# Character State: ch-06

## Elara Vance
- **Location**: The Stone Path leading away from The Shimmering Falls
- **Physical**: Bruised ribs aching; heavy spiritual depletion manifesting as a "mist-shrouded sway"; damp, mud-trailed clothing.
- **Emotional**: Resolute but burdened; reeling from the weight of the Vessel’s memories.
- **Active Obligations**: Owes Kaelen a debt of protection (Ch-02) — UNPAID.
- **Open Loops**: Elara and the Grove Sentinels regarding the inner sanctum breach (Ch-05) — UNRESOLVED.
- **Secrets**: Knows the Sunstone shard's location (Ch-03); knows the corruption originates from the roots (Ch-03).
- **Arc**: 55% — Successfully harmonized with the Water Aspect; accepted the Sigil’s burden despite her reluctance to lead.
- **Status**: Permanent; "The falls whisper... debt binds us deeper than stone."

## Kaelen
- **Location**: Northern Perimeter, Elderwood
- **Physical**: Exhausted; coughing from mist exposure; shivering.
- **Emotional**: Fiercely protective; cynical. His loyalty has shifted from the Sigil's monetary value to Elara’s survival.
- **Active Obligations**: Owes Elara his life (Ch-02) — UNPAID.
- **Open Loops**: Kaelen and the Seekers regarding his desertion (Ch-01) — UNRESOLVED.
- **Secrets**: Stole the Elderwood map (Ch-05).
- **Arc**: 48% — Abandoned the plan to betray Elara; chose to guard her during the trance.
- **Status**: Permanent.

## Thorne Blackroot
- **Location**: The Ridge overlooking the Shimmering Falls
- **Physical**: Pallid skin, blackened veins; tracing thorn scars on his palms.
- **Emotional**: Vengeful; views Elara’s purity as an insult to his exile.
- **Active Obligations**: None.
- **Open Loops**: Tracking the Vessel to the Stone Sanctum (Ch-06) — ACTIVE.
- **Arc**: 25% — Confirmed the second trial’s completion; preparing an ambush at the Earth Sanctum.
- **Status**: Permanent.

## Mira
- **Location**: Oakhaven medical hut
- **Physical**: Healthy but exhausted.
- **Emotional**: Anxious leadership; grieving Elder Thalric.
- **Arc**: 20% — Managing refugee rations and morale.

# World State: ch-06

## NPC Memory
- **The Voice of the Falls**: FAVORABLE — Granted the Blessing of Tides; acknowledged Elara as the true harmonizer.
- **Grove Sentinels**: NEUTRAL/WATCHFUL — Permitted passage; monitoring the duo’s progress toward the Earth Sanctum.

## Faction Attitudes
- **The Circle of Thorns**: HOSTILE — Under Thorne's command, they have closed the perimeter around the northern falls.
- **The Elderwood Inhabitants**: CAUTIOUS — Sensing the shift in the water's Song; some spirits are turning predatory.

## Active World Events
- **The Great Blight**: Waterways are now partially tainted; the "Great Decay" is accelerating in the lowlands.
- **The Vessel Ritual**: Stage 2 (Water) is COMPLETE. Next objective: The Earth Sanctum (Stone Sanctum).
- **Leadership Vacuum**: Oakhaven remains vulnerable following Thalric’s death; the Council is paralyzed by the spread of corruption.

## Key Items
- **The Sigil of the Elderwood**: Carried by Elara; faintly glowing with blue-green light from the Water harmonization.
- **The Map to the Grove**: Carried by Kaelen.