chapter 11 done

characters/devod-fields.md

@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ During a frontier clearance gone wrong, Devod took charge of a deteriorating sit
 - **Charlette reframe:** Her controlling nature is grounded in her professional history — years managing logistics for operations where people died regularly. Risk assessment, contingency planning, resource control were assets in that context. When she shifted that energy to family life, "managing risk" became "controlling everything and everyone." The same traits that made her excellent at supply logistics made her suffocating as a partner and parent. This doesn't excuse her behavior with Mere. It grounds it.
 - **Transitional years (~28-30):** Lighter guild contract work while settling into civilian life. Logistics and supply skills translated immediately. Mere born ~30-31. Fully committed to delivery work by then.
 - Divorced from Charlette Fields (Mere's mother). Marriage ended mutually ("or close enough"). Charlette hates him.
-- **The Ultimatum (when Mere was 12):** Two years post-divorce, Devod was still seeing Mere. Charlette told him: cut all contact, or she'd move them both somewhere he'd never find them. No forwarding address, no legal recourse — custody was hers, divorce settlement gave him nothing. He complied. Strategic choice, not cowardice. Calculated that Mere staying in Drenwick (near him) was better than Mere disappearing entirely. Has lived with the guilt for 12+ years.
-- **Mere doesn't know.** She thinks he chose to leave. Her estrangement is built on a lie she doesn't know is a lie.
+- **The Ultimatum (when Mere was 12):** Two years post-divorce, Devod was still seeing Mere on Godsday visits. Every visit, Mere was missing something basic — worn shoes, old coats, clothes that should've been replaced. Devod took her shopping each time. **The trigger:** Winter, Mere at twelve, no gloves, hands red and cracked. Devod bought her three pairs (lined, with spares). Charlette came to Millford Street: framed basic care as "undermining her" — if he kept showing up and making her look like she couldn't provide, she'd take Mere and disappear. No forwarding address, no legal recourse — custody was hers, divorce settlement gave him nothing. He complied. Strategic choice, not cowardice. Calculated that Mere staying in Drenwick (near him) was better than Mere disappearing entirely. Then Charlette found out he was still in Drenwick — demanded 3 silvers/month payment for the privilege of proximity. Paid for four years (ages 12-16). Has lived with the guilt for 12+ years.
+- **Mere learns the truth in Book 2 Ch11.** Payment records trigger the revelation. She reclassifies both parents — Charlette as closed account, Devod as model-inverted (didn't leave, was forced out).
 - **Unsent gifts:** A shelf of wrapped parcels — twelve years of birthday and holiday gifts, age-appropriate progression, wrapping paper yellowing at different rates. Oldest nearly brown, newest still pale. Never delivered.
 - Lives alone above a tanner's shop on Millford Street. Single large room optimised for one person with approximately fifteen active interests. Carpentry bench, tools from three trades, half-finished projects everywhere.
 - Charlette has family in the northern provinces (mentioned as her threat destination).

characters/mere-fields.md

@@ -156,5 +156,5 @@ Categories: mindset, goal, relationship, skill, revelation, personality
 - [ ] What is Mere's educational background?
 - [x] How did she come to manage Thresholds? — Mere built the business (curated inventory, built clientele, designed systems). Mother holds the deed.
 - [x] What is her relationship with the shop's owner? — Mother owns it. Thresholds is a control lever — Mere built it, mother holds it hostage.
-- [ ] When/how does Mere learn the truth about Devod's ultimatum? (Method TBD — deferred to Book 2. Door is open but truth hasn't been told.)
+- [x] When/how does Mere learn the truth about Devod's ultimatum? **Book 2 Ch11 "Thresholds."** Devod brings financial records revealing extortion payments (3 silvers/month for 4 years). Mere's pattern-recognition spots the anomaly; "What was she holding over you?" forces the truth. Mere reclassifies Charlette as closed account, reclassifies Devod as model-inverted (didn't leave, was forced out).
 - [ ] What are the legal/economic consequences when Mere eventually leaves? (Thresholds ownership battle — develops in Book 2)