staging: character-state-chapter-ref.md task=4bcc8719-3329-4e68-9c83-4d06f639d91f

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

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-# Character State: Ch3
+# Character State: Ch4
 
 ## Lena Duval
-Location: The Widow’s Deep (shores of the black pool)
-Physical: Heightened fever; tremors; right hand bleeding through bandages from cypress roots.
-Emotional: Terrified but defiant.
+Location: Jax Harlan’s airboat; moving through the Saltflats towards the Blackwater Basin.
+Physical: Severe fever; left hand bandaged and throbbing; physical exhaustion from magical exertion.
+Emotional: Desperate and hyper-focused.
 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
@@ -11,37 +11,39 @@ 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: The consequences of interrupting the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch3) -- UNRESOLVED
+- Lena and Jax: The search for the source of the "Blackening" (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 directly 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" -- Jax and Maribelle do not know.
+- Knows the specific location in the Basin where the "humming" is strongest -- Jax does not know.
+Arc: 35% -- Lena has actively sought an outsider's help (Jax) for the first time, breaking her pattern of isolation to confront the environmental rot.
 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.
-Active obligations: None.
+## Jax Harlan
+Location: Pilot seat of the *Loup Garou* (airboat) in the Saltflats.
+Physical: Healthy; smelling of diesel and salt.
+Emotional: Protective and skeptical but committed to Lena's safety.
+Active obligations: 
+- Owes Lena safe passage to the Blackwater Basin (Ch4) -- UNPAID
 Open loops: 
-- Maribelle and the Coven: Completing the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED
+- Jax and the Development Corp: Reasons for his presence in Cypress Bend (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED
 Known secrets: 
-- 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 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.
+- Knows the sheriff is taking payoffs from Terrebonne Development (Ch2/Ch4) -- Lena does not know.
+Arc: 15% -- Jax has officially transitioned from a bystander to an active participant in Lena’s struggle against the coven and the developers.
 Permanent: YES
 
-# 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 the lineage.
+- The Coven (Widow’s Deep): ABSENT -- Last seen agitated by Lena's disruption of the Rite.
+- Remy LeBlanc (Cypress Bend): ABSENT -- Last known providing gossip and support.
 
 ## 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 Project Phlegethon markers.
+- Terrebonne Development Corp: AGGRESSIVE -- Their dredging equipment is heard vibrating through the water; presence of more survey buoys.
+- The Duval Coven: PUNISHING -- Use of "The Blackening" to pressure Lena into submission.
 
 ## 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.
+- The Blackening: Spreading quickly; oily residue appearing on the water’s surface beyond the Deep.
+- The Humming: Constant mechanical thrumming coming from the direction of Project Phlegethon’s site.
+- The Fever: A magical ailment affecting Lena, tied directly to the land's distress.