "${work}/runicgateway-rust-plugin/RunicGateway.cs" ] || { echo "Runic Gateway: the plugin tarball has no RunicGateway.cs"; return 1; }
+    # RunicNPC before the bridge: the bridge reports it at hello. Its data directory
+    # is NOT made here - one made from outside the game is not writable by it
+    # (runicnpc PLAN.md §1.5); RunicNPC makes its own on first load.
+    if [ -n "${npc}" ]; then
+        install -m 644 "${work}/runicnpc/RunicNPC.cs" "${plugins}/RunicNPC.cs"
+    fi
     for file in $(jq -r '.files | keys[]' "${manifest}"); do
         install -m 644 "${work}/runicgateway-rust-plugin/${file}" "${plugins}/${file}"
     done
     # What is installed, readable from the panel's file manager.
     jq --arg framework "${FRAMEWORK}" --arg installed "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
        '{ bundle, protocol, framework: $framework, installed: $installed,
-          sidecar: { tag: .sidecar.tag }, plugin: { tag: .payload.tag, commit: .payload.commit } }' \
+          sidecar: { tag: .sidecar.tag }, plugin: { tag: .payload.tag, commit: .payload.commit } }
+        + (if .npc == null then {} else { runicnpc: { tag: .npc.tag, api: .npc.api } } end)' \
        "${work}/bundle.json" > /mnt/server/rust-link/bundle.json
-    echo "Runic Gateway: installed sidecar $(jq -r '.sidecar.tag' "${work}/bundle.json") and plugin $(jq -r '.payload.tag' "${work}/bundle.json") (${FRAMEWORK})"
+    echo "Runic Gateway: installed sidecar $(jq -r '.sidecar.tag' "${work}/bundle.json") and plugin $(jq -r '.payload.tag' "${work}/bundle.json")${npc:+ and RunicNPC ${npc}} (${FRAMEWORK})"
     echo "Runic Gateway: add this server under Admin -> Rust -> Servers; the console prints its URL and, on first boot, its token."
 }
 # In a subshell so `set -e` inside cannot leak into the rest of this script, and
diff --git a/sidecar/src/web.rs b/sidecar/src/web.rs
index 9eba2d9..bff518a 100644
--- a/sidecar/src/web.rs
+++ b/sidecar/src/web.rs
@@ -142,6 +142,12 @@ pub async fn serve(addr: &str, state: AppState) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         // held by the plugin in memory and read by BetterChat on the chat path. Nothing here knows
         // what a title is.
         .route("/titles", post(titles))
+        // Protocol 13, RunicNPC (runicnpc PLAN.md stage 4): the site's NPC profiles and the
+        // server's placements. RunicNPC is called by the plugin, never by this process, and nothing
+        // here knows a profile from a placement. Four more thin forwards.
+        .route("/npc/profiles", get(npc_profiles).post(npc_profiles_set))
+        .route("/npc/placements", get(npc_placements))
+        .route("/npc/placement", post(npc_placement))
         .route_layer(middleware::from_fn_with_state(state.clone(), gate));
 
     let app = Router::new()
@@ -585,6 +591,32 @@ async fn titles(State(st): State<AppState>, Json(body): Json<Value>) -> Response
     forward_object(&st, body, "titles.set", "a title set").await
 }
 
+/// The server's RunicNPC profiles as RunicNPC holds them: whether a site manages them, each profile,
+/// and those refused. The website reads this before its first push, to adopt them (D244). Live.
+async fn npc_profiles(State(st): State<AppState>) -> Response {
+    let req_id = st.rpc.next_req_id();
+    let command = json!({ "cmd": "npc.profiles", "reqId": req_id });
+    respond(st.rpc.call(&st.game, command, &req_id).await)
+}
+
+/// Replace the whole profile set (a push). `npc.ok` lists the profiles RunicNPC refused.
+async fn npc_profiles_set(State(st): State<AppState>, Json(body): Json<Value>) -> Response {
+    forward_object(&st, body, "npc.profiles.set", "a profile push").await
+}
+
+/// Every placement, the routes one may walk and the cost warning. Live: an admin's `/rnpc` in game
+/// changes it at any moment.
+async fn npc_placements(State(st): State<AppState>) -> Response {
+    let req_id = st.rpc.next_req_id();
+    let command = json!({ "cmd": "npc.placements", "reqId": req_id });
+    respond(st.rpc.call(&st.game, command, &req_id).await)
+}
+
+/// One change to one placement, by `op`: add, set, remove, rename or respawn.
+async fn npc_placement(State(st): State<AppState>, Json(body): Json<Value>) -> Response {
+    forward_object(&st, body, "npc.placement", "a placement change").await
+}
+
 /// What this map is, where its picture comes from, and its monuments (protocol 11, stage one).
 /// Live, and never cached here: a wipe changes the answer, and the module compares its key and
 /// hash against what it holds to decide whether to fetch at all.
@@ -1092,6 +1124,26 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(stamp(json!(["9"]), "tally.close", "r-4").is_none());
     }
 
+    /// RunicNPC's writes are stamped like every other forward: a placement change cannot become a
+    /// profile push, or anything else, by naming one.
+    #[test]
+    fn a_runicnpc_command_cannot_choose_its_own_command() {
+        let body = json!({ "cmd": "npc.profiles.set", "reqId": "theirs", "op": "remove", "id": "bandit-1" });
+        let stamped = stamp(body, "npc.placement", "r-9").expect("an object is stamped");
+
+        assert_eq!(stamped["cmd"], "npc.placement");
+        assert_eq!(stamped["reqId"], "r-9");
+        assert_eq!(stamped["op"], "remove");
+        assert_eq!(stamped["id"], "bandit-1");
+
+        let body = json!({ "cmd": "npc.placement", "profiles": { "warden": { "health": 250 } } });
+        let stamped = stamp(body, "npc.profiles.set", "r-10").expect("an object is stamped");
+
+        assert_eq!(stamped["cmd"], "npc.profiles.set");
+        assert_eq!(stamped["profiles"]["warden"]["health"], 250);
+        assert!(stamp(json!("warden"), "npc.profiles.set", "r-11").is_none());
+    }
+
     /// Protocol 13: an inventory page request keeps its paging fields and cannot become a sync.
     #[test]
     fn an_inventory_request_cannot_choose_its_own_command() {