# Character State: ch-13

## ELARA VANCE
- **Location:** The Great Arch, looking toward Oakhaven.
- **Physical:** Right palm Sigil pulses with a steady, cooling amber light; ribs ache but breath is clear; spirit no longer leaking, but anchored.
- **Emotional:** Vindicated yet heavy with the "burden of the root." She feels the collective relief of the forest as a physical weight.
- **Status:** Revealed as the True Vessel; transitioned from survivor to the Forest’s Reckoning.
- **Active Obligations:** Owes Kaelen protection (Ch-06)—UNPAID (She views his safety during the upcoming political storm as the fulfillment of this debt).
- **Open Loops:** The Council’s Reckoning (Ch-14)—PENDING.
- **Known Secrets:** Possesses the Council Ledger; knows the Oakhaven Elders orchestrated the initial Blight to consolidate power.

## KAELEN
- **Location:** At Elara’s side, the Great Arch.
- **Physical:** Scarred arm no longer burns with blight-itch; moving with a Guardian’s fluidity despite exhaustion.
- **Emotional:** Quietly fierce; his loyalty has shifted from survival-based to a sworn bond.
- **Active Obligations:** None—considers his debt to Elara paid by the ritual’s success, yet chooses to stay.
- **Open Loops:** Revealing his Sun-Guard lineage to Elara.
- **Known Secrets:** Knows the hidden Sun-Guard caches; knows the Grove map location.

## THORNE BLACKROOT
- **Status:** **DECEASED/CALCIFIED.**
- **Legacy:** His physical form is a salt-white statue at the Heart-Root, a warning against corruption. The Circle of Thorns has dissolved with his passing.

# World State: ch-13

## NPC Memory
- **Mira (Oakhaven):** Leading a vigil at the village gates. She has seen the sky turn from violet-grey to gold and is telling the villagers that Elara is their savior, not their curse.

## Faction Attitudes
- **Circle of Thorns:** **EXTINCT.** The magical link between members snapped upon Thorne’s death; survivors are powerless and in hiding.
- **Council of Oakhaven:** **PANICKED.** They see the forest reviving and know their "Blight-management" lies are about to be exposed by the Vessel’s return.
- **Forest Spirits:** **RECONCILED.** The "Great Weaving" has harmonized the discordant aspects of Water and Root.

## Active World Events
- **The Great Weaving:** COMPLETE. Vitality flows through the valley; the grey rot is being replaced by vibrant, rapid growth.
- **The Return:** Elara and Kaelen are marching toward Oakhaven to present the evidence of the Council's treason.
- **Heart-Root Sanctuary:** The ritual site is now a zone of "Primal Neutrality"—hostile magic cannot manifest there.

## Key Items/Evidence
- **Council Ledger:** Tucked into Elara’s tunic; contains the signed orders for the "Controlled Blight" of the Fringe Fields.
- **The Vessel Sigil:** Permanently etched and active on Elara’s palm; serves as her badge of office and a key to Elderwood sanctums.
- **Thorne’s Dagger:** Left discarded at the Heart-Root; its blight-edge has rusted into harmless iron.