### 1. PROSE EVIDENCE

*   **Quote 1 (Early):** "The blighted foothills clawed at Elara's boots with thorns that whispered promises of surrender, the Sigil on her palm throbbing like a second heartbeat as the thicket loomed ahead."
    *   *Commentary:* This effectively establishes the sentient, predatory nature of the setting while linking Elara’s physical state to the environment.
*   **Quote 2 (Mid):** "He didn't move. He didn't need to. He ran a thumb over the fresh scars on his palm, feeling the wetness of the blood as it pooled and ebbed."
    *   *Commentary:* These clipped, rhythmic sentences successfully mirror Thorne's clinical, sadistic detachment.
*   **Quote 3 (Mid):** "The sound was like a thousand dry bones snapping at once. The black vines, some as thick as a man’s thigh and tipped with obsidian needles, began to uncoil."
    *   *Commentary:* This use of visceral, auditory imagery intensifies the threat of the Blight-Thorns, moving them beyond mere background dressing into active antagonists.
*   **Quote 4 (Late):** "She saw the grime in the lines of his face, the fear he tried so hard to mask with steel. She felt the warmth of his hand, a tether of blood and bone in a world of ghosts and briars."
    *   *Commentary:* This passage grounds the high-fantasy stakes in a tactile, human connection that reinforces Kaelen's role as Elara's anchor.
*   **Quote 5 (Late):** "The foothills fell away into a natural amphitheater of grey stone, dominated by a massive archway that seemed to grow out of the mountain itself."
    *   *Commentary:* This provides a clear spatial transition and visual relief from the claustrophobic thicket, marking the entry into the Stone Sanctum.

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### 2. CHARACTER VOICE AUDIT

**Character: Elara Vance**
*   **Line:** "I... I flow... no, I mean falter. The current is choked with silt."
*   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics?** YES ("by the roots", focus on water/flow).
*   **Avoid Forbidden Speech?** YES (no slang).
*   **Emotional Register Consistent?** YES (Shows her 65% arc state: struggling with erosion of self but acting as a channel).
*   **Integrity Check:** The line "I... I flow... no, I mean falter" perfectly matches her "Imperfection signature" documented in the RAG (stammering water metaphors during exhaustion).

**Character: Kaelen**
*   **Line:** "If we sit, the ground will decide we’re part of the mulch."
*   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics?** YES (grim, protective, pragmatic).
*   **Avoid Forbidden Speech?** YES (no modern idioms).
*   **Emotional Register Consistent?** YES (60% arc—has discarded cynicism to be a guardian).

**Character: Thorne Blackroot**
*   **Line:** "Hark, Vessel. Do you feel the Earth turning its face from you?"
*   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics?** YES (mutters "the roots remember," uses the prefix "hark").
*   **Avoid Forbidden Speech?** YES (no apologies or doubt).
*   **Emotional Register Consistent?** YES (45% arc—seething fury and reliance on volatile magic).

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### 3. STRENGTHS TO PRESERVE

*   **The Ritual Mechanics:** The way Elara utilizes the Water Aspect to "lubricate" the Earth Aspect's rigidity ("The river finds the crack in the stone. It does not break; it... it flows through the fractures") is a creative and specific application of the "Aspect Harmonization" magic system.
*   **Kaelen as Anchor:** The physical contact as a stabilizing force ("He grabbed her hand—the one with the burning Sigil—and laced his fingers through hers") reinforces the "Active obligations" of their life-debt and his role as her anchor.
*   **Atmospheric "Grey Zone":** The tactile descriptions of the blight ("tasting of wet ash and the copper tang of ancient resentment") maintain the escalating world state of the Great Blight.

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### 4. MUST-FIX -- CONTINUITY

*   **ORIGINAL:** "...pulsed with gold, blue, and এবার brown light." (Reference to Project Context / Canon Artifacts).
*   **PROBLEM:** The word "এবার" (Bengali for "this time/now") appears as a typographical or copy-paste error in the RAG/description. While not in the chapter text itself, it has manifested in the chapter as "sickly blue-gold that seemed to bleed into her skin."
*   **FIX:** Ensure the light description in the chapter matches the RAG's Earth-resonance (Brown/Gold) more clearly. Update "blue-gold" to "bronze-gold and deep cerulean" to reflect the Earth/Water hybridization used in the scene.

*   **ORIGINAL:** "The Sunstone Shard, tucked into a leather pouch at his breast, threw a faint, defiant amber glow..."
*   **PROBLEM:** The RAG context states the Sunstone is "slightly clouded from the effort" in Chapter 6. The chapter describes it as "faint" initially but later it provides "pure, golden radiance" and "blinding brilliance." This feels too powerful for a "clouded" artifact.
*   **FIX:** Soften the Sunstone's output to emphasize its strain. *Rewrite:* "The Sunstone flared with a flickering, desperate brilliance, its light thinned by the clouds within the crystal, acting as a straining prow."

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### 5. MUST-FIX -- CLARITY

*   **ORIGINAL:** "She saw faces—shadowed, distorted visages reflected in the polished stone of the arch. She recognized them from the high seats of the Council of Oakhaven. They weren't fighting the Blight in her vision; they were weaving it..."
*   **PROBLEM:** This revelation happens very abruptly in a state of collapse. It’s unclear if this is a "land memory" (per the magic system) or a psychic projection from Thorne.
*   **FIX:** Explicitly tie the vision to the Stone Sanctum's "Earth-resonance" mentioned in the character state. *Correction:* "As her palm pressed the Sanctum’s threshold, the stone’s memory surged into her: she saw faces..."

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### 6. OPTIONAL SUGGESTIONS

*   **Thorne’s Injury:** In the RAG, Thorne’s left arm is "blackened and smoking" from a Sunstone flare. 
*   **Quote/Context:** "Thorne Blackroot... running a thumb over the fresh scars on his palm." 
*   **Suggestion:** Mention the blackened/smoking state of the arm specifically to heighten the continuity of his failure in the previous scene.

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### 7. FORBIDDEN CHANGES / NON-GOALS

*   **Elara’s Dialogue:** Do not "clean up" Elara’s stammering (e.g., "I... I flow..."). This is a mandatory voice signature for her spiritual depletion.
*   **Thorne’s Metaphors:** His elaborate taunts ("Sowers of their own sorrow") are a feature of his "Voice Signature" (elaborate metaphors when taunting) and must remain.
*   **Pacing of the Exhaustion:** The repetition of Elara’s physical pain (ribs, breath, swaying) is intentional to reflect her "Active obligation" and exhaustion state (65% arc).

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### 8. VERDICT

**REVISE**
**Score: 82**
**Justification:** The chapter captures character voices with exceptional accuracy to the RAG instructions. However, it requires a revision to address the "clouded" Sunstone's inconsistent power levels and provide a clearer mechanical link for the final vision to ensure it follows the "Land's Memory" rules of the magic system.