diff --git a/skald/src/web.rs b/skald/src/web.rs
index 1bb4bf2..79c0634 100644
--- a/skald/src/web.rs
+++ b/skald/src/web.rs
@@ -128,6 +128,8 @@ pub struct NewStoryForm {
     word_count_target: String,
     #[serde(default)]
     author_slug: String,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    fire: String, // "now" = spawn background gen; empty = just queue the seed row
 }
 
 async fn new_story_form(State(state): State<Arc<WebState>>) -> Html<String> {
@@ -177,6 +179,39 @@ async fn new_story_create(
         }
     }
 
+    // Fire generation immediately if requested. No-parent gen path:
+    // continue_story::run handles parent_story_id=None by using the
+    // story's own prompt as the LLM context (instead of the parent
+    // chain's bible/chapters). Audit pass is skipped — there's no
+    // parent to compare against. So you get a single first-chapter
+    // gen + cleanup pass and status flows to 'complete'.
+    if form.fire == "now" {
+        let database_url = std::env::var("DATABASE_URL")
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| "postgresql://skald:skald@localhost:5432/skald".into());
+        let author_owned = if author_slug.is_empty() {
+            None
+        } else {
+            Some(author_slug.to_string())
+        };
+        tokio::spawn(async move {
+            if let Err(e) = crate::continue_story::run(
+                &database_url,
+                id,
+                author_owned.as_deref(),
+                None,    // direction (no parent — uses story.prompt instead)
+                target,
+                2,       // recent_n
+                true,    // skip_audit (no parent → can't audit)
+            )
+            .await
+            {
+                tracing::error!(story_id = %id, error = %e, "background new-story task failed");
+            } else {
+                tracing::info!(story_id = %id, "background new-story task succeeded");
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
     Ok(Redirect::to(&format!("/stories/{}", id)))
 }
 
@@ -457,7 +492,11 @@ fn new_story_panel(err: Option<&str>, authors: &[AuthorOpt]) -> Markup {
         article.form-panel {
             h1 { "Begin a new saga" }
             (ornament())
-            p.muted { "Create a story row + pick its author. The gen pipeline fires on " code { "skald continue --story <id>" } " or via the continue form once you've drafted the first chapter." }
+            p.muted {
+                "Create a story row, pick its author, and optionally fire the gen pipeline "
+                "immediately. Without " strong { "fire now" } ", the seed row waits for "
+                code { "skald continue --story <id>" } "."
+            }
             @if let Some(e) = err { p.error { (e) } }
             form method="post" action="/stories/new" {
                 label { "Title"
@@ -474,12 +513,16 @@ fn new_story_panel(err: Option<&str>, authors: &[AuthorOpt]) -> Markup {
                         }
                     }
                 }
-                label { "Seed prompt (optional)"
-                    textarea name="prompt" rows="4" placeholder="What is this saga about? Setting, frame, conflict." {}
+                label { "Seed prompt"
+                    textarea name="prompt" rows="5" placeholder="What is this saga about? Setting, frame, conflict, vibe. The richer this is, the better the first chapter." {}
                 }
-                label { "Target word count per chapter (optional)"
+                label { "Target word count for the first chapter"
                     input type="number" name="word_count_target" min="500" step="500" placeholder="3000";
                 }
+                label.checkbox-label {
+                    input type="checkbox" name="fire" value="now";
+                    span { " fire generation now (background task, ~7 min — no audit pass on the first chapter since there's no parent yet)" }
+                }
                 button type="submit" { "Create" }
             }
         }