diff --git a/internal/phraser/deck.go b/internal/phraser/deck.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f53745
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/phraser/deck.go
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+package phraser
+
+// deck — the mechanics every family of hand-written Russian lines shares.
+//
+// A family is one embedded JSON file: schema-versioned, several variants per
+// entry, never the same variant twice running, and a hard floor of Go literals
+// under it so a broken file cannot take her words away. fallbacks.go was the
+// first family (Vikunja #501) and acks.go the second, at which point copying
+// eighty lines of loader per family stopped being defensible.
+//
+// What stays per family: the file, the keys, the floor literals, the accessor
+// names, and any validation only that family can state.
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"math/rand"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// deckEntry — one line she can say, in as many wordings as the file gives.
+type deckEntry struct {
+	// Fixed — one variant, never picked between. For wording that must not
+	// drift from turn to turn, like a phrase naming one specific gap.
+	Fixed    bool     `json:"fixed"`
+	Variants []string `json:"variants"`
+}
+
+type deckFile struct {
+	SchemaVersion int                  `json:"schema_version"`
+	Name          string               `json:"name"`
+	Notes         []string             `json:"notes"`
+	Entries       map[string]deckEntry `json:"entries"`
+}
+
+// deck picks a line. Safe for concurrent use. A nil *deck answers from the
+// floor, which is what an unloadable file leaves behind.
+type deck struct {
+	mu    sync.Mutex
+	rnd   *rand.Rand
+	last  map[string]string
+	file  deckFile
+	keys  []string
+	floor map[string]string
+}
+
+// loadDeck parses raw, checks the version and every required key, and seeds the
+// picker. Pass a source to make the picking reproducible in tests; nil seeds
+// from the clock.
+func loadDeck(raw []byte, version int, keys []string, floor map[string]string, src rand.Source) (*deck, error) {
+	var f deckFile
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &f); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("parse: %w", err)
+	}
+	if f.SchemaVersion != version {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("schema_version %d, want %d", f.SchemaVersion, version)
+	}
+	for _, k := range keys {
+		e, ok := f.Entries[k]
+		if !ok || len(e.Variants) == 0 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("entry %q is missing or empty", k)
+		}
+		if e.Fixed && len(e.Variants) != 1 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("entry %q is fixed but has %d variants", k, len(e.Variants))
+		}
+	}
+	if src == nil {
+		src = rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano())
+	}
+	return &deck{rnd: rand.New(src), last: map[string]string{}, file: f, keys: keys, floor: floor}, nil
+}
+
+// requirePlaceholder fails the load when a variant of key does not use ph. For
+// an entry whose whole job is to read something back, a variant without the
+// placeholder silently drops it.
+func (d *deck) requirePlaceholder(key, ph string) error {
+	for _, v := range d.file.Entries[key].Variants {
+		if !strings.Contains(v, ph) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("%q variant %q does not use %s", key, v, ph)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// text returns one variant for key with the placeholders filled in. A nil
+// receiver answers from the floor, so no caller checks whether the file loaded.
+func (d *deck) text(key string, vars map[string]string) string {
+	tmpl := ""
+	if d != nil {
+		if e, ok := d.file.Entries[key]; ok && len(e.Variants) > 0 {
+			tmpl = d.pick(key, e)
+		}
+	}
+	if tmpl == "" {
+		tmpl = floorOf(d, key)
+	}
+	return fill(tmpl, vars)
+}
+
+// matches reports whether text is a line key could have produced. A caller that
+// has to recognise one of these lines cannot compare against a literal any more.
+func (d *deck) matches(key string, vars map[string]string, text string) bool {
+	if fill(floorOf(d, key), vars) == text {
+		return true
+	}
+	if d == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	for _, v := range d.file.Entries[key].Variants {
+		if fill(v, vars) == text {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// variants returns every line the file can produce, in key order, for the
+// persona scorer. Stable order so a failure names the same variant twice.
+func (d *deck) variants() []string {
+	if d == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	var out []string
+	for _, k := range d.keys {
+		out = append(out, d.file.Entries[k].Variants...)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// pick chooses at random, skipping whatever this entry said last time.
+func (d *deck) pick(key string, e deckEntry) string {
+	d.mu.Lock()
+	defer d.mu.Unlock()
+
+	choices := e.Variants
+	if len(choices) > 1 {
+		fresh := make([]string, 0, len(choices))
+		for _, v := range choices {
+			if v != d.last[key] {
+				fresh = append(fresh, v)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(fresh) > 0 {
+			choices = fresh
+		}
+	}
+	got := choices[d.rnd.Intn(len(choices))]
+	d.last[key] = got
+	return got
+}
+
+// floorOf reads the Go literal behind key, and works on a nil deck because that
+// is exactly the case it exists for. The per-family map is the source of truth.
+func floorOf(d *deck, key string) string {
+	if d != nil && d.floor != nil {
+		return d.floor[key]
+	}
+	return deckFloors[key]
+}
+
+// deckFloors — every family's floor literals in one map, so a nil deck still
+// finds them. Families register at init; the keys are namespaced by family.
+var deckFloors = map[string]string{}
+
+func registerFloor(floor map[string]string) map[string]string {
+	for k, v := range floor {
+		deckFloors[k] = v
+	}
+	return floor
+}
+
+// fill substitutes {name} for each var. A placeholder with no value is left
+// alone rather than blanked, so a missing value is visible instead of silent.
+func fill(tmpl string, vars map[string]string) string {
+	for k, v := range vars {
+		tmpl = strings.ReplaceAll(tmpl, "{"+k+"}", v)
+	}
+	return tmpl
+}