**TO:** Crimson Leaf Editorial Board
**FROM:** Cora, Continuity & Accuracy Editor
**SUBJECT:** Continuity Review: *The Starfall Accord* – Chapter 14

### 1. STRENGTHS TO PRESERVE
*   **The Somatic Equilibrium:** The passage "He was the glass; she was the wine" accurately mirrors the established "somatic 'this' equilibrium" from the Ch13 character-state. 
*   **Dorian’s Physical State:** The text correctly references his "restored right hand" (Line: "he reached out his restored right hand"), maintaining the healing arc completed in Ch13.
*   **Kaelen/Aric Absence:** The narrative honors the permanent deaths of Kaelen and Aric (established Ch04) by maintaining the vacuum they left in the administrative and emotional landscape, focusing instead on the new "Grey" manifestations.
*   **Voice Signatures:**
    *   **Dorian:** YES. His dialogue remains pedantic, precise, and reliant on qualifiers ("The evidence suggests," "suboptimal," "ninety-four percent complete"). 
    *   **Mira:** YES. Her voice is kinetic, informal, and prone to "Actually, no" pivots that challenge Dorian’s rigid logic.
    *   **Voss:** YES. He maintains his role as the bureaucratic antagonist, obsessed with "ledgers," "reports," and "heresy."

### 2. MUST-FIX — CONTINUITY
*   **FLAG:** **The Location of Councillor Voss.** 
    *   **The Contradiction:** Chapter 14 has Voss appearing in the boiler room and chasing the protagonists to the High Spire. However, the **World State (ch-14)** explicitly established: *"Councillor Voss (Ministry): HOSTILE... Fled toward the Capital to file a grievance."*
    *   **The Correction:** Chapter 14 must be adjusted to reflect that Voss has already departed. The antagonist presence in the boiler room should either be a lower-level Ministry auditor left behind, or Voss must be written as returning with an Imperial injunction, rather than being physically present since the Gala.
*   **FLAG:** **The 24-Hour Countdown.** 
    *   **The Contradiction:** The **World State (ch-14)** established: *"Voss’s report triggers a formal 24-hour countdown for the Ministry’s next move."* Chapter 14 treats Voss’s arrival as a reactionary response to a "pressure event," ignoring the tension of the ticking clock established in the prior state.
    *   **The Correction:** Ensure Voss (or his proxy) references the elapsing time of the 24-hour ultimatum to maintain the established stakes.
*   **FLAG:** **Dorian’s Attire.**
    *   **The Contradiction:** Chapter 14 describes Dorian in a "high-collared charcoal tunic." While not a direct contradiction to a specific garment, the **Character State** for Ch14 notes he is on the "High Spire Peak balcony" following the Gala events.
    *   **The Correction:** Minor alignment needed to ensure he hasn't magically changed clothes if this follows immediately after the balcony scene, or acknowledge the time skip that allowed for the change to "charcoal" from his formal Gala attire.

### 3. MUST-FIX — CLARITY
*   **The "Northern Tithe" Ledger:** 
    *   **Reference:** "Mira dropped her quill, leaving a dark splash of ink across the Northern Tithe reports..."
    *   **The Issue:** This is the first mention of "Northern Tithes." As the schools have just merged and are facing an Imperial shutdown, the sudden introduction of specific tax/tithe paperwork lacks context. 
    *   **The Fix:** Briefly clarify if these are Pyre-specific records she is trying to integrate into the new Union ledger to tie it to the "merger" plot.

### 4. OPTIONAL SUGGESTIONS
*   **Somatic Bleed Reference (Self-Correction):** Mira’s "known secret" from Ch03 is her "wild joy" during the sensory bleed. While Ch14 mentions they "linked souls on the bridge," adding a internal beat where Mira feels that specific "wild joy" again while stabilizing the Phoenix would provide a payoff for that long-standing open loop.
*   **Elara’s Absence:** Given Elara is "resolute and focused" and "stabilizing student wards" (Ch14 Context), her total absence during a "catastrophic pressure event" that rattles the whole Academy seems slightly off. A one-line mention of her keeping the students back would seal the continuity.

### 5. FORBIDDEN CHANGES / NON-GOALS
*   **Dorian’s Stuttering/Hesitation:** Do not "clean up" the ellipses in Dorian’s speech (e.g., "The... stabilization is... ninety-four percent..."). This is a established voice marker of his intellectual processing and should not be edited for flow.
*   **The Phoenix’s Morphology:** Do not attempt to give the Steam Phoenix a solid biological form. Its "vaporous" and "mercury-grey" nature is a direct requirement of the "Grey Era" world-building.
*   **Mira’s Irreverence:** Do not soften Mira’s "Actually, no" interjections. This is her established rhetorical signature.

### 6. VERDICT
**REVISE**
The chapter is strong in voice and tone, but the physical presence of Councillor Voss directly contradicts the established world-state that he has already fled to the Capital. This creates a temporal paradox that must be resolved before publication.