# Character State: ch-17

## Lena Duval
Location: The Heart Tree (Siphon Hub Core)
Physical: Final Apotheosis; skin is bioluminescent parchment, neural pathways fused with cypress roots. No longer breathes air.
Emotional: Serenity/Bayou Nirvana; omniscient ecological awareness.
Active obligations: Perpetual Anchor of the "Veil of the Great Silence" (ch-17) -- UNPAID.
Open loops: None.
Known secrets: CARRIED (ch-17--unresolved): Carries the truth of her mother’s sacrifice as a foundational memory, now understood as a necessary tether for the land's survival.
Arc: 100% -- Transcended human ego to become the sentient living spirit of Cypress Bend.
Permanent: YES

## Jax Harlan
Location: The Security Annex (The Shallows)
Physical: Heavily scarred; immune to all terrestrial and swamp toxins.
Emotional: Absolute clarity; shed corporate identity.
Active obligations: Eternal Guardian; elimination of terrestrial/TDC intrusions (ch-17) -- UNPAID.
Open loops: None.
Known secrets: None.
Arc: 100% -- Transitioned from a corporate tool to the "Apex Guardian" and immune system of the grove.
Permanent: YES

# World State: ch-17

## NPC Memory
- The Duval Coven (Cypress Bend): Subservient -- Witnessed Lena’s apotheosis -- Shifted from power-seekers to a priesthood of biological maintenance.
- TDC Executives (Corporate HQ): Pure Terror/Avoidance -- Witnessed the "Black Zone" expansion -- Scrubbing all records to prevent corporate collapse.

## Faction Attitudes
- The Great Hum: Dominant -- The sentient ecosystem has successfully metabolized all TDC infrastructure into nutrients.
- Terrebonne Development Corp: Defeated -- Total policy shift to containment; treating the area as a supernatural exclusion zone.

## Active World Events
- The Great Silence: Permanent EM dead zone (5-mile radius). Human technology is absorbed or short-circuited upon entry.
- The Grand Recession: Completion of the "Biological Cathedral." Concrete and steel have been fully replaced by ancient grove mimicry.

## Key Objects/Locations
- The Heart Tree: Central processing unit of the ecosystem; seat of Lena's consciousness.
- Siphon Hub: Fused organic-digital temple where the Duval bloodline acts as a permanent firewall.
- The Veil: Sentient, shimmering barrier separating the reclaimed land from the external world.
- The Shallows: Jax’s territory; a threshold graveyard of rusted machinery and overgrown patrol boats.