staging: character-state-chapter-ref.md task=93087b73-c5af-4da5-8604-40cf8a807a5c

projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md

@@ -1,49 +1,59 @@
-As no **PASS 1 -- WRITE THE DRAFT** prose was provided in the message history for this session, I cannot extract new state data from a current chapter. The following reflects the state as of the most recent provided context (Ch3) provided in the prompt's RAG databases.
-
-# Character State: Ch3
+# Character State: Ch4
 
 ## Lena Duval
-Location: The Widow’s Deep (secluded swamp interior)
-Physical: Heightened fever; tremors; right hand bleeding through bandages.
-Emotional: Terrified but defiant.
+Location: Jax Harlan’s airboat, drifting near the Eastern Bend
+Physical: Fever persists; right hand throbbing; exhaustion from the ritual backlash.
+Emotional: Guarded but desperate for an ally.
 Active obligations: 
 - Owes the land a "balancing of scales" for the fog (Ch1) -- UNPAID
-- Owes Jax Harlan a conversation about the "unnatural" events (Ch2) -- UNPAID
+- Owes Jax Harlan a conversation about the "unnatural" events (Ch2) -- PAID
 Open loops: 
 - 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: Consequences of interrupting the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch3) -- UNRESOLVED
+- Lena and the Rite: The consequences of interrupting the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch3) -- UNRESOLVED
+- Lena and Jax: The alliance against Project Phlegethon (Ch4) -- 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" 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 and physically disrupted a coven ritual, choosing to protect the cypress over the coven's traditions.
+- CARRIED (Ch2--unresolved): Knows she found a survey marker labeled "Project Phlegethon" -- Maribelle does not know. 
+- Knows Jax found a dead surveyor with "black-vein" rot — Maribelle and the Coven do not know. 
+Arc: 40% -- Lena has officially broken her isolation by showing Jax the evidence of the "Blackening," pivoting from solitary flight to active investigation with an outsider.
+Permanent: YES
+
+## Jax Harlan
+Location: His airboat, the *Ghost River*, Eastern Bend
+Physical: No injuries; smells of diesel and tobacco.
+Emotional: Grimly vindicated; protective of Lena.
+Active obligations: 
+- Owes Lena safe passage and information on the surveyors (Ch4) -- UNPAID
+Open loops:
+- Jax and the Dead Surveyor: Dealing with the body he found at the tree-line (Ch4) -- UNRESOLVED
+Known secrets: 
+- Knows the Terrebonne Development Corp has been dumping chemicals or "activators" into the water — Lena only just suspected it.
+Arc: 15% -- Jax committed to helping Lena despite his desire to stay neutral, confirming his role as her primary ally.
 Permanent: YES
 
 ## Aunt Maribelle Duval
-Location: The Widow’s Deep (shores of the black pool)
-Physical: Eyes filmed with ritualistic milky-white haze.
-Emotional: Furiously determined and increasingly authoritarian.
+Location: Duval Estate / The Widow’s Deep
+Physical: Unchanged from Ch3.
+Emotional: ABSENT (Not in Ch4 prose).
 Active obligations: None.
 Open loops: 
 - Maribelle and the Coven: Completing the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED
 Known secrets: 
-- CARRIED (Ch1--unresolved): Knows the date the developers plan to clear-cut the Eastern bend -- Lena does not know.
+- CARRIED (Ch1--unresolved): Knows the exact date the developers plan to clear-cut the Eastern bend -- Lena does not know.
 - 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 triggering -- Lena does not know.
-Arc: 10% -- Maribelle revealed her willingness to sacrifice Lena's health for the land's power.
-Permanent: YES
+- CARRIED (Ch3--unresolved): Knows the "Blackening" is a defense mechanism she is actively triggering -- Lena does not know.
 
-# World State: Ch3
+# World State: Ch4
 
 ## NPC Memory
-- The Coven (Widow’s Deep): AGITATED -- Witnessed Lena disrupt the ritual; they view her as a "blight" on her lineage.
+- The Coven (Widow’s Deep): AGITATED -- (Absent this chapter, state persists from Ch3).
 
 ## Faction Attitudes
-- The Duval Coven: Hostile -- Lena’s refusal to complete the Rite caused a magical backlash.
-- Terrebonne Development Corp: Threatening -- Presence felt through "unnatural" silence and markers.
+- Terrebonne Development Corp: Hostile -- Actively encroaching with dredging equipment sighted near the bend.
+- Duval Coven: Hostile -- Lena is now actively avoiding them.
 
 ## Active World Events
-- The Humming: Magical vibration intensified into a physical thrum rippling the swamp water.
-- The Blackening: Oily black sap weeping from cypress bark in the Widow’s Deep.
-- Project Phlegethon: Development plans to dredge the deep are confirmed via physical markers found by Lena.
+- The Blackening: Spreading; Jax reports it appearing in vegetation miles from the Widow’s Deep.
+- Project Phlegethon: Escalate; dredging equipment arrived at the staging area near the highway.