staging: character-state-ch-07.md task=d996a2bf-ce70-471a-bbe9-93180ffd06cc

projects/cypress-bend/staging/character-state-ch-07.md

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+# Character State: ch-07
+
+## Lena Duval
+- **Location:** Abandoned trolley barn, outskirts of the Garden District.
+- **Physical:** Exhausted; high fever (magical drain); palm wound reopened; sensitivity to iron-induced "static."
+- **Emotional:** Fragmented and haunted; feeling the weight of her mother’s legacy; wary of Jax's increasing involvement.
+- **Active Obligations:** Owes Jax a full explanation of Project Phlegethon (ch-06) — UNPAID.
+- **Open Loops:** The Silver Locket's mechanical synchronization (ch-06) — UNRESOLVED; Negotiating with the "Drowned Man" spirit for passage (ch-07) — ACTIVE.
+- **Known Secrets:** CARRIED (ch-06--unresolved): Knows Project Phlegethon is a Duval/Terrebonne plot to rewrite ley lines into industrial frequencies — SHARED (with Jax).
+- **Arc (55%):** Confronts the reality that she cannot simply "run" to the city; the industrial resonance follows her, forcing her to rely on the very swamp magic she tried to leave behind.
+- **Permanent:** YES
+
+## Jax Harlan
+- **Location:** Abandoned trolley barn, outskirts of the Garden District.
+- **Physical:** Minor laceration on forearm from glass shards; sleep-deprived; hyper-vigilant.
+- **Emotional:** Grimly determined; protective; experiencing "conspiracy fatigue" as the scope of the Duval influence expands.
+- **Active Obligations:** Owes Lena extraction to a viable contact (ch-06) — ACTIVE.
+- **Open Loops:** Identity of the safehouse leak (ch-06) — UNRESOLVED; Identifying the frequency-scrambler device found in the barn (ch-07) — UNRESOLVED.
+- **Arc (30%):** Moves from "hired muscle" to "active tactician," making the choice to burn his own contacts to keep Lena hidden.
+- **Permanent:** YES
+
+# World State: ch-07
+
+## NPC Memory
+- **Aunt Maribelle (Duval Coven):** HOSTILE — She has successfully pulsed a "tracer signal" through the city's power grid, specifically targeting Lena’s magical signature.
+- **The Drowned Man (Spirit):** NEUTRAL/CAUTIOUS — Encountered in the barn's flooded basement; he demands a "tithe of salt" for safe passage through the drainage pipes.
+
+## Faction Attitudes
+- **Terrebonne Development Corp:** AGGRESSIVE — They have deployed "Sound-Dampening Teams" to the Ninth Ward to mask the magical fallout of their frequency shift.
+- **The Duval Coven:** PURSUANT — Using the city's transit infrastructure (trolley lines) as a conductor for their tracking spells.
+
+## Active World Events
+- **The Grid Hum:** The city's electrical grid is now audibly vibrating with Project Phlegethon's frequency, making it difficult for natural magic to manifest.
+- **The Garden District Perimeter:** Security has tightened; private Terrebonne contractors are patrolling public streets under the guise of "utility repairs."
+
+## Metadata
+- **Key Item:** Scrambler Device (A small, brass-and-silicon box Jax recovered; it emits a counter-frequency to Maribelle’s tracking).
+- **Key Term:** "Tithe of Salt" (A traditional Bayou Binding reagent required to appease urban spirits).
+- **Mood:** Gritty, damp, subterranean, paranoid.