# Crystal Timeline & Leon Backstory Revision — Design Spec

**Date:** 2026-03-17
**Status:** Draft
**Scope:** Revise the crystal's chain of custody from Leon to Cass, deepen Leon's backstory with family motivation, add Ledger-Elara informant thread, and update Book 2 CLAUDE.md structure.

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## Context

The Book 1 epilogue established that "people are asking" about the Mallory focusing crystal through brokers (epilogue-final.md, lines 53-70). Book 2's CLAUDE.md currently says Cass bought the crystal through an anonymous buyer, but the ~3 month timeline gap between books needs a plausible chain of custody. Additionally, Leon's motivation for selling cheap (1,200 silvers for a pre-Compact artifact worth significantly more) needs grounding in character backstory. This revision fills the timeline gap, deepens Leon, and creates a new Ledger-Elara informant thread that enriches the investigation.

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## 1. The Crystal's Chain of Custody

### Step 1 — Leon Sells to a Traveling Vendor (~6+ months before Book 2)

Leon cracks the Vethani Crypts and recovers the Mallory focusing crystal. He's in a financial crunch from two directions:

- **Operational debt:** The Crypts job had costs (bribes, equipment, access fees). He's in the hole.
- **Father's injury:** Leon's father (minor nobility, D'Nardis family, governs between cities) was injured in a bandit raid on his carriage. Survived, but healers are expensive. Leon traveled to see him — they care for each other under the black-sheep tension.

Rather than negotiate full value for the crystal, Leon sells to **a traveling collector/dealer** who happens to be in Drenwick. Gets 1,200 silvers — less than the crystal is worth, but fast cash when he needs it now, not later. The vendor plans to mark it up through their network.

### Step 2 — The Crystal Enters the Grey Market

The traveling vendor moves on with the crystal. It's available through collector/dealer networks. Finding the right buyer for an illegal pre-Compact Mallory focusing crystal takes time — it's specialized, expensive, and legally dangerous. The crystal sits in the supply chain for weeks to months.

### Step 3 — Cass Hears About the Crystal (~2-3 months before Book 2)

Cass already knows Kae — has been mentoring him alongside Elara for some time, using them for Compact-adjacent work. Kae's chronic pain is managed ~50% by Elara's healing. Cass sees Kae's potential as a weapon but has no mechanism to create total dependency.

Then he hears about a Mallory focusing crystal available on the grey market. His magical theory expertise tells him it could channel stolen life force — complete pain elimination. **The plan is opportunistic, not premeditated.** Cass didn't set out to build a weapon from scratch. He saw the pieces on the board and couldn't resist assembling them. The crystal appearing on the market was the catalyst that turned a vague idea into an actionable plan.

Cass sends inquiries through brokers to locate the crystal. These inquiries ripple back through the grey market to Leon's contacts — the "people asking" from the Book 1 epilogue.

### Step 4 — Cass Buys the Crystal (~1.5 months before Book 2)

Cass (through an intermediary) purchases the crystal from the traveling vendor. **No one — not Cass, not the vendor, not Kae — knows the crystal has an internal flaw that makes it addictive** through diminishing returns and amplified withdrawal. Cass thinks this is a clean solution. Kae just wants to be pain-free.

### Step 5 — Cass Kills Elara (shortly after purchase)

Elara was a guild informant feeding intel on the Compact to Ledger's intelligence network. The Compact knows they have moles and hunts them regularly. Cass identified Elara as an informant. Killing her serves two purposes:

1. **Eliminates a Compact security threat** — she was passing information to the guild
2. **Removes Kae's only other source of pain relief** — guarantees dependency on whatever Cass offers next

Calculated, dual-purpose. The cruelty is in the efficiency.

### Step 6 — Cass Gives Kae the Crystal (days after Elara's death)

Kae, grieving Elara's "disappearance" and in unmanaged pain, receives the crystal. His chronic pain vanishes completely for the first time in his life. Instant, total dependency. Cass points him at targets.

### Step 7 — Kae Begins Draining (~weeks before Book 2)

Early victims survive but are weakened, aged, confused. The pattern starts. Ledger's intelligence network detects it. The Compact detects it too — and deliberately doesn't act.

---

## 2. The Ledger-Elara Informant Thread

### Established Relationship

Elara was one of Ledger's guild informants inside Compact-adjacent circles. She was reluctant to join — Ledger tried to help her, brought her in carefully. She'd been reporting for some time. The guild's informant network within the Compact is an ongoing operation; the Compact knows they have moles and actively hunts them.

### Pre-Book 2 (~1 month before opening)

Elara misses her scheduled check-in with Ledger. Standard operational patience — informants miss check-ins for legitimate reasons (can't get away safely, schedule disrupted, maintaining cover). Ledger notes it but doesn't escalate.

### Book 2 Opens

Elara has now missed two check-ins. Ledger is privately concerned but handling it as a separate matter from the draining case he assigns Phelan in Ch 2. He has no reason to connect the two.

### Ch 3-4 — Parallel Investigation

While Phelan investigates crime scenes (Ch 3) and traces the crystal with Leon (Ch 4), Ledger is investigating Elara's disappearance through his own channels. He confirms she's dead. While investigating her death, he finds a name: **"Kae"** — a man tied to Elara who's been escalating in violence. Ledger suspects Kae killed Elara. He also suspects — but can't prove — that this Kae might be connected to the draining pattern Phelan is investigating.

### Ch 4 — "The Reluctant Share"

Ledger brings this to Phelan, but **incompletely**. He shares the name "Kae" and the suspicion that this man is connected to Phelan's draining case. He does **NOT** reveal that Elara was a guild informant — that's guild intelligence infrastructure he's protecting. He frames it as:

> "I have intelligence that a woman connected to a man named Kae was recently killed. I believe this is related to your case."

Phelan cold-reads that Ledger is holding back. Files it. Doesn't push — yet.

### Ch 5 — Two Vectors Converge

Phelan now has two vectors converging on Kae: the crystal/arcane trail from his investigation AND Ledger's informant-derived intel. The street investigation in Ch 5 becomes about confirming the same "Kae" in both threads. Stronger investigative structure than a single thread.

### Ch 13 — The Double Reveal

When Phelan uncovers through his own investigation that:

1. Cass killed Elara, AND
2. She was a guild informant

It hits on two levels. Cass murdered a guild asset — making it institutional, not just personal. AND Ledger knew Elara personally and has been carrying this the whole time. Phelan realizes Ledger's investment in this case was never purely institutional. This is a much stronger beat than the original "Elara is dead" reveal — the reader already knows she's dead by Ch 4. The Ch 13 gut punch is WHO killed her, WHY, and that Ledger's been personally invested since the beginning.

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## 3. Leon's Father Backstory — How It Surfaces

### Ch 4 — The Recognition Scene

When Leon identifies the crystal and guilt hits, Phelan asks why he sold so fast. Leon gives a clipped answer: "My father got hurt. Healers aren't cheap." Phelan's noise fills in the context — the D'Nardis family, minor nobility, the black-sheep son who still drops everything when family gets hurt. One or two lines. Enough to understand the desperation without a backstory dump.

### Ch 12 — Devod's Bedside (The Parallel)

Leon sees Devod — another father, drained by the crystal he sold. The parallel strikes him: his father hurt by bandits, Devod hurt by the weapon Leon's sale enabled. His operational mask slips for one moment. He covers it fast. Phelan notices, says nothing. The reader connects Leon's father to Devod without anyone stating it. Quietly devastating.

### What's Established About Leon's Father

- Minor nobility — D'Nardis family name
- Governs between cities (a regional administrative role)
- Injured in a bandit raid on his carriage while traveling between governed territories
- Survived, but required expensive healing
- Leon traveled to see him — they care for each other under the surface tension
- The financial pressure (healer bills + operational debt) is why Leon sold the crystal fast and cheap

---

## 4. The Traveling Vendor — Ch 4 Scene

### Character

Named character, one scene. A traveling collector/dealer who passes through Drenwick periodically, buying and selling pre-Compact artifacts and magical tools through grey-market channels. Specific name and characterization to be determined during Ch 4 drafting.

### Scene Setup

Leon was already planning to visit this vendor — the vendor happens to still be in Drenwick. Leon wants to browse for a **fire augmentation tool**. Phelan's focusing ring has made him jealous; he wants something that can extend the range or efficiency of his fire magic.

### Scene Function (Double Duty)

1. **Character beat:** Leon being Leon — shopping for gear, jealous of Phelan's ring, the transactional browsing energy of a tomb raider in a shop
2. **Investigation beat:** They ask about the crystal. The vendor remembers the sale — sold it to an intermediary (description and details give Phelan a thread to pull toward Cass's network)

### The Irony

Leon standing in front of the man he sold the crystal to, browsing for new toys, while the last thing he sold through this vendor is killing people. Leon's guilt becomes physical in this moment — the vendor is oblivious, just happy to see a returning customer. The contrast between the casual commerce and the downstream horror is the beat.

---

## 5. Changes to Book 2 CLAUDE.md

### Structural Change

**Remove detailed Ch 1-3 descriptions** from the Chapter Breakdown section. Replace with a reference to `world/story-summary-book2.md` for drafted chapter details. This saves space in CLAUDE.md and avoids duplication — the story summary is the living record of what's been written.

### Content Updates

1. **Kae's Backstory (point 6):** Update to reflect the full chain of custody — traveling vendor, Cass's opportunistic acquisition, the dual-purpose Elara killing. Remove "anonymous buyer" framing. Add that no one knew about the addictive flaw.

2. **Elara's Character Section:** Expand with informant role and Ledger connection. Add that she was feeding intel to Ledger's guild network, was reluctant to join, and that Cass killed her both to eliminate a Compact security threat and to remove Kae's pain relief.

3. **The Crystal Mechanic Section:** Add a note that no one — Cass, Kae, or anyone else — knew about the crystal's addictive flaw (diminishing returns, amplified withdrawal). Cass thought it was a clean solution.

4. **Chapter 4 Breakdown:** Add three new elements:
   - The traveling vendor scene (Leon's fire augmentation shopping + crystal buyer trace)
   - Leon's father mention (clipped answer about why he sold cheap)
   - Ledger's "reluctant share" (brings the name "Kae" and dead woman intel, withholds Elara's informant status)

5. **Chapter 5 Breakdown:** Adjust to reflect that Kae's name now comes from TWO sources — Ledger's intel (Ch 4) and street investigation (Ch 5). The convergence of two independent vectors confirms the identification.

6. **Chapter 13 Breakdown:** Update the Elara reveal to a double reveal — Cass killed a guild informant AND Ledger knew her. Add the beat where Phelan realizes Ledger's investment was personal, not just institutional.

7. **Ledger's Milestone Beats:** Add two entries:
   - Ch 4: "The Reluctant Share" — brings Kae's name and dead woman intel, withholds Elara's informant status. Phelan cold-reads the holding back.
   - Ch 13: Add personal weight — Ledger lost an informant he was trying to protect. The Cass-Elara connection makes it institutional AND personal.

8. **Leon's Character Arc:** Add father backstory bullet points. Add the Ch 12 bedside parallel as a milestone beat. Update the "Recognition" beat in Ch 4 to include the father mention.

9. **Key Callbacks Table:** Add entry: "Leon's father injured in bandit raid — healer debt drove the fast, cheap crystal sale"

10. **Open Questions — Resolved:** Add "Crystal buyer chain of custody" as resolved with the traveling vendor chain. Add "Leon's motivation for selling cheap" as resolved with father's injury + operational debt.

### Sections NOT Changed

- Core investigation structure (Chs 1-8) stays intact
- Kae's characterization unchanged
- Crystal exploit mechanic (credential harvest) unchanged
- Carson's role unchanged
- Carter's subplot unchanged
- Domestic arc unchanged
- Phelan's character arc unchanged

---

## 6. Established Canon References

These are the existing canon points this revision must remain consistent with:

- **Book 1 Ch 5 (ch05-final.md, lines 149-155):** Leon describes selling the crystal for 1,200 silvers to "someone who paid twelve hundred silvers for it and didn't volunteer their name." Leon's ethics: "was this a problem for me?"
- **Book 1 Epilogue (epilogue-final.md, lines 53-70):** Inquiries through a broker about the Vethani Crypts recovery, specifically the Mallory crystal buyer. Leon: "People ask." Phelan's noise files it as a future problem.
- **Leon's Character Bible (characters/leon-dnardis.md):** Minor nobility, black sheep, family tolerates him. School friendship with Phelan. Mid-20s. Fire magic primary. Explicitly refuses guild membership.
- **Exploits Log (world/magic/exploits-log.md):** Crystal recovered via Leon's 400-input flooding exploit on 14-layer ward. Vethani Crypts source.
- **Book 2 Story Summary (world/story-summary-book2.md):** Ch 1-3 drafted. Ch 3 establishes pre-Compact architecture at all three sites, one operator, one instrument, escalating output. Phelan needs Leon for identification. Extraction pathways point northeast.

### Consistency Notes

- Leon sold to the traveling vendor, not directly to Cass or Cass's intermediary. The epilogue's "anonymous buyer" language in Ch 5 refers to the vendor (Leon didn't know/care who the vendor would resell to).
- The "people asking" in the epilogue are Cass's broker inquiries rippling back through the grey market — consistent with "inquiries through a broker I've used before."
- Ledger assigned the draining case in Ch 2 without mentioning Elara — consistent with him treating it as a separate investigation at that point. The connection emerges by Ch 4.
- Leon's father injury is new backstory but doesn't contradict anything established. The character file says "complicated but functional family relationship" and "shows up for occasional family obligations" — a medical emergency fits perfectly.

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## 7. Verification

After implementing changes to CLAUDE.md:

1. **Timeline consistency:** Walk the crystal timeline from Leon's sale through Kae's first draining. Verify all time references are internally consistent and fit within the ~3 month gap between books.
2. **Chapter flow:** Read Ch 4 breakdown to confirm the traveling vendor scene, Leon's father mention, and Ledger's reluctant share integrate without overcrowding the chapter.
3. **Character consistency:** Verify Leon's father backstory doesn't contradict `characters/leon-dnardis.md`. Verify Ledger's Elara thread doesn't contradict his existing milestone beats.
4. **Cross-reference:** Confirm the Ch 13 double reveal still works with the earlier Ch 4 information drop — the reader should know Elara is dead but NOT know Cass killed her or that she was a guild informant.
5. **Story summary reference:** Confirm CLAUDE.md Ch 1-3 section is replaced with a reference to `world/story-summary-book2.md` and that the summary file contains all necessary detail.
