staging: character-state-ch-14.md task=d546825a-6f20-4d36-8f5d-f31f767221f5

projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-ch-14.md

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+# Character State: ch-14
+
+## Lena Duval
+Location: The Siphon Hub Core, Cypress Bend
+Physical: Ethereal and stabilized; bioluminescence is constant; no longer experiences physical tremors.
+Emotional: Transformed and protective; feels the pain of the land as her own; mourning the loss of her aunt despite their conflict.
+Active obligations: Owes Jax Harlan a life-debt (Ch-12) — UNPAID (growing in intensity).
+Open loops: Lena vs. TDC Sabotage (Ch-14) — RESOLVED (the pulse neutralized the demolition charges).
+Known secrets: CARRIED (Ch-13--unresolved): Knows the Siphon’s true purpose was "Harmonic Bleed" to feed the Upper Districts -- Jax remains unaware.
+Arc: 100% -- The Warden. She has fully integrated with the Siphon and successfully defended the Bend from a coordinated TDC strike.
+Permanent: YES
+
+## Jax Harlan
+Location: Siphon Hub Perimeter / Secondary Bypass Drainage
+Physical: Exhausted but functional; nursing minor burns from TDC ordnance.
+Emotional: Resolute but wary; feels a deepening, supernatural tether to Lena that he cannot explain.
+Active obligations: Identify the TDC/Terrebonne Security mole (Ch-13) — UNRESOLVED.
+Open loops: Jax vs. TDC Infiltration Team (Ch-14) — RESOLVED (the team was repelled by the Bayou's flora).
+Arc: 98% -- Guardian. He has moved from a reluctant defender to a proactive champion of the Bayou’s new order.
+Permanent: NO
+
+## Aunt Maribelle -- DECEASED (ch-14)
+Established: Severed her own connection to the Siphon to trigger a manual drainage, but was consumed by the resulting harmonic backlash and the encroaching swamp vines.
+Legacy: Her death leaves Lena as the sole Duval matriarch and ends the internal struggle for control of the Siphon.
+
+# World State: ch-14
+
+## NPC Memory
+- TDC Sabotage Team (Siphon Perimeter): DEFEATED -- Their demolition attempt was thwarted by the Great Hum's feedback loop and sensory-depriving fog -- The survivors fled into the swamp and are being hunted.
+- Duval Coven (The Estate): SUBMISSIVE -- Witnessed the final pulse and have largely accepted Lena as the legitimate Warden.
+
+## Faction Attitudes
+- TDC: FRANTIC -- Moving from asset recovery to containment as the "blackout zone" expands.
+- The Bayou: AWAKENED -- The flora is no longer reactive but proactive, hunting threats before they reach the Hub.
+
+## Active World Events
+- The Great Hum: EXPANDING -- The protective zone has grown, now encompassing the outer wetlands.
+- Harmonic Backflow: PEAKING -- Massive power failures across the Upper Districts as Lena "grounds" the stolen energy back into the mud.
+
+## Key Objects/Locations
+- The Secondary Bypass: DESTROYED/OVERGROWN -- Gone with Maribelle; it can no longer be used to drain the swamp.
+- The Silver Locket: DROPPED -- Left in the mud by Lena as a symbol of her final release from the past.