# Character State: ch-10

## Isabella Voss
Location: Great Hall floor, Blackthorn Keep.
Physical: Hemomantic exhaustion; palms lacerated; forearm scars revealed through shredded sleeves.
Emotional: Vindicated, frigidly sovereign, and defiant.
Active obligations: Protection of Nightbloom survivors (ch-10) -- ACTIVE; Life-debt to Damien Blackthorn (ch-10) -- UNPAID.
Open loops: Isabella and Malphas [The Heresy Declaration] (ch-10) -- UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: CARRIED (ch-10--unresolved): Carries the Nightbloom collective consciousness within her marrow.
Arc: 90% -- Destroyed ancestral enslavement and claimed the Nightbloom Song.
Permanent: YES

## Damien Blackthorn
Location: Kneeling beside Isabella, Great Hall.
Physical: Sustained feedback lacerations; armor stained with blood; magically drained.
Emotional: Fanatically devoted and protective.
Active obligations: Isabella’s physical protection (ch-10) -- ACTIVE.
Open loops: Damien and Lord Malphas [Patricide/Succession] (ch-10) -- UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: CARRIED (ch-10--unresolved): Prepared to commit patricide to ensure Isabella’s survival.
Arc: 85% -- Severed all psychological and legal ties to the Blackthorn lordship.
Permanent: YES

## Lord Malphas Blackthorn
Location: The High Dais, Great Hall.
Physical: Trembling; magically diminished by the loss of the siphoning bond.
Emotional: Predatory, humiliated, and desperate.
Active obligations: Enforcement of the Heresy Declaration (ch-10) -- ACTIVE.
Open loops: Blackthorn Council [Legality of the Breach] (ch-10) -- UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: None.
Arc: 80% -- Shifted from a cold manipulator to an overt, desperate antagonist.
Permanent: YES

## High Priest Malakor
Location: Great Hall.
Physical: No injuries.
Emotional: Broken and apocalyptic.
Active obligations: None.
Open loops: None.
Known secrets: None.
Arc: 50% -- Witnessed the destruction of his religious foundation.
Permanent: NO

# World State: ch-10

## NPC Memory
- High Priest Malakor (Blackthorn Keep): BROKEN -- Witnessed the destruction of the Great Binding -- Believes the holy apocalypse has begun.
- Blackthorn Guards (Blackthorn Keep): PARALYZED -- Stunned by the Sovereign Breach and Damien's defection -- Losing cohesive control of the hall.

## Faction Attitudes
- Nightbloom Coven: EXALTANT -- They are reacting to the Song now emanating from Isabella, feeling the first moments of true freedom.
- Blackthorn Council: DISARRAY -- Facing immediate legal and magical deficits due to the voiding of the Annexation Treaty.

## Active World Events
- The Sovereign Breach: COMPLETE -- All associated blood-treaties and slave-bonds are voided following the destruction of the Great Binding.
- The Nightbloom Exodus: BEGUN -- Coven survivors are withdrawing from the Keep under the cover of the magical fallout.
- The Merged Signature: CANON -- Isabella and Damien’s magical signatures have merged into a singular frequency, making them magically inseparable.
- The Song of the Unbound: ACTIVE -- A new magical resonance from Isabella that empowers her allies and physically repels enemies.