diff --git a/projects/crimson-vows/staging/polished/character-state-ch-05-final.md b/projects/crimson-vows/staging/polished/character-state-ch-05-final.md
index bc6730c9..44a7baef 100644
--- a/projects/crimson-vows/staging/polished/character-state-ch-05-final.md
+++ b/projects/crimson-vows/staging/polished/character-state-ch-05-final.md
@@ -2,60 +2,64 @@
 
 ## Isabella Voss
 **Location:** The High Tower solar, Blackthorn Keep.
-**Physical:** Recovering from magical exhaustion; wrists bandaged; blood-ink pact glowing faintly beneath forearm skin.
-**Emotional:** Calculating, performatively submissive, secretly triumphant.
-**Active Obligations:**
+**Physical:** Recovering from magical exhaustion; wrists bandaged; blood-ink pact glowing faintly.
+**Emotional:** Calculating, performatively submissive, secretly triumphant—mask fracturing under sustained pressure.
+**Active obligations:**
 - Sanctioned heir owed to Damien (ch-01) — UNPAID
 - Bloodline assets owed to Reginald Thorne Voss (ch-01) — UNPAID
-- Blood-ink safety bond to Damien (ch-02) — UNPAID
+- Bound to Damien's safety via blood-ink (ch-02) — UNPAID
 
-**Open Loops:**
-- Managing Blood Tithe demands without exposing hemomancy (ch-04) — ACTIVE
-- Scaling false consummation ruse (ch-03) — ACTIVE
+**Open loops:**
+- Malakor "Blood Tithe" negotiation (ch-04) — ESCALATING
+- False consummation ruse with Damien (ch-03) — ACTIVE, deepening
+- Nightbloom Coven leadership vacuum — CRISIS
 
-**Secrets Carried:**
-- Scarring severity (Damien knows, ch-02)
-- Uses Damien's blood as magic anchor (Damien knows, ch-02)
-- Blood-sharing bypasses Peace Vow (House Blackthorn unaware, ch-03)
-- Malakor skims essence from rituals (The Coven unaware, ch-04)
+**Carried secrets (unresolved):**
+- Severity of her scarring — Damien only
+- Using Damien's blood as magic anchor — Damien only
+- Blood-sharing bypasses the Peace Vow — House Blackthorn
+- Malakor skims essence from rituals — The Coven
 
-**Arc Progress:** 45% — Reinforced Damien alliance; deepened blood-link trust; positioned against Malakor's investigation.
+**Arc momentum:** 52% — Reinforced alliance with Damien against Malakor's probe; blood-link trust deepened; self-chosen vow now in tension with inherited duty.
 
 ---
 
 ## Damien Blackthorn
 **Location:** The High Tower solar, Blackthorn Keep.
-**Physical:** Uninjured; sympathetic pulse active through blood-link.
-**Emotional:** Protective, cynical, increasingly alienated from paternal authority.
-**Active Obligations:**
-- Isabella's protection/containment (ch-01) — UNPAID
-- Bound to Isabella by blood-ink (ch-02) — UNPAID
+**Physical:** Uninjured; sympathetic pulse through blood-link active.
+**Emotional:** Protective, cynical, alienated from father's court—protective instinct now openly defiant.
+**Active obligations:**
+- Protection/containment of Isabella (ch-01) — UNPAID
+- Bound to Isabella's safety via blood-ink (ch-02) — UNPAID
 
-**Open Loops:**
-- Shielding Isabella from Lord Malphas's impatience (ch-03) — UNRESOLVED
+**Open loops:**
+- Shielding Isabella from Lord Malphas (ch-03) — ESCALATING
+- Confrontation with High Priest Malakor (ch-05) — UNRESOLVED tension
 
-**Secrets Carried:**
-- Isabella is Unmarked Vessel violation (Malphas/Malakor know, ch-02)
-- Isabella fuels magic via intentional bloodletting (Malphas knows, ch-02)
+**Carried secrets (unresolved):**
+- Isabella is "Unmarked Vessel" violation — Malphas/Malakor
+- Isabella's intentional bloodletting fuels magic — Malphas
 
-**Arc Progress:** 40% — Escalated Malakor defiance; solidified protector role; risk of paternal conflict rising.
+**Arc momentum:** 48% — Open defiance of Malakor solidifies protector role; complicity rumors spread; personal feelings for Isabella bleeding through duty.
 
 ---
 
 # World State: ch-05 [POLISHED]
 
-**NPC Memory:**
-- **High Priest Malakor:** Livid, suspicious; blocked twice; plotting "medical" isolation of Isabella
-- **Lord Malphas Blackthorn:** Aggressive; demanding Voss blood-keys; patience eroding
+## NPC Memory & Sentiment
+- **High Priest Malakor:** LIVID, blocked by Damien — Plotting Isabella's isolation via Blood Tithe pressure
+- **Lord Malphas Blackthorn:** AGGRESSIVE, demanding Voss blood-keys — Frustrated by Isabella's "submission" theater
+- **Reginald Thorne Voss:** DISTANT, awaiting exploitation opportunity — Unaware of Isabella's deepening Blackthorn entanglement
 
-**Faction Attitudes:**
-- **Blackthorn Coven:** Deeply suspicious; rumors of Damien's complicity intensifying
-- **Nightbloom Coven:** Fractured, leaderless; awaiting Isabella's signals
+## Faction Attitudes
+- **Blackthorn Coven:** SUSPICIOUS — Damien's complicity rumors spreading; internal fracture widening
+- **Nightbloom Coven:** FRACTURED, LEADERLESS — Awaiting Isabella's signals; vulnerable to absorption
 
-**Active World Events:**
-- **Blood Tithe:** ESCALATING — Formal demand persists; hemomancy exposure risk high
-- **Peace Vow:** ACTIVE — Blocks violence; enables coercion
-- **Treaty of Thorns:** ACTIVE — Drives Nightbloom absorption
-- **Blood-Link (Damien/Isabella):** STRENGTHENED — Mutual sympathetic resonance confirmed
+## Active Conflicts & Constraints
+- **The Blood Tithe:** ESCALATING — Formal essence demand heightens hemomancy exposure
+- **The Peace Vow:** ACTIVE — Blocks violence; enables coercion
+- **The Treaty of Thorns:** ACTIVE — Drives Nightbloom asset absorption
+- **The False Consummation:** HOLDING — Credible but fragile; discovery catastrophic
 
-**Narrative Tension:** Malakor's investigation vs. Isabella's protective circle narrowing; Lord Malphas's deadline approaching; Nightbloom faction awaiting decisive action.
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+## Threshold
+Chapter 5 closes with Isabella and Damien's alliance hardened through magical bonding, but external pressure (Malakor's fury, Malphas's aggression, Nightbloom's collapse) converging. Self-chosen vow now in direct collision with inherited duty.
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