# Character State: ch-07

## Isabella Voss
- **Location:** Guest Chambers, Blackthorn Keep.
- **Physical:** Hemomantic exhaustion; bandaged palms; faint tremors. Scarring on wrists and back. Sensory bleed-through from Damien via the bond (feeling his phantom pains).
- **Emotional:** Guilt-ridden but resolute; feels a burgeoning, genuine affection for Damien that conflicts with her duty.
- **Active obligations:**
    - Sanctioned heir owed to Damien (ch-01) — UNPAID.
    - Bloodline assets owed to Reginald Thorne Voss (ch-01) — UNPAID.
    - Bound to Damien's safety via blood-ink (ch-02) — UNPAID.
- **Open loops:**
    - The False Consummation ruse (ch-03) — ACTIVE.
    - Aftermath of the Tithe defiance (ch-07) — UNRESOLVED/CRITICAL.
- **Known secrets:**
    - Severity of her scarring (Damien only).
    - Using Damien's blood as a magic anchor (Damien only).
    - Blood-sharing bypasses the Peace Vow (House Blackthorn).
- **Arc:** 65% — Transitioned from accidental savior to intentional protector; has accepted the consequences of her "heresy."

## Damien Blackthorn
- **Location:** Guest Chambers, Blackthorn Keep.
- **Physical:** Bruised neck; lingering magical fatigue; phantom pains from Isabella’s wounds via the bond.
- **Emotional:** Fiercely loyal; simmering with rage toward Malphas; protective of Isabella above all else.
- **Active obligations:**
    - Protection of Isabella (ch-01) — UNPAID.
    - Bound to Isabella's safety via blood-ink (ch-02) — UNPAID.
- **Open loops:**
    - Malphas’s ultimatum regarding Nightbloom lands (ch-07) — UNRESOLVED.
- **Known secrets:**
    - Isabella is an "Unmarked Vessel" violation (Malphas/Malakor).
    - Isabella's intentional bloodletting fuels her magic (Malphas).
- **Arc:** 62% — Openly defied his father’s authority, prioritizing Isabella over the House hierarchy.

## Lord Malphas Blackthorn
- **Emotional:** Calculating; views Damien’s defiance as a tactical complication to be exploited.
- **Open loops:** Annexation of Nightbloom territories (ch-07) — ACTIVE.

# World State: ch-07

## NPC Memory
- **High Priest Malakor:** Humiliated; aggressively demanding Isabella be tried for the ritual’s failure.
- **Lord Malphas:** Opportunistic; utilizing the "failed" Tithe as a legal loophole to seize control of the Nightbloom estate.

## Faction Attitudes
- **Blackthorn Coven:** Divided; low-level members fear the omen of the failed ritual; elites hunger for expansion.
- **Nightbloom Coven:** Extinct/Vulnerable; legally unprotected following the Tithe's collapse.

## Active World Events
- **The Interrupted Tithe:** FAILED. No blood debt collected.
- **The Peace Vow:** COLLAPSED. The legal protections between houses are void, allowing Malphas to initiate land seizure.
- **The Bond:** The blood-ink connection between Isabella and Damien has strengthened, resulting in involuntary sensory sharing.

## Symbols & Stakes
- **Nightbloom Lands:** The current prize of the conflict; their seizure represents the total erasure of Isabella’s heritage.
- **The Scars:** Represent Isabella's increasing "heresy" and her willingness to bleed for her own choices rather than the Coven's.