massive flesh out of the world, finished chapter 20, most of book 3 outlined

CLAUDE.md

@@ -52,6 +52,17 @@ Corvel is a world technologically positioned between the late Middle Ages and th
 - **Magic users** are registered, regulated, and taxed by the **Arcane Compact** — the governing body for magical practice
 - **Religion** exists but is not monolithic — multiple faiths coexist with varying relationships to magic
 
+### Kingdom Structure
+Corvel is a single kingdom with **six duchies** under **King Halvar Rethen III** (capital: Varenhold, in the Crownhold):
+- **Thorngate** — Duchess Pamira Varnesse (north)
+- **Aldermere** — Duke Garrett Holven (north, peer to Thorngate)
+- **The Crownhold** — held directly by the crown (central-north, capital)
+- **Wenlow** — Duchess Isolde Merrenwood (west, agricultural)
+- **Vethmarch** — Duke Cason Arvale (east, frontier mountains)
+- **Sudermere** — Duke Roderic Velthane (south, contains Drenwick; duke is absentee by temperament, which is why Drenwick runs on guilds)
+
+Noble ranks: king, duke/duchess, baron/baroness, landed gentry (where D'Nardis sits). No counts. Full scaffold including proximity map, travel times, and location registry in `/world/locations/kingdom-of-corvel.md` — **consult this file before writing any scene that references a duchy, noble, travel time, or place name outside Drenwick.**
+
 ### The City of Drenwick (Phelan's Home Base)
 Phelan operates primarily out of **Drenwick**, a mid-sized city built around a river junction — part trade hub, part administrative center, part seedy underbelly. It has:
 - A guild quarter (legitimate business, political maneuvering)