# Character State: ch-10

## Elara Vance
Location: The Inner Sanctum of the Heart-Root (The Great Weave).
Physical: Right palm is a mass of silver-white scar tissue; internal bleeding slowed by ritual resonance; profound spiritual exhaustion.
Emotional: Transcendent; a sense of deep, humming clarity displacing personal fear.
Active obligations: Owes Kaelen protection (ch-06) — UNPAID; owes Thalric a debt of legacy (ch-05) — PAID (Ritual initiated).
Open loops: Elara/Council regarding blight origins (ch-06) — UNRESOLVED; The Vessel Ritual completion (ch-10) — UNRESOLVED (In-progress).
Known secrets: CARRIED (ch-06--unresolved): Knows the Blight's origin is tied to the Council’s early failed experiments.
Arc: 95% -- She has ceased being a witness to the forest and has become its voice, stepping into the center of the Great Weave.
Permanent: YES

## Kaelen
Location: The Threshold of the Heart-Root.
Physical: Severe blood loss; left arm mangled and unresponsive; vision tunneling toward darkness.
Emotional: Defiant; a grim, final peace found in the clarity of a last stand.
Active obligations: Owes Elara a life-debt (ch-04) — PAID (Buying her the time for the ritual).
Open loops: Kaelen/Sunstone full potential (ch-06) — RESOLVED (Used to ground the ritual); Kaelen/Missing Grove map (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: knows he is the last of the Sun-Guard bloodline — Elara does NOT know.
Arc: 90% -- He has transitioned from a survivor seeking penance to a selfless martyr for the forest's future.
Permanent: NO

## Thorne Blackroot
Location: The Threshold of the Heart-Root (clashing with Kaelen).
Physical: Searing pain from sanctum resonance; blackened veins pulsing with unstable blight energy.
Emotional: Enraged and desperate; feeling his connection to the Blight fraying.
Active obligations: None.
Open loops: Thorne/Elara artifact seizure (ch-10) — UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: None.
Arc: 85% -- Confronts the reality that the Great Weave is more powerful than his stolen corruption.
Permanent: NO

## Thalric -- DECEASED (ch-05)
Established: Died protecting Elara during the initial Circle of Thorns raid.
Legacy: His absence forced Elara to accept the mantle of leadership she initially rejected.

# World State: ch-10

## NPC Memory
- **The Forest Spirits** (Heart-Root): REAWAKENED — The resonance of the Root-Key has stirred the ancient consensus of the trees — They are providing the "Heavy Silence" to protect the ritual.

## Faction Attitudes
- **Circle of Thorns**: DEVASTATED — Their influence is being stripped away as the Blight-Storm is pulled inward, leaving their followers powerless and exposed.
- **Council of Oakhaven**: OBSOLETE — The scale of the Heart-Root's awakening has rendered their political and magical authority irrelevant.

## Active World Events
- **The Great Weave**: ACTIVE — The final stage of the Vessel Ritual is merging the Heart-Root's memory with Elara's consciousness.
- **The Convergence**: ONGOING — The Great Blight is being suctioned into the Heart-Root to be filtered and recycled by the ritual energy.

## Canon Artifacts/Key Items
- **The Sigil**: Permanently etched into Elara's palm; glows with a steady, cooling light.
- **The Root-Key**: Disintegrated into pure light; its essence is now the bridge between Elara and the Heart-Root.
- **The Sunstone Shard**: Shattered during the stand at the threshold; its remaining light anchors the physical space.