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+# Character State: ch-09
+
+## Elara Vance
+**Location:** The Threshold of the Heart-Root (beyond the Blackened Culvert).
+**Physical:** Burning violet Sigil has caused second-degree burns across her palm; ribs are likely cracked, restricting breath; skin is ashen, stained by black sap and Culvert grime.
+**Emotional:** Transcendent fatigue; she has moved past fear into a state of "fated momentum." The weight of Thalric’s mantle is no longer a burden but a compass.
+**Active obligations:** Owes Kaelen protection (ch-06) — UNPAID; owes Thalric a debt of legacy (ch-05) — UNPAID.
+**Open loops:** Elara/Council regarding blight origins (ch-06) — UNRESOLVED; Root-Key destination (ch-09) — RESOLVED (Heart-Root entry).
+**Arc:** 90% — She has fully reconciled the role of Vessel with her own identity, moving from reluctant heir to active martyr-leader.
+
+## Kaelen
+**Location:** The Threshold of the Heart-Root.
+**Physical:** Left arm is useless, bound in a blood-soaked tourniquet; vision blurring from blood loss; Sunstone Shard is now a jagged, flickering white light.
+**Emotional:** Ferociously stoic; he has accepted his death as a possibility, provided Elara reaches the center.
+**Active obligations:** Owes Elara a life-debt (ch-04) — UNPAID.
+**Open loops:** Kaelen/Sunstone full potential (ch-06) — UNRESOLVED; Kaelen/Missing Grove map (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED.
+**Arc:** 85% — No longer a deserter seeking penance, but a guardian defining his own honor through sacrifice.
+
+## Thorne Blackroot
+**Location:** The Blackened Culvert (defeated/retreating).
+**Physical:** Severely wounded by the Root-Key’s resonance; black ichor leaking from ears and nose; skin graying as the Blight withdraws its immediate support.
+**Emotional:** Fractured; the realization that the "song" he followed is a hunger that would devour him too has created a sliver of doubt.
+**Open loops:** Thorne/Blight sentience (ch-06) — UNRESOLVED.
+**Arc:** 70% — His arrogance is shattered; he is no longer a master of the corruption but a desperate survivor of it.
+
+# World State: ch-09
+
+## NPC Memory
+- **Blight-Walkers:** DECIMATED — The resonance from the Root-Key’s activation disintegrated the immediate swarm at the Culvert.
+- **Forest Spirits:** DORMANT — The malevolent echoes have been silenced by the "Heavy Silence" of the Heart-Root’s perimeter.
+
+## Faction Attitudes
+- **Circle of Thorns:** REELING — Their primary strike force at the Ravine was repelled, but they remain entrenched around the Heart-Root.
+- **Council of Oakhaven:** IRRELEVANT — The distance and the magical interference of the Blight have cut them off entirely from the protagonists.
+
+## Active World Events
+- **The Great Blight:** CRITICAL/CONVERGENT — The corruption is no longer spreading outward; it is pulling inward toward the Heart-Root, creating a localized "Blight-Storm."
+- **The Vessel Ritual:** STAGE FIVE (THE HEART-BOND) — ACTIVE; Displacement into the Heart-Root’s inner sanctum has begun.
+
+## Canon Artifacts/Key Items
+- **The Sigil:** Pulsing in a "death-rattle" rhythm; the violet light is blinding.
+- **Root-Key:** Merged with Elara’s intent; it no longer hums but vibrates with a frequency that softens reality around it.
+- **Sunstone Shard:** Cracked and dim; its light is now tied to Kaelen’s remaining life force.
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