diff --git a/projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md b/projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md index d39c2916..a96b84a3 100644 --- a/projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md +++ b/projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-chapter-ref.md @@ -1,50 +1,47 @@ -# Character State: Ch4 +# Character State: Ch3 ## Lena Duval -Location: The Blackwater Basin, specifically the "Dead Eye" clearing near an industrial platform. -Physical: High fever (near delirium); left hand pulsing with heat from the Blackening; extreme physical exhaustion. -Emotional: Terrified but resolute; experiencing sensory overload from the "Humming." +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. 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 safe passage through the Basin's shifting channels (Ch4) -- 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: The consequences of interrupting the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch3) -- UNRESOLVED -- Lena and Jax: The discovery of the industrial machinery at the heart of the rot (Ch4) -- RESOLVED 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. -- Knows the industrial platform is the exact source of the Basin's "vocal" pain -- Jax only partially understands the magical link. -Arc: 45% -- Lena has confronted the physical source of the corruption and realized the "Blackening" is a reaction to industrial invasive tech, forcing her to accept her role as a defender. +- 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 -## Jax Harlan -Location: Standing on the deck of the *Loup Garou*, docked against a rusted industrial pylon in the Blackwater Basin. -Physical: Healthy, but ears ringing from the high-frequency vibration of the platform. -Emotional: Shocked and protective; his skepticism is buckling under the weight of the visible environmental decay. -Active obligations: -- Owes Lena safe passage to the Blackwater Basin (Ch4) -- PAID +## Aunt Maribelle Duval +Location: The Widow’s Deep (shores of the black pool) +Physical: Eyes filmed with ritualistic milky-white haze; physically drained from the interrupted rite. +Emotional: Furiously determined and increasingly authoritarian. +Active obligations: None. Open loops: -- Jax and the Development Corp: Reasons for his presence in Cypress Bend (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED +- Maribelle and the Coven: Completing the "Rite of the First Sap" (Ch2) -- UNRESOLVED (Interrupted) Known secrets: -- CARRIED (Ch2--unresolved): Knows the sheriff is taking payoffs from Terrebonne Development -- Lena does not know. -- Has realized the "surveying" is actually a massive-scale industrial operation involving the swamp floor -- Lena doesn't know the technical scope. -Arc: 30% -- Jax has witnessed the "Blackening" firsthand and has transitioned from a detached guide to a witness of corporate environmental crime. +- 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. +- CARRIED (Ch3--unresolved): 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: Ch4 +# World State: Ch3 ## NPC Memory -- Aunt Maribelle (Widow's Deep): ABSENT -- Her warnings about the Basin's "hunger" are validated by Lena's worsening condition. +- The Coven (Widow’s Deep): AGITATED -- Witnessed Lena disrupt the ritual; they view her as a "blight" on the lineage and a threat to their safety. ## Faction Attitudes -- Terrebonne Development Corp: HOSTILE -- Revealed to be operating an unauthorized, humming industrial platform deep within the protected Basin. -- The Swamp/Land: AGONIZED -- The "Blackening" is identified as a necrotic immune response to the industrial "humming" spikes. +- The Duval Coven: Hostile -- Lena’s refusal to complete the Rite caused a magical backlash that injured their pride and spiritual connection. +- Terrebonne Development Corp: Threatening -- Presence felt through "unnatural" silence and Project Phlegethon markers near the ritual site. ## Active World Events -- The Blackening: Reached a terminal state at the Basin's center; water is oily, pitch-black, and corrosive to touch. -- The Humming: Identified as a mechanical vibration from a series of submerged pylons labeled with TDC logos. -- The Fever: Reaching a breaking point as Lena touches the epicenter of the industrial interference. \ No newline at end of file +- The Humming: Magical vibration intensified into a physical thrum rippling the swamp water following the ritual's failure. +- The Blackening: Oily black sap weeping from cypress bark in the Widow’s Deep, spreading due to the land's distress. +- Project Phlegethon: Development plans to dredge the deep are confirmed via physical markers found on the outskirts of coven territory. \ No newline at end of file