From 0e28ad1afce729476a725a94d4c72f76621b44ac Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: PAE Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2026 23:06:04 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] staging: character-state-chapter-ref.md task=4bcc8719-3329-4e68-9c83-4d06f639d91f --- .../staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md | 61 ++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 25 insertions(+), 36 deletions(-) diff --git a/projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md b/projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md index 098f3c72..011a62dc 100644 --- a/projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md +++ b/projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md @@ -1,59 +1,48 @@ -# Character State: Ch2 +# Character State: Ch3 ## Lena Duval -Location: The Duval ancestral cabin, Cypress Bend bayou -Physical: Feverish; right hand is bandaged and throbbing from the blood-oath; persistent cough. -Emotional: Violated and resolute. +Location: The "Widow’s Deep" (secluded swamp interior) +Physical: Heightened fever; tremors; right hand bleeding through bandages from the cypress roots. +Emotional: Terrified but defiant. Active obligations: - Owes the land a "balancing of scales" for the fog (Ch1) -- UNPAID -- Owes Aunt Maribelle an audience regarding the "inheritance" (Ch1) -- UNPAID +- Owes Aunt Maribelle an audience regarding the "inheritance" (Ch1) -- PAID - Owes Jax Harlan a conversation about the "unnatural" events (Ch2) -- UNPAID Open loops: -- Lena and the "Whisper": The potential consciousness within the cypress roots (Ch1) -- UNRESOLVED -- Lena and the surveyors: Physical removal of markers from her property (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED +- Lena and the "Whisper": The consciousness within the roots (Ch1) -- UNRESOLVED +- Lena and the surveyors: Physical removal of markers (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED +- Lena and the Rite: The consequences of interrupting the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch3) -- UNRESOLVED Known secrets: - CARRIED (Ch1--unresolved): Knows she intends to flee to New Orleans within the week -- Aunt Maribelle does not know. -- CARRIED (Ch1--unresolved): Knows the "whisper" in the cypress roots sounded like her mother's voice -- No one else knows. -- Knows she found a survey marker labeled "Project Phlegethon" deep in the restricted grove -- Jax and Maribelle do not know. -Arc: 10% -- Lena transitioned from passive avoidance to active resistance by physically removing the developers' markers, though it triggered a spike in her magical sickness. -Permanent: YES - -## Jax Harlan -Location: The Duval pier / cabin porch -Physical: Exhausted but stable. -Emotional: Protective and increasingly suspicious of the town's silence. -Active obligations: -- Owes Lena a "quick exit" (Ch1) -- UNPAID -Open loops: -- Jax and the developers: His discovery of the high-end sonar equipment in the shallows (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED -Known secrets: -- Knows he took a bribe from a developer contact for "navigation assistance" three months ago -- Lena does not know. -Arc: 15% -- Jax has moved from a skeptical observer to a co-conspirator by helping Lena hide the evidence of her interference with the survey site. +- CARRIED (Ch1--unresolved): Knows the "whisper" sounded like her mother's voice -- No one else knows. +- CARRIED (Ch2--unresolved): Knows she found a survey marker labeled "Project Phlegethon" -- Jax and Maribelle do not know. +Arc: 25% -- Lena confronted Maribelle directly and physically disrupted a coven ritual, choosing to protect the cypress over the coven's traditions. Permanent: YES ## Aunt Maribelle Duval -Location: The "Widow’s Deep" (secluded swamp interior) -Physical: No injuries. -Emotional: Impatient and ritualistic. +Location: The "Widow’s Deep" (shores of the black pool) +Physical: No injuries; eyes filmed with ritualistic milky-white haze. +Emotional: Furiously determined and increasingly authoritarian. Active obligations: None. Open loops: -- Maribelle and the Coven: Preparing the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED +- Maribelle and the Coven: Completing the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED Known secrets: - CARRIED (Ch1--unresolved): Knows the exact date the developers plan to clear-cut the Eastern bend -- Lena does not know. -- Knows the developers are paying the local sheriff to ignore the "swamp fever" cases -- Lena and Jax do not know. -Arc: 5% -- Maribelle has begun the ritual process to "tether" Lena to the land permanently, heightening Lena's fever. +- CARRIED (Ch2--unresolved): Knows the developers are paying the local sheriff -- Lena and Jax do not know. +- Knows the "Blackening" is a defense mechanism she is actively triggering -- Lena does not know. +Arc: 10% -- Maribelle has dropped her maternal facade, revealing her willingness to sacrifice Lena's health for the land's power. Permanent: YES -# World State: Ch2 +# World State: Ch3 ## NPC Memory -- Sheriff Miller (The Parish Office): DISMISSIVE -- Ignored Lena’s report of trespassing on her land. -- "Gator" Pete (The Docks): TERRIFIED -- Claimed the fish are turning belly-up with "black eyes." +- The Coven (Widow’s Deep): AGITATED -- Witnessed Lena disrupt the ritual; they view her as a "blight" on the lineage. ## Faction Attitudes -- Terrebonne Development Corp: Escalating -- They have moved from surveying to placing sonar buoys in the bayou. -- The Duval Coven: Restless -- They are beginning the "humming," a collective magical vibration Lena can feel in her teeth. +- The Duval Coven: Hostile -- Lena’s refusal to complete the Rite has caused a magical backlash that shook the grove. +- Terrebonne Development Corp: Threatening -- Their presence is felt through the "unnatural" silence and the acceleration of the Blackening. ## Active World Events -- The Blackening: The cypress sap is turning from amber to an oily black, tainting the local water supply. -- Project Phlegethon: The codename for the development project discovered on the markers found by Lena. \ No newline at end of file +- The Humming: The magical vibration has intensified into a physical thrum that makes the swamp water ripple. +- The Blackening: The oily black sap is now weeping from the cypress bark in the Widow’s Deep. +- Project Phlegethon: Development plans continue; Lena found tangible evidence of their intent to dredge the deep. \ No newline at end of file