# FULL MODE CHARACTER STATE EXTRACTION — CHAPTER 17 (POLISHED & CANONICAL)

## Elara Vance
**Location:** The Heart of the Weeping Grove, Elderwood
**Physical:** Spiritual exhaustion; bruised ribs; palm Sigil glowing with harmonized resonance
**Emotional:** Transcendent and resolute; heavy peace with sacrifice; edges of identity dissolution intensifying
**Active Obligations:** 
- Owes Kaelen protection — UNPAID (unresolved tension)
- Owes Oakhaven survival through Ritual completion — ACTIVE & CRITICAL
**Open Loops:** 
- [Elara & Thorne] Final confrontation over Vessel artifacts — UNRESOLVED
- [Elara & Self] Identity preservation vs. erasure through harmonization — UNRESOLVED & INTENSIFYING
**Known Secrets:** 
- CARRIED: Great Blight fed by Elderwood's ancient roots (ch-05, unresolved)
**Arc Progression:** 85% — Transitioned from reluctant survivor to self-accepting Vessel; now confronting dissolution of individual self as ritual deepens
**Status:** PERMANENT CHARACTER

## Kaelen
**Location:** The Heart of the Weeping Grove, Elderwood
**Physical:** Minor lacerations; heavy fatigue; steady hands
**Emotional:** Fiercely loyal; quiet awe; protective resolve hardening into resolve
**Active Obligations:** 
- Owes Elara his life — UNPAID (primary driving force)
**Open Loops:** 
- [Kaelen & Thorne] Deserter past exploitable — UNRESOLVED
- [Kaelen & Self] Shedding deserter instincts permanently — UNRESOLVED & CRITICAL
**Known Secrets:** 
- CARRIED: Southern Wilds cache location (ch-17, unresolved)
**Arc Progression:** 80% — Abandoned deserter instincts to become Vessel's primary guardian; loyalty tested
**Status:** PERMANENT CHARACTER

## Thorne Blackroot
**Location:** The Heart of the Weeping Grove, Elderwood
**Physical:** Searing magical burns on arms; blackened veins pulsing with Blight corruption (spreading)
**Emotional:** Fanatical; desperate; losing autonomous control; unraveling
**Active Obligations:** 
- Owes Circle of Thorns a cleansed Grove — UNPAID & FAILING
**Open Loops:** 
- [Thorne & Blight] Master or instrument? — UNRESOLVED & CLIMAX POINT
- [Thorne & Redemption] Can he sever the Blight's heart? — UNRESOLVED & FINAL CHOICE PENDING
**Known Secrets:** 
- CARRIED: Ritual to invert Vessel power (ch-17, unresolved)
- CARRIED: Hidden humanity beneath vengeance (ch-17, unresolved)
**Arc Progression:** 75% — Tethered physical form to Blight to prevent failure; rapidly losing autonomy and self
**Status:** PERMANENT CHARACTER

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# WORLD STATE — CHAPTER 17 (POLISHED & CANONICAL)

## Grove Spirits (The Heart)
**Status:** RESPONSIVE — Agitated by conflict; now answering Elara's harmonization calls
**Impact:** Strengthens Vessel's connection to the land; spiritual architecture solidifying

## Faction Attitudes
- **Circle of Thorns:** AGGRESSIVE — Final Blightweaver assault on the Heart underway
- **Oakhaven Survivors:** DESPERATE — Entire faith placed in ritual as outskirts are breached

## Active World Events
- **The Vessel Ritual:** FINAL STAGE — Localization points stabilized; Heart is final threshold
- **The Great Blight:** PEAK — Ecosystem collapse at Grove edges; feeding accelerating toward center
- **Circle of Thorns Campaign:** CLIMACTIC — Desperation driving reckless assault

**Canonical Status:** All character arcs at inflection point; world poised for climax resolution in subsequent chapter.