# Character State: ch-03

## Queen Seraphine
Location: The Crimson Passage / Solar Entrance, Castle Sangue
Physical: Critical starvation; her skin has the translucence of wet parchment; her equilibrium is shattered, requiring Captain Kaelen’s physical support to remain upright.
Emotional: Terrified by her own fragility; her internal monologue has shifted from architectural dominance to the frantic calculations of a cornered predator.
Active obligations: To secure the Thorne-Valerius borders against the Blight (via Aldric Thorne) — UNPAID.
Open loops: [Seraphine & Malcorra] The silent power struggle over the Queen’s perceived "heretical" weakness — UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: CARRIED: The Blight has breached the inner glass-line; her own hemomancy is failing to hold the perimeter.
Arc: 40% — Forced to abandon the "Stillness" and accept physical aid from a subordinate.

## King Aldric Thorne
Location: The Private Solar, Castle Sangue
Physical: Bound by heavy silver-inlaid manacles; fatigued but maintaining a rigid, steel-spined posture.
Emotional: Vigilant and opportunistic; he is assessing the Queen’s physical collapse as a structural failure he can capitalize on.
Active obligations: None.
Open loops: [Aldric & Seraphine] The terms of the Sanguine Marriage and the price of his brother’s execution — UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: None.
Arc: 20% — Transitioned from a prisoner awaiting execution to a sovereign negotiating from a position of biological leverage.

## High Provost Vane — DECEASED (ch-03)
Established: Executed by Seraphine. She used the last of her strength to stop his heart mid-sentence to hide her own physical tremor.
Legacy: His death removes the immediate threat of a Thorne execution, leaving the Queen alone with her rival.

## High Priestess Malcorra
Location: The Great Hall / Cathedral Transit
Physical: Perfectly poised; thumbing the pads of her fingers to "tune" into the Sovereign’s pulse.
Emotional: Predatory and certain; she views Seraphine’s staggering as a divine judgment.
Active obligations: To ensure the purity of the Sanguine Vow.
Open loops: [Malcorra & Seraphine] The intent to replace the "failing vessel" of the Queen — UNRESOLVED.
Arc: 15% — Positioning herself as the architect of the Queen's replacement.

## Captain Kaelen
Location: Solar Entrance
Physical: Providing the physical "pillar" for Seraphine to lean on.
Emotional: Fiercely protective; his loyalty has moved from professional duty to a desperate cover-up of the Queen's condition.

# World State: ch-03

## NPC Memory
- The Royal Guard: DISTURBED — They saw the Queen stumble; the myth of her invincibility is showing micro-fractures.

## Faction Attitudes
- The Crimson Cathedral: AGGRESSIVE — Malcorra is no longer observing; she is actively measuring the "decay" of the Valerius line.
- The Lowen-Court: FRACTURED — Vane’s sudden disappearance will create a power vacuum among the advisors.

## Active World Events
- The Glass-Line Breach: The magical barrier is thinning; the scent of ozone and rot is entering the castle proper.
- The Debt: Seraphine has reached the threshold where she can no longer rule without a blood-source; the "Sanguine Marriage" is now a biological necessity for her survival.