These are closer to config files than to actual scripting. You can do a little bit of script-like triggering, though. It’s written in JSON.
It looks like you’ve already seen the thread I made about it here: Sanctum Elder, Items, and Visual Effects Config, though I wrote that late at night and it’s a bit wandery.
Putting each dude in it’s own file is probably easier to manage, though it is possible to put any number of them in a single file. I have both the original elder and also a copy of my avatar in a single file.
You can see my config here: https://pastebin.com/7dAVtteh
If you read a little about JSON, you should be able to read that and see each of the different segments under the “events” array.
For any more detail, we can discuss on the modding section thread, though. Your creation will do better without the tech talk, I’m sure. 
Also, yes. Even with tech knowledge, I crash stuff all the time when messing with these configs.