# Character State: ch-18

## Lena Duval
Location: The Heart Tree (Siphon Hub Core)
Physical: Apotheosis complete; physiologically merged with the Great Cypress; skin is translucent silver with bioluminescent sap pulsing in a rhythmic "Great Hum."
Emotional: Transcendent; individual ego has dissolved into the collective consciousness of the Bend; experiences time as a topographical map.
Active obligations: None.
Open loops: None.
Known secrets: The ultimate price of the cycle is the erasure of the former self.
Arc: 100% — Transitioned from a reluctant witch seeking escape to the eternal, sentient foundation of the swamp.
Permanent: YES

## Jax Harlan
Location: The Sovereign Veil (Perimeter)
Physical: Enhanced by the Hum; possesses predatory stillness and immunity to all swamp-borne toxins; eyes reflect the silver-green of the Heart Tree.
Emotional: Total devotion; his identity is now defined solely as the Shield of Lena. Somber, eternal focus.
Active obligations: Eternal protection of the Bend and its Heart (Ongoing).
Open loops: Interception of future intruders (Ongoing).
Known secrets: The lethal thresholds of the Veil.
Arc: 100% — Finalized transformation from a cynical outsider to the swamp’s apex guardian.
Permanent: YES

## Aunt Maribelle Duval
Location: Subterranean Siphon Hub
Physical: Immobile filtration organ; bio-hybridized vascular system.
Emotional: Absolute peace; fulfillment found in mechanical utility and the purging of the bloodline's sins.
Arc: 100% — Redemption through total self-sacrifice.
Permanent: YES

## Remy LeBlanc
Location: Interior Grove
Physical: Biologically suspended; integrated into the root-memory network.
Emotional: Contented; serves as the living archive of the Bend’s history.
Arc: 100% — Bridge between the human past and the post-human future.
Permanent: YES

# World State: ch-18

## NPC Memory
- The Coven: Devout and subservient; they have abandoned old hierarchies to serve the silent will of the Heart Tree.

## Faction Attitudes
- The Great Hum: Hegemony achieved. It is the singular intelligence governing the ecosystem.
- Humanity/The Outside: Fearful and distanced. The Bend is recognized as a "Sovereign Lethal Zone."

## Active World Events
- The Sovereign Veil: A sentient, permanent fog barrier that hallucinates and consumes any unauthorized intruder.
- The Permanent Stillness: The achievement of biological and spiritual equilibrium. The "Great Silence" has fallen over Cypress Bend, ending industrial and internal conflict.

## Environmental Layout
- The Heart Tree: The neural center of the swamp.
- The Siphon Hub: The biological engine Room beneath the roots.
- The Shallows: The patrolled borderlands where Jax keeps his vigil.