book 1 finished, created some images for the cover, working towards publishable

world/locations/thorngate.md

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Thorngate — Northern Compact Hub
+
+A regional administrative center four days' carriage ride north of Drenwick. Houses the Arcane Compact's northern trade oversight offices.
+
+## Character
+
+A functional posting, not a prestigious one. Thorngate handles trade regulation for the northern territories — important work that nobody glamorous wants to do. The kind of place careers go to cool down, or to disappear.
+
+## Distance from Drenwick
+
+- **By carriage:** 4 days
+- **By horseback (direct):** ~3 days
+
+## Significance (Book 1)
+
+Cassius Rykhard was "reassigned" to Thorngate after the Floundry case — framed as an administrative transfer, functionally an exile to keep him away from Drenwick and the evidence trail. The posting carries enough authority to look like a lateral move on paper while removing him from everything that matters.
+
+## Potential (Book 2+)
+
+Cass operating from Thorngate with institutional distance from scrutiny. A base of operations far enough from Drenwick to feel safe, close enough to still pull strings.

world/magic/exploits-log.md

@@ -104,6 +104,38 @@ Every exploit Phelan uses, logged for continuity tracking.
 - **Significance:** The bracelet is not just a perception tool — it's an autonomous energy management system. Pre-Compact engineering operating on logic Phelan didn't write and can't fully read. "Patient, autonomous, operating on logic I hadn't written and couldn't have designed."
 - **Flaw Sight used:** No — Flaw Sight offline in mine. Discovery was through physical sensation (warmth direction) and reserve math (numbers didn't add up).
 
+## Exploit #4: Floundry Cure — Three-Phase Coordinated Intervention
+- **Chapter:** Ch19
+- **Target:** Three-layer nested curse on Ned Floundry (degradation + stabilizer + dead man's switch anchor). Classified "unbreakable" by Arcane Compact.
+- **Method:** Three phases executed in sequence (L3→L2→L1). Each phase uses a different technique targeting a different layer's specific weakness.
+
+### Phase 1: Anchor Drift (Layer 3)
+- **Concept origin:** Devod Fields — "move the lock" cargo analogy (Ch16).
+- **Technique:** Ghostveil moss at altered concentration applied to anchor points. Moss suppresses resonance between anchor and Ned's life-force signature — narrow-band dampening, not broad-spectrum. Anchor recalibrates, locks, drifts. Each cycle, lock is less certain. Anchor tightens parameters to compensate (grip tolerance contracting, recalibration speed pushing harder). Margin: 18% → 15 → 12 → 9 → 7 → 5. Anchor fires verification sequence — signature drifted past validation window. Kill trigger fires into empty space. Layer 3 goes dark.
+- **Phelan's role:** Bracelet-enhanced Flaw Sight guidance — tracking validation window margin in real-time, ensuring the moss was driving drift effectively.
+- **Cost:** 75% → 67% reserves. ~20 minutes. Precision-demanding but energy-modest. Bracelet buffered continuous Flaw Sight cost.
+- **Mere's role:** Applied altered moss preparation to anchor points (temples, throat, collarbone, wrists). Removed paste after neutralisation.
+
+### Phase 2: Stabilizer Weaponisation (Layer 2)
+- **Concept origin:** Leon D'Nardis — "Systems that monitor other systems can be made to accelerate the very failures they're trying to prevent" (Ch16).
+- **Technique:** Forge-and-redirect (death ward technique, Ch08, adapted). Forged crisis data injected through stabiliser's monitoring channels — two-second windows, sub-second precision, 15 minutes sustained. Data mimicked catastrophic Layer 1 collapse (anchor-point degradation, cascading structural failure). Stabiliser overcompensated — dumped repair energy at emergency speed, overloaded its own channels. Stabiliser ate its own system and tore Layer 1's supporting framework apart.
+- **Cost:** 67% → 16% reserves. ~15 minutes. **Higher than estimated** (51% actual vs. 22-28% planned). Bracelet reservoir nearly depleted. Physical symptoms: shaking hands, sweating, tunnel vision, iron taste.
+- **Bracelet role:** Focusing matrix essential — injection windows too narrow and timing too precise without it. Reservoir buffered but exhausted.
+
+### Phase 3: Degradation Dissolution (Layer 1)
+- **Concept origin:** Sniff parallel (binding salts, Ch03) scaled up. Standard curse-breaking.
+- **Technique:** Standard ghostveil moss applied by Mere (30-60 minute dampening window). Conventional dissolution — wedge into structural weak points left by stabiliser's death throes, widen fractures, let stress cascade. Concentric rings of runic energy with force lines, many already shredded. Textbook: find the cracks, widen them, the structure eats itself. Dissolution radiates inward.
+- **Cost:** 16% → 2-3% reserves. Duration uncertain (time became elastic). Bracelet stone practically black, focusing matrix barely functional. Personal reserves only. Physical: couldn't feel hands, vision tunnel, blood from bitten cheek.
+- **Mere's role:** Applied standard moss, monitored dampening window, called "Twelve minutes remaining."
+
+### Overall Assessment
+- **Total reserves cost:** 75% → 2-3% (73% total expenditure across three phases).
+- **Bracelet:** Fully depleted. Stone dark. Reservoir exhausted during Phase 2.
+- **Crash:** Post-Phase 3 collapse — Phelan chose not to fight it (trust > control, first time). Mere caught him.
+- **Team contribution:** Every person essential. Devod's concept (Phase 1). Leon's insight (Phase 2) + monitoring. Mere's preparations (all phases) + vitals monitoring. Jonael's security (defeated Compact hired hands during Phase 2). Ledger's perimeter (Calla protection + hired hand deterrent). Devod left room during Phase 2 to help fight, returned afterward.
+- **The noise:** Parentheticals disappeared entirely during execution — first and only time in the book. The noise became the work and, in becoming the work, disappeared.
+- **Significance:** Most complex coordinated exploit to date. First team-dependent execution (prior exploits were solo). Three methods for three problems, each contributed by a different person. The "unbreakable" curse broken by identifying that it was three separate problems, each with a different vulnerability.
+
 ## Exploit Refinement: Layer 2 — Stabilizer Weaponisation (Leon's Insight)
 - **Chapter:** Ch16
 - **Origin:** Leon D'Nardis riffing on forge-and-redirect (Exploit #3) applied to Floundry curse's stabilizer layer.

world/story-summary-book1.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 **Purpose:** Quick-reference continuity document for Claude Code. Consult this file at the start of any drafting or revision session to establish context without re-reading all chapter drafts. For detailed revisions or line-level continuity checks, consult the full chapter drafts directly.
 
-**Last updated:** Ch18 final (2026-03-09)
+**Last updated:** Epilogue final (2026-03-10)
 
 ---
 
@@ -29,8 +29,12 @@
 | Ch16 | The Chain | Day 38 (Monday) | Day 38 |
 | Ch17 | The Crash | Days 38–39 (Monday–Tuesday) | Day 39 |
 | Ch18 | The Walk-Through | Day 39 (Tuesday afternoon–evening) | Day 39 |
+| Ch19 | The Cure | Day 40 (Wednesday morning) | Day 40 |
+| Ch20 | The Reckoning | Day 42 (Friday) | Day 42 |
+| Ch21 | The Settlement | Days 42–44 (Friday–Sunday) | Day 44 |
+| Epilogue | The Category | Months later (deep winter) | — |
 
-**Total elapsed time Ch01–Ch18:** ~38–39 days (~5+ weeks).
+**Total elapsed time Ch01–Ch21:** ~42–44 days (~6 weeks). Epilogue jumps months ahead to deep winter.
 
 *For detailed bell/time references and continuity flags, see `/world/timeline-book1.md`.*
 
@@ -450,7 +454,7 @@ Mere has moved closer to the table than any prior meeting — "not at the edge o
 
 Scene 4 (The Shack): Team disperses. Mere walks with Phelan — long way through guild quarter to docks, comfortable silence. First time anyone has been inside the shack besides Phelan and occasionally Ledger. Shack described: one room, cot, table, one chair, lockbox, Gavren's herb parcel, house plans on the wall. Phelan predicts Mere will see the poverty, the gap between plans and reality — predicts embarrassment, pity, recalculation downward.
 
-**Mere doesn't see the shack. She sees the plans.** Walks past the cot, the bare walls, stops at the drawings. Studies the structure — identifies kitchen facing east, asks about the load-bearing wall (structural or relocatable), notes workshop ventilation dead-spot from fixed wall position, identifies drainage grade issue on east side (French drain system needed if clay soil). She's redesigning his house. "Not the concept. Not the dream. The *structure*." Phelan's prediction-error: the cold reader who reads everyone got read instead. "Something that doesn't have a category. Something the filing system wasn't built for." "When you do," she says about soil testing. Not *if*. When. Mere takes the chair without asking, studies plans from a better angle. She stays — no announcement, no social scaffolding. Studies revision six, checks preparation calculations. Phelan on the cot, bracelet warming, stone shifting closer to amber. The noise converged — "the way light converges through a lens, not to spread but to burn." Tomorrow.
+**Mere doesn't see the shack. She sees the plans.** Walks past the cot, the bare walls, stops at the drawings. Studies the structure — identifies kitchen facing east, asks about the load-bearing wall (structural or relocatable), notes workshop ventilation dead-spot from fixed wall position, identifies drainage grade issue on east side (French drain system needed if clay soil). She's redesigning his house. "Not the concept. Not the dream. The *structure*." Phelan's prediction-error: the cold reader who reads everyone got read instead. "Something that doesn't have a category. Something the filing system wasn't built for." "When you do," she says about soil testing. Not *if*. When. Mere takes the chair without asking, studies plans from a better angle. She stays — no announcement, no social scaffolding. Studies revision nine, checks preparation calculations. Phelan on the cot, bracelet warming, stone shifting closer to amber. The noise converged — "the way light converges through a lens, not to spread but to burn." Tomorrow.
 
 **Characters present:** Phelan Varrant, Mere Fields, Leon D'Nardis, Jonael Carterson, Devod Fields, Ledger. Seen: Calla Floundry, Ned Floundry, Cassius Rykhard (surveillance). Floundry children absent (school or relative's).
 
@@ -462,29 +466,136 @@ Scene 4 (The Shack): Team disperses. Mere walks with Phelan — long way through
 
 * * *
 
+### Ch19: The Cure
+
+**Timeline:** Day 40, Wednesday morning. Phelan wakes at shack (Mere already gone), walks to Floundry home (quarter to seventh bell), cure execution through morning.
+
+**Summary:** Climax chapter — the three-phase cure. Phelan wakes alone in the shack, reserves at 75% (bracelet buffered overnight recovery). Mere's annotations on revision nine still on the wall — ventilation baffle, French drain, bathroom relocation. He looks at the plans three seconds longer than he should have, then walks out.
+
+Walk to the Floundry home. The noise is running but narrower — all seventeen parallel threads compressed to one output. He passes the canal bridge without cataloguing its ward-work for the first time in months. Arrives quarter to seventh bell. Ledger at the front door — children sent to Calla's sister yesterday, no Compact presence this morning, immediate perimeter clean. Jonael has staged Ned's room since sixth bell (light rods, water, medical kit, clear corridor). Leon at the window with colour-coded overlays. Devod on a stool by the door with supplies. Mere at the bedside — arrived before everyone, two moss preparations laid out (bowls distinguished by a scratch on the rim), notebook, pocket watch.
+
+Ned worse — grey-yellow skin deepened, hair loss expanded, breathing closer to laboured, half-beat tracking delay, left hand curled.
+
+**The noise goes quiet — fourth time, but categorically different.** Not a pause (cheek kiss, partner declaration, thornwell root). The noise recognises every thread feeds to the same output. It becomes the work, and in becoming the work, disappears. The parentheticals vanish entirely during execution — **first and only time in the book.**
+
+**Phase 1 (Layer 3 — Anchor Drift):** Mere applies altered moss concentration to Ned's anchor points (temples, throat, collarbone hollow, wrists). **Mere's one crack:** at the hollow of Ned's collarbone, her hand pauses fractionally — steadiness maintained rather than automatic. Phelan files it, doesn't comment. Bracelet-enhanced Flaw Sight tracks the anchor's validation frequency (0.7 cycles, decaying). The moss suppresses resonance between anchor and Ned's signature — narrow-band intervention, not broad dampening. Anchor recalibrates, locks, drifts. Each cycle less certain. Margin: 18% → 15 → 12 → 9 → 7 → 5. Anchor fires verification sequence — signature has drifted past validation window. Kill trigger fires into empty space. Layer 3 goes dark. Devod's concept: move the boat, the chain goes slack. **Reserves: 67%.** Twenty minutes. Bracelet buffered the cost.
+
+**Phase 2 (Layer 2 — Stabiliser Weaponisation):** Forge-and-redirect adapted from the death ward. Phelan injects forged crisis data through the stabiliser's monitoring channels — two-second windows, sub-second precision. Forged data mimics catastrophic Layer 1 collapse. Stabiliser overcompensates, dumps repair energy at emergency speed, overloads its own channels. **Reserves draining faster than calculated** (51% cost vs. 22-28% estimate). During Phase 2, **Compact confrontation occurs downstairs:** four hired hands (no badges, unmarked coin — plausible deniability from Cass). Jonael meets them at the bottom of the stairs — one punch drops the first. Devod joins from the room — walking stick to forearm (cudgel drops), then collarbone. Two remaining back toward the front door — Ledger steps out of the kitchen hallway. Opens his jacket to reveal four throwing knives in a chest harness (Carter's channelled blades, convergence nodes — the anonymous client's side project). **NOTE: The jacket contents are READER-ONLY information — omniscient narrative, not Phelan's POV. No character on the team except Ledger knows what was in the jacket. Phelan was in hyperfocus, Leon was monitoring the lattice at the window, Jonael and Devod were in the hallway and saw only "Ledger opened his jacket" from the front. Do not have any character reference the knives in dialogue or internal monologue.** Ledger lets the silence do the arithmetic. Steps aside. They leave. Phelan never stopped forging — the injection window didn't wait. Stabiliser collapses at fifteen minutes. **Reserves: 16%.** Bracelet nearly depleted.
+
+**Phase 3 (Layer 1 — Degradation Dissolution):** Standard moss applied by Mere (same principle as binding salts / Sniff, scaled up). 30-60 minute dampening window. Phelan at 16% reserves, bracelet dark, focusing matrix barely functional. Personal reserves only. Standard curse-breaking: find structural weak points, apply pressure. Concentric rings of runic energy with force lines — many already shredded by the stabiliser's death throes. Textbook dissolution: wedge into gaps, widen fractures, let stress cascade. Reserves: 8 → 6 → 5 → 4 → 3. Vision tunnelling. Blood where he bit his cheek. Mere: "Twelve minutes remaining on the dampening window." Last anchor dissolves. Lattice shudders and collapses. For one moment, the full three-layer architecture is visible in the act of failing — beautiful. Then gone. Weight lifts. Air changes.
+
+**Ned breathes.** Deep, slow, immediate. The half-beat delay is gone. Grey-yellow skin remains (biological damage, not curse — heals on biology's schedule). Awareness direct and immediate.
+
+**The collapse and trust beat:** Reserves at 2-3%. Point of light narrowing. Phelan decides not to fight it — different from every prior crash where he clawed at consciousness. The chain held. The people held. "For once in my life, the calculus of control versus trust resolved on the side of trust." He lets go. Mere catches him — cool, steady, precise hands. "I've got you." The filing system has built a category since binding salts, cheek kiss, "you're my partner." The category doesn't have a name. "The thing itself existed whether you named it or not." Point of light closes. The hands stayed.
+
+**Characters present:** Phelan Varrant, Mere Fields, Leon D'Nardis, Jonael Carterson ("Carter"), Devod Fields, Ledger. Downstairs: Calla Floundry, four hired hands (unnamed). Seen: Ned Floundry. Referenced: Cassius Rykhard (sent the hired hands), Practitioner Vellen, Practitioner Dorath, Sniff.
+
+**Magic/Exploits:** **Three-phase cure executed successfully.** Phase 1: anchor drift via altered moss concentration (Devod's concept, Mere's preparation, Phelan's guidance). Phase 2: forge-and-redirect weaponisation of stabiliser (Leon's insight, bracelet precision). Phase 3: standard dissolution of exposed degradation curse (binding salts/Sniff principle scaled up). Bracelet fully depleted. Reserves: 75% → 67% (Phase 1) → 16% (Phase 2) → 2-3% (Phase 3). No parentheticals during execution — noise became the work. See exploits-log.md.
+
+**Plot threads opened/advanced:** **Ned Floundry case — RESOLVED** (curse broken, all three layers defeated). **Promise to Ned — RESOLVED** (kept). **Compact confrontation** — four hired hands defeated by Jonael, Devod, and Ledger without disturbing Phelan's work. Cass sent amateurs via plausible deniability. **Ledger revealed as armed (READER-ONLY)** — Carter's channelled throwing knives (the anonymous client was Ledger). No team member knows what was in the jacket — omniscient narrative beat, not character knowledge. **Phelan-Mere relationship** — deepest emotional beat. Trust > control for the first time. "I've got you." Hands stayed. Category without a name. **Mere's one crack** — fractional pause at collarbone, steadiness maintained rather than automatic. Filed, not commented on. **The noise** — unprecedented silence during execution (parentheticals disappeared entirely, first time in the book).
+
+**Chapter-ending state:** Wednesday morning, Floundry home. Phelan unconscious (2-3% reserves, crash). Mere holding him. Ned breathing freely — curse broken. Team intact. Compact's hired hands defeated/fled. Bracelet dark, depleted. The cure — three methods for three problems, each contributed by a different person — worked. "The hands stayed."
+
+* * *
+
+### Ch20: The Reckoning
+
+**Timeline:** Day 42, Friday. Two days post-cure. Morning through late morning.
+
+**Summary:** Professional closure chapter. Opens with brief recovery montage — Mere managed the third crash (protocol established: thornwell root at quarter-grain, water, silence), bracelet stone shifted from black to "deep, tired colour" (between amber and depletion), reserves ~40%, Flaw Sight sluggish (ward-work registers as "smudged outlines" — "like looking through dirty glass"). Phelan visits the Floundry home: Calla meets him (siege broken, white-knuckle tension gone, children coming home tomorrow). Ned upstairs — awake, aware, but hearing/throat damaged (weeks-months recovery), left hand still curled (motor control cascade damage). Guild has arranged a healer (institutional care — "never burn a good-faith client" extended to aftercare). **Ned can't speak but his hand works.** Two written notes: (1) gratitude — "You kept your word. Thank you." (trade inspector's precision, six words). Phelan pockets it — same pocket where the illegible scraps lived. Full circle. (2) Compact intel — vendor scheme details: company names, transaction patterns, the trail Ned followed before the curse. Not proof (records in Compact offices), but a roadmap. **Book 2 seed.** Phelan reads it, the noise engages, folds it away. "Not today." Brief moment with Ned — eyes clear, no delay, a nod that's enough.
+
+Guild HQ debrief with Ledger: completion fee collected (60s net). **Compact fallout:** Cass reassigned to Thorngate office (four days north, trade oversight) — quiet, fast, no formal action. Phelan reads it correctly: they didn't punish Cass, they removed him. Corruption intact. System protecting itself. Qualification inquiry and transfer motion withdrawn — "administrative correction." Compact's public position: honest assessment error, system works. Greenvale Provisions evidence filed with Ledger — "File it. We'll need it." (Future tense — guild playing longer game.) Ledger: "The guild has noticed." One line. Enough.
+
+Chapter ends with Phelan walking home, Ned's notes in one pocket, the Compact's silence in the other. The noise running differently — not scatter, something focused. "The lattice had more visible flaws than before. The question was whether to pull the thread."
+
+**Characters present:** Phelan Varrant, Calla Floundry, Ned Floundry (nonverbal, hearing-impaired), Ledger, Guild Receptionist. Referenced: Mere Fields (managed crash, left before Phelan woke), Cassius Rykhard (full name established — reassigned to Thorngate), Leon D'Nardis (diagrams still on planning room wall).
+
+**Magic/Exploits:** No new exploits. Flaw Sight passive but sluggish (~40-50% reserves). Bracelet recovering slowly (stone dark, barely warming).
+
+**Plot threads opened/advanced:** **Ned Floundry case — CLOSED** (professional closure, fee collected). **Compact corruption — ADVANCED** (Cass removed not punished, scheme intact, Ned's intel received). **Greenvale evidence — ADVANCED** (filed with guild, "We'll need it"). **Guild standing — ADVANCED** ("The guild has noticed"). **Ned's written intel — PLANTED** (Book 2 seed: roadmap to Compact vendor scheme).
+
+**Chapter-ending state:** Professional closure complete. 120s net collected. Compact corruption acknowledged but deferred. The institutional lattice has visible flaws. The noise runs differently — focused.
+
+* * *
+
+### Ch21: The Settlement
+
+**Timeline:** Days 42–44 (Friday–Sunday). A few days of settling after professional closure.
+
+**Summary:** Personal closure chapter — the book exhaling. Scene 1: Carter's shop. Phelan brings saturated ore. Eight gift pieces as repayment ("Like Leon and the wine"). Carter's reaction: hands go still (the tell), picks up first piece, craftsman's hyperfocus. "This is master-grade." Professional restraint barely containing excitement. Ideas forming about what he could forge with material that carries its own magical signature. Remaining ~27 pieces to sell through Carter and Leon's channels — not illegal, but Compact would ask questions that lead back to Velken's Drift. Estimated value: 200-400 silvers over months (conservative). Carter also gives Phelan a new leather tool roll — noticed the old one was worn, built a replacement without mentioning it. Competence expressed through craft.
+
+Scene 2: The math. Phelan at the shack with house plans and financial page. Full reckoning: ~140s liquid, ore income ~300s projected, monthly retainer 10.5s net, house target 1,300s. Gap: ~1,100s. But the trajectory changed — years, not decades. Twenty-five gold callback (2,500s refused Ch13) — the math doesn't regret it, the noise doesn't regret it, but it notices. **Key emotional beat:** the house isn't a fantasy anymore. It's a plan with a timeline. And the plan changed — not a house for one person anymore.
+
+Scene 3: Team beats. **Leon:** evening visit, wine (reciprocity), copied colour-coded diagrams from planning room. Case debrief from technical angle. "You didn't stop." / "The window didn't wait." Forge-under-fire discussion → brute-force forgery hybrid closer to viable. Friendship expressed through shared obsession. **Devod:** morning with a cart, helps with ore logistics. Knows covered storage, transport contacts — idea #2 of 10 (first involved disguising ore as decorative stonework — Carter vetoed). Has house ideas: pilings not slab (good), reclaimed Henwick timber (good), goats (reaching). 2 out of 10. Present without forcing it — helping with the house plans he hasn't been invited to comment on. The door is open.
+
+Scene 4: The Mere beat — emotional resolution. Mere arrives at the shack, sits in her chair, sees the financial page. "You did the math." / "I always do the math." Pulls house plans toward her (not asking permission — shared). Identifies pipe run failure point, proposes fix (washbasin to north wall, six feet more pipe, eliminates ceiling crossing). **"The kitchen should face east."** Not "your kitchen." Not "our kitchen." Statement of fact. She's talking about the house as though she's already part of it. Phelan doesn't correct, doesn't comment. Files it in the category that doesn't need a name. **The noise settles.** Not silent — never silent. But manageable. Focused. Like sediment finding the bottom. *(The land. The plans. The kitchen facing east. The numbers that almost work. Almost.)* End of chapter. End of the case.
+
+**Characters present:** Phelan Varrant, Jonael Carterson ("Carter"), Leon D'Nardis, Devod Fields, Mere Fields.
+
+**Magic/Exploits:** No new exploits. Bracelet recovering (stone warming).
+
+**Plot threads opened/advanced:** **Saturated ore — RESOLVED** (split: Carter gift + Leon/Carter sales channel). **House/land dream — ADVANCED** (math changed from "someday" to "years," plan is real, shared with Mere). **Phelan-Mere relationship — ADVANCED** ("The kitchen should face east" — the love story in one sentence). **Mere/Devod — ADVANCED** (door open, functional relationship, house ideas). **Brute-force forgery — ADVANCED** (closer to viable per Leon's assessment).
+
+**Chapter-ending state:** Personal closure complete. The book's main arc resolved. Ore moving through channels, financial trajectory changed, team ecosystem established. Mere at the table. Kitchen faces east. The noise settles.
+
+* * *
+
+### Epilogue: The Category
+
+**Timeline:** Months after the cure. Deep winter.
+
+**Summary:** Coda chapter (~2,700 words). Beat 1: The new home. Chandler's Row, guild quarter border. Two rooms and workshop space, proper walls, stone foundation. Mere lives there (established fact, not narrated). Her books on the shelf, moss preparations in the workshop corner, Sniff has a corner. House plans on the wall — revision 10, Mere's annotations now integrated into drawings (not just margins). She left Charlette 3 months ago on her own terms — packed, walked out, four sentences about it shared with Phelan. Thresholds still Charlette's (deed = leash, fight unresolved — Book 2). Rented kitchen faces west. Mere noted it exactly once. House plans show east.
+
+Beat 2: Training with Leon. Sixth bell daily. Chandler's shop courtyard (two coppers/day for noise and scorch marks). Fire sequence: 12 seconds integrated (up from 8-10 in Barrows). Not through talent — through work. Pragmatic motivation (cure nearly killed him, guild work is dangerous). Leon as daily partner deepens bond — riffing, shared shorthand, friendship through sweat and fire. **Leon seed (Book 2):** someone asked about the Vethani Crypts / Mallory crystal buyer. "People ask." Leon not worried. Phelan's noise files it — not urgent, present. The careless sale (1,200s to anonymous buyer, no questions) may have consequences.
+
+Beat 3: Guild standing (brief). Cases are different — higher stakes, better pay. Ledger delivering briefs to home address (three weeks running). New case brief on the table: not Tier One classification, not forty silvers. Higher fee, higher expectations.
+
+Beat 4: The case brief — ending. Phelan reads the new case. Bracelet warm amber, full. The noise engages — not scattered, focused. Purposeful. The noise has changed: "Like the difference between a river flooding and a river channelled." **Final noise beat:** *(The case. The numbers. The training. The kitchen that faces east. The category that doesn't need a name. The chain that held. The chain holds.)* Something like contentment, if contentment had sharper edges. "Worth the trouble. / I turned to page two."
+
+**Characters present:** Phelan Varrant, Mere Fields (present through domestic fact), Leon D'Nardis (training), Sniff (corner). Referenced: Ledger, Charlette Fields, Devod Fields.
+
+**Magic/Exploits:** No new exploits. Bracelet at full amber. Fire combat improved (12 seconds integrated). Reserves 92%.
+
+**Plot threads status (end of Book 1):**
+- Ned Floundry case: **RESOLVED** (Ch19)
+- Saturated ore: **RESOLVED** (Ch21)
+- Greenvale Provisions evidence: **ADVANCED** (filed with guild)
+- Compact corruption: **ADVANCED** (Cass removed, scheme intact, Phelan has Ned's intel)
+- Cassius Rykhard: **ADVANCED** (reassigned to Thorngate, knows who The Shade is)
+- House/land dream: **ADVANCED** (math works, timeline shortened, plan is real and shared)
+- Phelan-Mere relationship: **ADVANCED** (living together, kitchen faces east)
+- Mere/Devod: **ADVANCED** (door open, functional relationship)
+- Charlette Fields: **ADVANCED** (Mere left, Thresholds still Charlette's — Book 2)
+- Bracelet: **OPEN** (series mystery, fully recovered)
+- Leon's Vethani sale: **PLANTED** (Epilogue seed for Book 2)
+- Brute-force forgery: **OPEN** (theoretical, closer to viable)
+- Ledger's investment in Phelan: **ADVANCED** (higher-tier cases, guild backing)
+
+**Chapter-ending state:** Deep winter. Phelan settled — new home, partner, daily training, rising reputation. New case brief engaging the noise in a new way. The noise has changed — not just scattered processing, but a tool he's learning to use. Door opening, not cliffhanger. "Worth the trouble. / I turned to page two."
+
 ---
 
 ## 3. Running Character Tracker
 
 | Character | First Appearance | Current Status | Relationship to Phelan | Last Seen |
 |-----------|-----------------|----------------|----------------------|-----------|
-| Phelan Varrant | Ch01 | Active — alias "Shade," Floundry case engaged, all 3 cure layers solved. Execution order locked (L3→L2→L1). Reserves ~30%+, bracelet shifting closer to amber. Team briefed, roles assigned. Cure execution set for tomorrow morning (Wednesday). Mere in the shack, studying house plans. | Protagonist | Ch18 (shack, Tuesday evening) |
-| Mere Fields | Ch01 (unnamed), Ch02 (named) | Active — altered preparation completing at Thresholds (Devod to collect by seventh bell). Both moss concentrations ready. Assigned: both moss applications (timed) + Ned vitals monitoring (12% deviation baseline). Translated Phelan's raw observation into preparation parameters in real-time. Entered the shack — saw the house plans, not the poverty. Redesigned ventilation, identified drainage issue. Stayed without announcing it. Moved closer to the table than any prior meeting. Addressed Devod by name with a task. | Partner (declared Ch10), love interest, bracelet study collaborator | Ch18 (shack, Tuesday evening) |
+| Phelan Varrant | Ch01 | **Epilogue:** Settled. Moved to Chandler's Row with Mere. Training daily with Leon (fire: 12s integrated). Reserves 92%, bracelet full amber. Guild sending higher-tier cases. Noise has changed — purposeful, directed. New case engaging. | Protagonist | Epilogue (Chandler's Row, deep winter) |
+| Mere Fields | Ch01 (unnamed), Ch02 (named) | **Epilogue:** Living with Phelan at Chandler's Row. Left Charlette 3 months ago on own terms. Books, moss preparations, annotations on house plans (revision 10, integrated into drawings). Thresholds still Charlette's — fight coming. | Partner (declared Ch10), love interest, bracelet study collaborator | Epilogue (Chandler's Row, deep winter) |
 | Gavren Holst | Ch01 | Active — running Gavren's Botanical & Sundry | Former employer, parted on good terms | Ch05 (farewell, last day) |
-| Leon D'Nardis | Ch05 | Active — independent operator, rooms above chandler's shop. Annotated diagrams with colour-coded energy-budget overlays (blue/reservoir, red/personal, green/bracelet). Assigned: external stability monitoring during cure — lattice observation, 15-second warning if Layer 2 feeds back. Heading home to review overlays one more time. | Close friend, training partner, intel source. Knows forge-and-redirect technique AND bracelet. | Ch18 (guild planning room → home, Tuesday evening) |
-| Jonael Carterson ("Carter") | Ch06 | Active — logistics, security, room management for cure execution. Arrived at briefing with supplies (water skins, ceramic light rods, medical kit). Staging Floundry bedroom by seventh bell — light, water, clear space. Compact blockade: "No one gets through the door." **Now knows about the bracelet** (Ch17). | Professional contact → asset relationship → deepening trust (ring as gift-through-craft, bracelet knowledge) | Ch18 (guild planning room, Tuesday) |
-| Sniff (the dog) | Ch03 (unnamed), Ch05 (named) | Active — living in Thresholds' front room, smells like old paper and binding glue | Mere's dog, Phelan broke his curse | Ch10 (at Thresholds) |
+| Leon D'Nardis | Ch05 | **Epilogue:** Daily training partner (sixth bell, chandler's courtyard). Friendship deepened through shared work. Someone asked about Vethani Crypts / Mallory crystal buyer — "People ask." Not worried. Phelan's noise filed it. | Close friend, training partner, intel source. Knows forge-and-redirect technique AND bracelet. | Epilogue (training courtyard, deep winter) |
+| Jonael Carterson ("Carter") | Ch06 | **Ch21:** Received ore gift (8 master-grade pieces). Professional restraint barely containing excitement. Plans for what he could forge. Built Phelan a tool roll (noticed need, said nothing). Coordinating ore sales with Leon. | Professional contact → asset → trusted friend (ore gift, tool roll, mutual competence-respect) | Ch21 (Carter's shop, Friday–Sunday) |
+| Sniff (the dog) | Ch03 (unnamed), Ch05 (named) | **Epilogue:** Has a corner at Chandler's Row. Heavier now. Folded blanket, water bowl, territorial calm. | Mere's dog, Phelan broke his curse | Epilogue (Chandler's Row, deep winter) |
 | The Center Man | Ch04 | Active — Guild leadership | Guild interviewer, decision-maker | Ch04 |
 | The Questioner | Ch04 | Active — Guild panel | Guild interviewer | Ch04 |
-| Ledger (The Observer) | Ch04 (unnamed), Ch09 (named) | Active — Guild intelligence. Calla is "holding" but shaken (Compact used children's names). Qualification inquiry moving slowly (Ledger managing pace). **Will be at Floundry home by seventh bell tomorrow** — blocking Compact access during cure. | Guild interviewer → debrief handler → case handler, reads people like Phelan reads magic | Ch18 (guild hallway, Tuesday) |
+| Ledger (The Observer) | Ch04 (unnamed), Ch09 (named) | **Ch20:** Debrief at guild HQ. Paid completion fee. Delivered Compact fallout: Cass reassigned north, inquiry withdrawn. "File it. We'll need it." (Greenvale evidence — guild playing longer game.) "The guild has noticed." **Epilogue:** Delivering higher-tier case briefs to Phelan's home address. | Guild contact, assessor, invested in Phelan's trajectory. Armed (channelled knives). | Epilogue (referenced, deep winter) |
 | Guild Receptionist | Ch04 | Active — 14 Greystone Lane | Professional contact | Ch13 |
 | Mrs. Dallery | Ch01 | Active — regular customer at Gavren's | No direct relationship | Ch01 |
-| Ned Floundry | Ch04 (referenced), Ch11 (seen) | Dying, cursed — **further deteriorated since Ch11.** Grey-yellow skin (was yellowed), hair loss in patches (was thinning), half-beat tracking delay (was immediate), left hand curled involuntarily (can't hold pen), shallow breathing approaching laboured. Right hand functional. Still lucid — awareness behind the delay. Organ function next on cascade sequence. Anchor recalibration speed decaying (0.7, was 0.9). Bond weakness threshold at ~18%. Natural failure 10-14 days; cure planned for tomorrow. | Client (via Calla). Trade inspector who filed reports on Compact supply chain irregularities. | Ch18 (Floundry home, Tuesday afternoon) |
-| Calla Floundry | Ch11 | Active — thinner than five days ago. Watching from window. Children sent elsewhere (school or relative's). "He's worse" — greeting. Stood in doorway during observation, understood urgency if not technical details. | Client. Mid-forties, organized, exhausted, controlled composure. Expense ledger keeper. | Ch18 (Floundry home, Tuesday afternoon) |
+| Ned Floundry | Ch04 (referenced), Ch11 (seen) | **Ch20:** CURSE BROKEN. Awake, aware, eyes clear (half-beat delay gone). Hearing/throat damaged (weeks-months). Left hand curled. Right hand works — **wrote two notes:** (1) gratitude, (2) Compact intel (vendor scheme roadmap — Book 2 seed). Guild healer arranged. | Client (via Calla). Trade inspector. Ally with Compact knowledge. | Ch20 (Floundry home, Friday) |
+| Calla Floundry | Ch11 | Active — in kitchen during cure with Ledger. Children at her sister's. White knuckles, untouched tea. Husband's curse broken. | Client. Mid-forties, organized, exhausted. | Ch19 (Floundry home kitchen, Wednesday morning) |
 | Floundry son | Ch11 | Active — ~10–11, solemn, too-old assessment | Ned & Calla's son. "Are you another healer?" | Ch11 (hallway) |
 | Floundry daughter | Ch11 | Active — ~7–8, wide still eyes, unread book | Ned & Calla's daughter. Sits on stairs. | Ch11 (stairs) |
-| Devod Fields | Ch12 (named Ch11) | Active — received formal public credit for Layer 3 concept before full team ("Idea number seven"). Went still — "something he'd been waiting years to hear." Brought food for the team (bakery). Assigned: support, runner, door reinforcement. Collecting altered preparation from Thresholds by seventh bell. Heading to Thresholds to check on preparation / be near Mere's work. Mere addressed him by name with a specific task. | Mere's father. Forced out of contact by Charlette's ultimatum. Ally — case intel + mine navigation + structural expertise + conceptual breakthrough (Layer 3). | Ch18 (guild planning room → Thresholds, Tuesday evening) |
-| Cassius Rykhard ("Cass") | Ch13 | Active — conducting professional surveillance of Floundry home. Positioned across street, three doors down, café pillar. Clear sightlines on front door, peripheral coverage of both approaches. Same tailored doublet. Not approaching — observing. "The mine bandits didn't come back." | Compact pressure point, professional antagonist. | Ch18 (across from Floundry home, Tuesday afternoon) |
+| Devod Fields | Ch12 (named Ch11) | **Ch21:** Helped with ore logistics — cart, covered storage, transport contacts. Has house ideas (pilings not slab, reclaimed timber, goats). 2 out of 10 good. Present without forcing reconnection with Mere. Door open. | Mere's father. Part of the ecosystem now — case intel, mine navigation, Layer 3 concept, ore logistics. | Ch21 (shack, Saturday morning) |
+| Cassius Rykhard ("Cass") | Ch13 | **Ch20:** Reassigned to Thorngate (four days north) — quiet, fast, no formal action. System protecting itself, not enforcing justice. Knows who The Shade is. Book 2 antagonist. | Compact antagonist. Reassigned but dangerous. | Ch20 (referenced — reassigned to Thorngate) |
 | Charlette Fields | Ch12 (named, off-page) | Active — Mere's mother. Owns Thresholds (the leash). Systematic controller: income, schedule, social contact. Forced Devod out via ultimatum when Mere was 12. Family in northern provinces. | No direct relationship yet. Phelan now knows the scope of her control. | Ch12 (referenced by Devod) |
 | Practitioner Vellen | Ch11 (referenced) | Active — registered curse-breaker | Attempted Floundry curse at week 3, failed. Guild of Arcane Practice. | Referenced Ch11 |
 | Practitioner Dorath | Ch11 (referenced) | Active — registered curse-breaker | Attempted Floundry curse at week 5, failed. Guild of Arcane Practice. | Referenced Ch11 |
@@ -497,33 +608,36 @@ Scene 4 (The Shack): Team disperses. Mere walks with Phelan — long way through
 **ADVANCING** — Active development across chapters.
 **RESOLVED** — Completed.
 
-- **ADVANCING** | **Guild career** — Phelan accepted Tier One (Ch04). First job (Barrows) completed (Ch07–09). Second job received: Ned Floundry case, NS-7721, 150 silvers (Ch10). | Introduced Ch01 (application), advanced Ch04–Ch10.
-- **ADVANCING** | **The house/land dream** — Needs ~1,300 silvers. Timeline dropped from 40 years to 13 (Ch04). Bedroom too small (Ch05). **Ch10: shack itself is now the problem** — "partner" changed the requirements. **Ch12: "The plans looked different now."** Financial goal now split — house AND Mere's independence. Two goals, one budget, neither solved yet. Kitchen faces east in every version. **Ch13: twenty-five gold refused** (would have solved both house and Mere's independence). The refusal cost is explicit. **Ch18: Mere enters the shack and sees the plans, not the poverty.** Redesigns: ventilation dead-spot (fixed wall position), drainage grade (French drain if clay soil), bathroom placement (revision six). The plans are now shared — examined by someone else for the first time. "When you do." Not *if*. | Introduced Ch01, advanced Ch04–Ch05, Ch10, Ch12–Ch13, Ch18.
-- **ADVANCING** | **Phelan-Mere relationship** — From unnamed customer (Ch01) to name exchange (Ch02) to hand-holding (Ch03) to cheek kiss (Ch06) to "You're my partner" (Ch10). **Ch17: deepest emotional beat yet.** Mere stayed with unconscious Phelan — held his hand, tucked blankets, checked breathing. Only when he couldn't see. Prepared thornwell root at precise quarter-grain dosing. Note: "written for the person I am." Noise goes quiet for the third time. **Ch18: Mere enters the shack.** Phelan's prediction-error — expected embarrassment/pity/recalculation downward. Mere walked past the poverty and stopped at the house plans. Redesigned the structure (ventilation, drainage, bathroom). "Something that doesn't have a category. Something the filing system wasn't built for." "When you do" — not *if*. Took the chair without asking. Stayed without announcing. The cold reader who reads everyone got read instead. | Introduced Ch01, advanced every chapter. Major milestones Ch10, Ch17, Ch18.
+- **ADVANCING** | **Guild career** — Phelan accepted Tier One (Ch04). First job (Barrows) completed (Ch07–09). Second job: Ned Floundry case completed (Ch10–19). **Ch20: "The guild has noticed."** **Epilogue:** Higher-tier cases, better pay. Guild standing shifted — reputation as "The Pirate Shade who broke an unbreakable curse" has moved through the network. | Introduced Ch01, advanced Ch04–Ch10, Ch20, Epilogue.
+- **ADVANCING** | **The house/land dream** — Target ~1,300 silvers. **Ch21: trajectory changed** — "years, not decades." ~140s liquid + 200-400s ore projected + retainer + higher-tier case fees. Gap narrowing. Devod's pilings idea accepted. Kitchen faces east in every version. **Epilogue:** house plans revision 10, Mere's annotations integrated. Rented place on Chandler's Row (interim — kitchen faces west, noted once). The dream house is a plan with a timeline now. | Introduced Ch01, advanced Ch04–Ch05, Ch10, Ch12–Ch13, Ch18, **Ch21, Epilogue**.
+- **ADVANCING** | **Phelan-Mere relationship** — Full arc Ch01–Epilogue: unnamed customer → name → hand-holding → cheek kiss → "You're my partner" → trust > control (Ch19 crash) → **"The kitchen should face east" (Ch21)** → **living together (Epilogue)**. The category doesn't have a name. Never needed one. | Introduced Ch01, advanced every chapter. Major milestones Ch10, Ch17, Ch19, **Ch21, Epilogue**.
 - **ADVANCING** | **Flaw Sight concealment** — Phelan hides true extent from guild and most people. Carter told "geometry" (Ch09). Mere knows (Ch10). Leon knows (Ch16). **Carter now knows about the bracelet (Ch17)** — saw inscription work while Phelan was unconscious ("Hard to keep a focusing matrix hidden from a craftsman when you're unconscious on his floor with your sleeve riding up"). Sent observations on post-stress harmonic settling. **Only guild/Compact now excluded.** All inner circle (Mere, Leon, Carter, Devod) aware. | Introduced Ch01, advanced Ch03–Ch04, Ch09–Ch10, Ch16–Ch17.
-- **ADVANCING** | **Combat magic rust** — Dormant 4–5 years. Retrained with Leon (Ch06). Window: 8–10 seconds integrated, then degradation. 5 workings depleted him in the Barrows (Ch07). Ledger probes (Ch09). Not addressed in Ch10 (recovery focus). **Ch13: focusing ring acquired.** **Ch14: ring combat-tested (mine dogs).** **Ch15: ring used in sustained combat (bandits).** Five fire workings + defensive screen against five armed humans, residue taxing at double rate. Reserves: 70% → ~25-26% (bracelet wellspring pushed back to ~32-34%). Melee integration: elbow strike on leader. Ring strain (vibration starting in metal). Combat is now a real capability, not just dormant skill. | Introduced Ch05, advanced Ch06–Ch07, Ch09, Ch13–Ch15.
-- **ADVANCING** | **Enhancer bracelet** — Pre-Compact artifact. Focusing matrix = perception filter. Reservoir = buffer. Self-optimizing feedback loop. Conditional logic. **Ch15: Wellspring discovered** (reservoir reverses flow below threshold). **Ch17: Wellspring confirmed repeating** — second flow reversal during hyperfocus crash. Bracelet drained itself to keep Phelan going, now recharging faster than personal reserves. **Safety limitation identified:** focusing matrix doesn't know when to stop — kept sharpening the corridor after Phelan's body was failing. No built-in user protection (or not yet found). Post-stress harmonic settling observed by Carter. Stone: dark tired colour → warming back toward amber. Known to Mere, Leon, Carter, Devod. Hidden from guild/Compact. | Introduced Ch08, advanced Ch09–Ch10, Ch15, Ch17.
+- **ADVANCING** | **Combat magic** — **Epilogue:** Daily training with Leon (sixth bell). Fire sequence: 12 seconds integrated (up from 8-10 in Barrows). Not through talent — through work. Pragmatic motivation (cure nearly killed him at 2-3%). Stamina expanding. Combat is now a maintained, practised capability. | Introduced Ch05, advanced Ch06–Ch07, Ch09, Ch13–Ch15, **Epilogue**.
+- **OPEN** | **Enhancer bracelet** — Pre-Compact artifact. **Epilogue:** fully recovered. Stone warm amber. Reservoir cycles autonomously (charge/discharge/recharge) "like breathing." Series mystery — what is it, who made it, what is its full potential? Known to inner circle. Hidden from guild/Compact. | Introduced Ch08, advanced Ch09–Ch10, Ch15, Ch17, Ch19, **Epilogue**.
 - **ADVANCING** | **Ledger's suspicion** — Observer (now Ledger) caught Phelan's combat magic pause (Ch04). Probes directly in Ch09 debrief. **Ch11: notices something changed about Phelan since Barrows** — can't name the bracelet but registers the sharpness. Hand-picked Phelan for Floundry case ("someone who sees things differently"). Waived surcharge = invested. | Introduced Ch04, advanced Ch09, Ch11.
-- **ADVANCING** | **Ned Floundry case** — All three layers solved (Ch16). Execution order locked: L3→L2→L1. **Ch18: all preparations complete or completing.** Bedside observation done — anchor resonance data gathered (recalibration speed 0.7 decaying, grip tolerance contracted 12%, bond weakness threshold 18%). Mere completing altered concentration at Thresholds (targeting drift acceleration ≥0.4 cycles). Standard preparation already complete. Full team briefed with roles assigned. Cure execution set for tomorrow morning (Wednesday). Ned further deteriorated — grey-yellow skin, patches, tracking delay, curled hand, approaching laboured breathing. Next symptom cascade in 2-3 days. Cass conducting surveillance on Floundry home. Ledger blocking Compact access tomorrow. | Referenced Ch04, advanced Ch10–Ch18.
-- **ADVANCING** | **Mere's mother (Charlette Fields)** — **Ch12: Full scope revealed.** Named by Devod. Owns Thresholds (deed = leash). Layered rules: income ("household contribution"), schedule, social control. Forced Devod out via ultimatum when Mere was 12 (cut contact or she disappears with Mere). Mere thinks Devod chose to leave — doesn't know the truth. Charlette has family in northern provinces (threat destination). Devod has watched from distance for 12 years. Unsent gifts. Phelan's financial math now includes getting Mere independent. | Introduced Ch02, major advancement Ch12.
+- **RESOLVED** | **Ned Floundry case** — All three layers solved (Ch16), executed (Ch19). Three-phase cure: L3 anchor drift (Devod's concept, altered moss), L2 stabiliser weaponisation (forge-and-redirect, bracelet precision), L1 dissolution (standard moss dampening + conventional breaking). Curse broken. Ned breathing freely, awareness immediate. Phelan at 2-3% reserves, crashed. Compact hired hands defeated during execution. | Referenced Ch04, advanced Ch10–Ch18, **resolved Ch19**.
+- **ADVANCING** | **Mere's mother (Charlette Fields)** — **Epilogue:** Mere left Charlette 3 months ago — packed, walked out, own terms. Thresholds still Charlette's (deed = leash). Mere still doesn't know about the ultimatum. The fight over Thresholds is Book 2 territory. | Introduced Ch02, major reveal Ch12, **advanced Epilogue**.
 - **ADVANCING** | **Barrows' original purpose / Pre-Compact knowledge** — Second floor construction suggests extraordinary pre-Compact engineer. Bracelet's conditional notation suggests pre-Compact practitioners had fundamentally different (superior?) approach to magic. "The Compact didn't invent Runic Flow. They inherited it. Standardized it. Locked it down." What was lost? | Introduced Ch07–Ch08, advanced Ch10.
 - **ADVANCING** | **Guild intelligence network** — Knew about dog cure within four days (Ch04). Ledger's herb recommendation in Ch09. Not demonstrated in Ch10. | Introduced Ch04, advanced Ch09.
 - **RESOLVED** | **Guild alias** — Ledger tells Phelan to pick an alias (Ch09). Phelan turns it over in Ch10 — nothing fits. **Ch11: chosen under pressure** — Calla extends her hand, noise panics, lands on "Shade" (verdenshade association — "dark, low-growing, thrives where nobody else looks"). First use with a client. | Introduced Ch09, resolved Ch11.
 - **RESOLVED** | **Carter's store credit** — Used toward focusing ring purchase (twelve silvers out of pocket after credit applied). | Introduced Ch09, resolved Ch13.
-- **OPEN** | **Brute-force forgery (hybrid concept)** — Leon and Phelan's theoretical approach: volume + forgery. Apply many forged signals through multiple seams, statistical averaging masks individual imprecisions. Untested. Potential application for Floundry cure Layer 2. | Introduced Ch10.
-- **ADVANCING** | **Compact corruption / Floundry conspiracy** — Ned filed reports on Compact-linked supply chain irregularities. Cursed six weeks later. Compact classified unbreakable in 11 days (normally 4–6 weeks). Curse-breakers used suspiciously narrow methodology. Ch12: Devod corroborates. Ch13: regulatory letter + 25 gold bribe. Ch15: patrol evidence + Greenvale Provisions. Ch16: Mere cracks institutional complicity ("Who wrote the procedure?"). Ch17: Compact escalation — three simultaneous moves (transfer motion, inquiry, Calla approach). **Ch18: Cass surveilling Floundry home** — professional, sustained, not improvised. Compact knows moss was harvested (mine bandits didn't return). Using children's names on Calla described as "cartography — mapping the pressure points for later use." Ledger managing inquiry pace, will block Compact access during cure tomorrow. | Introduced Ch11, advanced Ch12–Ch13, Ch15–Ch18.
+- **OPEN** | **Brute-force forgery (hybrid concept)** — **Ch21:** Leon says "closer to viable" after seeing forge-under-fire performance. Still theoretical, untested. Future tool. | Introduced Ch10, advanced Ch21.
+- **PLANTED** | **Leon's Vethani sale (Book 2 seed)** — **Epilogue:** Someone asking about Vethani Crypts / Mallory crystal buyer through a broker. Leon: "People ask." Not worried. Phelan's noise filed it. The careless sale (1,200s to anonymous buyer, no questions) may have consequences. | **Planted Epilogue**.
+- **ADVANCING** | **Charlette Fields / Mere's independence** — **Epilogue:** Mere left Charlette 3 months ago. Thresholds still Charlette's (deed = leash). Fight unresolved — Book 2. | Introduced Ch02, major reveal Ch12, **advanced Epilogue**.
+- **ADVANCING** | **Compact corruption / Floundry conspiracy** — **Ch20:** Cass reassigned north (removed, not punished). Scheme intact. Compact's position: "honest assessment error." Greenvale evidence filed with guild — "We'll need it." Ned's written intel (vendor scheme roadmap) in Phelan's pocket. **Phelan has decided not to pull the thread — yet.** The institutional lattice has visible flaws. | Introduced Ch11, advanced Ch12–Ch13, Ch15–Ch18, **Ch20**.
 - **RESOLVED** | **Devod Fields contact** — Ned told Calla to contact Devod Fields if anything happened. **Ch12: Contact made.** Phelan visited alone. Case intel received, Velken's Drift identified, Charlette revelation, expedition planned. Devod confirmed as ally — mine navigation, case intel, trust through shared concern for Mere. | Introduced Ch11, resolved Ch12.
 - **RESOLVED** | **Velken's Drift mine expedition** — **Ch14: underway.** Arrived, descended, four mine dogs fought (30% reserves). **Ch15: completed.** Moss harvested by Mere (first application + extra stock). Five bandits engaged and defeated (ring combat + Devod's mine cart barricade). Bracelet wellspring discovered. Patrol documents and Greenvale Provisions evidence recovered. Ceiling structural failure resolved by Devod's wheel jack fix. Saturated magical ore discovered and loaded (~30-35 pieces). Team returned safely. | Introduced Ch12, resolved Ch15.
-- **ADVANCING** | **Mere's estrangement from Devod** — She thinks he chose to leave at 12. He was forced out by Charlette's ultimatum. Ch13: first proximity. Ch14–15: extended cooperation, data accumulating. Ch16: warming ("Exploring options"). **Ch17: Devod witnessed Mere's tenderness.** **Ch18: Devod receives public credit** — Phelan attributes Layer 3 concept to him before the full team ("Idea number seven, if I recall"). Room recalibrates. Mere's reaction: fractional shoulder shift, chin up — processing. She addresses Devod by name with a specific task (collect altered preparation by seventh bell) — "registered in the room as the quietly significant thing it was." The twelve-year gulf is still there, but functional inclusion is growing. | Introduced Ch12, advanced Ch13–Ch18.
-- **ADVANCING** | **Promise to Ned** — Ch11: Phelan wrote Ned a note: "I SEE WHAT THEY MISSED. I'M GOING TO FIGURE THIS OUT." **Ch18: Second note** — "We know what to do. Tomorrow morning." First note said "I," second says "we." "That was the difference five days had made." Written commitment evolving — from solo promise to team promise. | Introduced Ch11, advanced Ch18.
-- **ADVANCING** | **Cassius Rykhard / Compact surveillance** — Ch13: 25 gold bribe offered and refused. **Ch18: Cass conducting professional surveillance** of Floundry home — positioned across street at café pillar, clear sightlines, peripheral coverage. Not approaching, observing. "The mine bandits didn't come back. Five men sent to monitor moss growth, none returned. The Compact knows the moss was harvested." Escalation from bribe to monitoring. | Introduced Ch13, advanced Ch18.
-- **OPEN** | **Saturated magical ore** — ~30-35 pieces of common ore that absorbed 12+ years of concentrated magical residue at Velken's Drift. Extraordinary value for forging, inscription work, magical tooling. Several pieces earmarked for Carter as gift (repayment — "like Leon and the wine, I don't carry debts"). Rest needs selling through unofficial channels (Leon's contacts, Carter's network) — Compact would notice normal sales. Value unknown but potentially significant for house math. | Introduced Ch15.
-- **OPEN** | **Greenvale Provisions / patrol evidence** — Physical documents in Phelan's pocket: payment notes, patrol logs, receipt from Greenvale Provisions (Ned's ghost vendor). Links Compact shell companies to systematic moss monitoring operation. Evidence that Compact is controlling ghostveil moss access. | Introduced Ch15.
+- **ADVANCING** | **Mere's estrangement from Devod** — **Ch21:** Devod helping with ore logistics, has house ideas. Present without forcing it. The twelve-year gulf isn't bridged — being built across, one plank at a time. **Epilogue:** door open, functional relationship growing (implied by Devod's continued presence in ecosystem). Mere still doesn't know about the ultimatum — Book 2 territory. | Introduced Ch12, advanced Ch13–Ch18, **Ch21**.
+- **RESOLVED** | **Promise to Ned** — Ch11: "I SEE WHAT THEY MISSED. I'M GOING TO FIGURE THIS OUT." Ch18: "We know what to do. Tomorrow morning." **Ch19: Kept.** Ch20: Ned's written note — "You kept your word. Thank you." Full circle (Phelan pockets gratitude note in same coat pocket where illegible scraps lived). | Introduced Ch11, advanced Ch18, **resolved Ch19**, callback **Ch20**.
+- **ADVANCING** | **Cassius Rykhard** — **Ch20:** Reassigned to Thorngate (four days north). Quiet, fast, no formal action. Institutional knowledge = **Book 2 antagonist.** Knows who The Shade is. | Introduced Ch13, advanced Ch18–Ch19, **Ch20**.
+- **RESOLVED** | **Saturated magical ore** — **Ch21:** 8 pieces gifted to Carter (master-grade, repayment). ~27 pieces to sell through Carter/Leon channels (quiet sales, specialty buyers, no Compact attention). Devod provides transport logistics. Estimated 200-400 silvers over months. Ore thread closed — proceeds will trickle in. | Introduced Ch15, **resolved Ch21**.
+- **ADVANCING** | **Greenvale Provisions / patrol evidence** — **Ch20:** Filed with Ledger at guild. "We'll need it." Guild playing a longer game. Combined with Ned's written intel (vendor scheme roadmap). Book 2 territory. | Introduced Ch15, **advanced Ch20**.
 - **RESOLVED** | **Focusing ring** — **Ch14: combat-tested (mine dogs).** **Ch15: combat-tested (bandits).** Five fire workings + screen in sustained human combat. Ring strain noted (vibration starting in metal). Performance confirmed across both engagements. | Introduced Ch13, resolved Ch14–Ch15.
 - **RESOLVED** | **Cursed dog** — Fear curse broken via sensory channel mismatch (Ch03). Dog named Sniff, lives at Thresholds. | Introduced Ch02, resolved Ch03.
 - **RESOLVED** | **Guild application** — Submitted ~6 weeks before Ch01. Interview Ch04. Accepted. | Introduced Ch01, resolved Ch04.
 - **RESOLVED** | **Gavren's notice period** — Two weeks served (Ch05). Parted on good terms with herb parcel gift. | Introduced Ch04, resolved Ch05.
 - **RESOLVED** | **Death ward (Greymarch Barrows)** — Breached via signature forgery exploit (Ch08). Ward consumed itself. | Introduced Ch06 (Leon's intel), resolved Ch08.
+- **RESOLVED (READER-ONLY)** | **Carter's anonymous client (throwing knives)** — Ch09: Carter working on a set of four throwing knives with focusing channels for an unnamed client wanting range and discretion. **Ch19: revealed to the READER as Ledger** — four channelled throwing knives in chest harness, Carter's work. **No character on the team knows this — the jacket contents are omniscient narrative, not character knowledge. Do not reference in dialogue or internal monologue.** | Introduced Ch09, resolved Ch19.
 
 ---
 
@@ -553,26 +667,28 @@ Scene 4 (The Shack): Team disperses. Mere walks with Phelan — long way through
 
 | Ch17 | — | — | No new income or expenses. Recovery chapter. Financial state unchanged from Ch15 estimate. |
 | Ch18 | — | — | No new income or expenses. Briefing/preparation chapter. |
+| Ch19 | 75 silvers (completion half, pending) | — | Floundry case resolved. Second half of 150s fee now due (75s, 60s net after 20% commission). |
+| Ch20 | 60 silvers (completion half collected, after 20% commission) | — | Fee collected from Ledger at guild debrief. Total case: 120s net. |
+| Ch21 | Ore sales projected (~300s over months) | — | 8 pieces gifted to Carter (repayment). ~27 pieces to sell through Carter/Leon channels. Conservative est: 200-400s. Carter estimates master-grade value. New tool roll from Carter (gift). |
+| Epilogue | — | Rent increase (Chandler's Row, two incomes) | Moved to proper rented place. Two rooms + workshop. Guild delivering higher-tier cases (better fees implied). |
 
-**Running estimate (end Ch18):** 20 silvers in lockbox + 75s engagement fee incoming = ~95 silvers liquid. Monthly retainer continuing. Expenses: rent 2s, food 1.5s, incidentals ~1s. Floundry completion (75s remaining) would bring liquid total to ~170 silvers. **Saturated ore** adds unknown but significant potential value (realisation dependent on finding buyers outside Compact notice). Several pieces reserved for Carter gift. **Twenty-five gold (2,500 silvers) refused** (Ch13) — would have solved both house and Mere's independence. Phelan's financial planning still includes both goals, neither solved by liquid funds alone. Ore may change the timeline.
+**Running estimate (end of Book 1):** ~140 silvers liquid (collected). Ore sales projected at 200-400s over coming months (conservative 300s working figure). Monthly retainer: 15s. Monthly expenses: ~4.5s (rent likely increased with Chandler's Row — offset by two incomes). House target: 1,300 silvers. Gap: ~1,100s from liquid, narrowing with ore income and higher-tier case fees. Trajectory: "years, not decades." **Twenty-five gold (2,500 silvers) refused** (Ch13) — would have solved both goals. The math doesn't regret it. The noise notices.
 
 ---
 
-## 6. Emotional/Relationship State (as of Ch17)
+## 6. Emotional/Relationship State (as of Epilogue — End of Book 1)
 
-- **Mere Fields:** **"You're my partner."** (Ch10). Ch17: deepest emotional exchange — stayed with unconscious Phelan, thornwell root precision, noise quiet third time. **Ch18: enters the shack.** Phelan's prediction-error — the cold reader's apparatus failed. He predicted embarrassment, pity, recalculation. She walked past the poverty and stopped at the plans. Redesigned his house — ventilation, drainage, bathroom placement in revision six. She saw the future, not the present. "Something that doesn't have a category. Something the filing system wasn't built for." "When you do" — not *if*. Took the chair without asking, studied plans. Stayed without announcing it — no social scaffolding. The noise returned two null values ("Something."). Their relationship is now physically located in the shack, studying the same plans. Moved closer to the table than any prior meeting (guild room). Addressed Devod by name with a specific task — the spatial and social shifts are accumulating.
-- **Leon D'Nardis:** Ch17: Held the technical thread during crash. **Ch18:** Annotated diagrams with colour-coded energy-budget overlays (blue/reservoir, red/personal, green/bracelet). "You look terrible." / "I looked worse this morning." / "That's not the reassurance you think it is." Assigned external stability monitoring — the only person with the technical background to read cascading lattice behaviour. Heading home to review overlays one more time "because that's what Leon did." The chain depends on his precision and he knows it.
-- **Jonael Carterson ("Carter"):** Ch17: now knows about the bracelet. **Ch18:** Arrived at briefing with pre-packed logistics (water skins, ceramic light rods, medical kit). Staging Floundry bedroom by seventh bell — light sources, water, clear floor space. Compact blockade assigned: "No one gets through the door" — "flat, certain, the verbal equivalent of a locked gate." Has never met Cass but has met "the concept of someone who needed to be kept out of a room, and that was sufficient." Already mentally staging a bedroom he'd never seen.
-- **Gavren Holst:** Not seen since Ch05. Referenced in passing (Mrs. Dallery's Godsday herbs).
-- **Ledger (The Observer):** Hand-delivered intel folio to Phelan's shack (Ch11). Hand-picked Phelan for Floundry case, waived surcharge. "This one needs someone who sees things differently." Noticed something changed since Barrows — can't name it, but registers the sharpness. Relationship: professional respect with mutual cold-reading. Ledger is invested in this case ("curious") beyond standard guild business.
-- **Calla Floundry:** Client relationship. Phelan respects her organizational competence and grim pragmatism. Her composure cracking over Ned's handwriting was a rare moment that bypassed Phelan's analytical processing. He gave her honest uncertainty instead of false confidence.
-- **Ned Floundry:** Phelan made a written promise to a man he'd just met. The scraps — the full progression from coherent to illegible — produced a silence in Phelan's noise that he couldn't categorize. Something personal broke through the professional.
-- **Mere/Devod:** Ch17: the tenderness scene — Devod witnessed Mere staying with unconscious Phelan. **Ch18: Devod receives public credit** for Layer 3 concept. "Idea number seven." The room recalibrates him — Leon straightens, Jonael uncrosses arms, reassessing. Devod went still. Mere's reaction: fractional shoulder shift, chin up. Phelan's noise reads it as "the physical manifestations of an emotion she won't name and may not have categorised yet." She addresses Devod by name, assigns him a specific task (collect altered preparation by seventh bell). The twelve-year gulf is still there, but functional recognition is growing from both directions.
-- **Devod Fields:** Ch17: Carrying the tenderness he witnessed. **Ch18: received public credit** — the room heard his contribution named. Went still in "the particular stillness of a man who'd heard something he'd been waiting years to hear." Hands stopped moving. Brought food (bakery, four pastries and a bread roll) — "I don't trust any of you to have eaten today." Running errands all day (perpetual motion pattern). Heading to Thresholds — to check on preparation or to be near his daughter's work, "the same destination by different math." Mere addressed him by name with a task. The man who carried supplies, drove the cart, navigated the mine, knocked a dog sideways with a walking stick — now formally recognised as essential.
-- **Cassius Rykhard:** Compact antagonist. Professional, smooth, calibrated. Ch17: Compact escalation (three institutional moves). **Ch18: conducting professional surveillance** of Floundry home. Not improvised — café pillar, clear sightlines, been there long enough to finish a drink. Same tailored doublet. The mine bandits didn't return; the Compact knows moss was harvested. Watching to see what happens next.
-- **Charlette Fields:** Named but not met. Off-page antagonist. Phelan now understands the full architecture of her control — Thresholds ownership, income extraction, schedule monitoring, the ultimatum that drove Devod out. The noise went quiet when Devod told him. Third kind of quiet. Financial math now includes getting Mere free.
-- **The Guild:** Floundry case formally engaged, alias "Shade" chosen. Guild backing confirmed — Ledger's note backs client under "never burn a client who paid in good faith" (principle, not sentiment). Phelan still withholding second floor, death ward, and bracelet from guild.
-- **Team dynamic (Ch15–18):** Ch17: the chain held while Phelan was down. **Ch18: the team assembled and briefed as a functioning unit.** Each person assigned a role based on specific competence: Leon (technical monitoring), Jonael (logistics/security), Mere (moss applications/vitals), Devod (support/runner), Ledger (Compact blockade). Devod credited publicly for Layer 3. Mere moved closer to the table. Jonael arrived pre-packed. Leon was already annotating. Devod brought food. The team isn't just holding together under crisis — it's operating as a coordinated design with each person in the right position. Mere's spatial shift toward the group noted. Phelan assigned roles from the head of the table — the reluctant leader actively leading.
+- **Mere Fields:** **Living together** at Chandler's Row. Left Charlette 3 months ago on her own terms. The relationship arc from Ch01 to Epilogue: unnamed customer → name exchange → hand-holding → cheek kiss → "You're my partner" → trust > control (Ch19 crash) → **"The kitchen should face east"** (Ch21) → living together (Epilogue). The category doesn't have a name. Never needed one. Thresholds still Charlette's (deed = leash). That fight is coming — Book 2. Mere's annotations on house plans now integrated into the drawings, not just margins.
+- **Leon D'Nardis:** **Daily training partner** (Epilogue). Friendship deepened through daily work — riffing, shared shorthand, mutual competence-respect expressed through sweat and fire. Ch21 debrief: "You didn't stop." / "The window didn't wait." Brute-force forgery hybrid closer to viable. **Epilogue seed:** someone asking about Vethani Crypts / Mallory crystal buyer. "People ask." Leon not worried. Phelan's noise filed it. The careless sale may have consequences in Book 2.
+- **Jonael Carterson ("Carter"):** Ch21: received master-grade ore gift (8 pieces) — professional restraint barely containing excitement. Plans for what he could forge. Built Phelan a new tool roll (noticed need, said nothing). Coordinating ore sales with Leon. Competence expressed through craft — the only language both speak fluently.
+- **Ledger (The Observer):** Ch20: "The guild has noticed." "File it. We'll need it." (Greenvale evidence — guild playing longer game.) Epilogue: delivering higher-tier case briefs to Phelan's home address. The guild sees Phelan differently now.
+- **Ned Floundry:** Ch20: awake, aware, recovering. Two written notes — gratitude and Compact intel. The intel is a roadmap to the vendor scheme. **Ally with knowledge** for Book 2.
+- **Calla Floundry:** Ch20: siege broken. Children coming home. Guild healer arranged. Professional closure.
+- **Devod Fields:** Ch21: helping with ore logistics, has house ideas (2 out of 10 good — pilings, reclaimed timber). Present without forcing it. The door is open with Mere — functional relationship growing. Not bridged, not abandoned. Being built across, one plank at a time.
+- **Cassius Rykhard:** Ch20: reassigned to Thorngate (four days north). Quiet, fast, no formal action. **Institutional knowledge = Book 2 antagonist.** He knows who The Shade is.
+- **Charlette Fields:** Epilogue: Mere left 3 months ago. Thresholds still Charlette's. Fight unresolved — Book 2 territory.
+- **The Guild:** "The guild has noticed." Higher-tier cases. Better pay. The name "Pirate Shade" has moved through the network. Phelan still withholding second floor, death ward, and bracelet from guild.
+- **Team dynamic (end of Book 1):** The team that assembled for the Floundry case didn't dissolve — it became infrastructure. Carter moves ore and builds equipment. Leon trains and coordinates grey-market sales. Devod provides logistics and transport. Mere provides botanical expertise and shared domesticity. The chain held during the cure. The connections hold after it.
 
 ---
 
@@ -646,6 +762,13 @@ Scene 4 (The Shack): Team disperses. Mere walks with Phelan — long way through
 - Ghostveil moss dual preparation: same ingredient at different concentrations serves two purposes. Standard preparation = broad dampening agent (suppresses ambient magical energy, creates 30-60 minute window). Altered concentration = narrower band targeting the resonance between anchor and life-force signature specifically, accelerating natural drift. Living preparation required for altered use (not dried, not standard extraction). Preserved root structures essential. 12-hour preparation time. (Ch16)
 - Compact assessment procedures: Compact-distributed curse-breaking methodology doesn't include detection protocols for nested structures. Both licensed practitioners who attempted the Floundry curse followed identical procedure by design — the procedure was written (or maintained) by people who knew the curse's architecture. Institutional complicity embedded in methodology, not just in classification. (Ch16)
 - Hyperfocus spiral duration/cost: sustained hyperfocus costs 5-8% reserves per hour. Observable to others — eyes unfocused, unresponsive to direct address, physical world registers as "shapes not sentences" and "texture not meaning." Cannot be interrupted voluntarily — resolves on its own or crashes. Leon has witnessed this before. (Ch16)
+- Forge-and-redirect in live curse execution: actual reserves cost can significantly exceed theoretical estimates. Phase 2 of Floundry cure cost 51% (67%→16%) vs. planned 22-28%. Real-world execution against adaptive systems running on living targets is harder than theory. Two-second injection windows, sub-second precision, 15 minutes sustained. (Ch19)
+- Noise silence during focused work: when all processing threads converge on a single output, the parentheticals disappear entirely — the noise becomes the work and, in becoming the work, disappears. Categorically different from the pauses caused by unexpected emotional input (cheek kiss, partner declaration). First and only occurrence during the three-phase cure execution. (Ch19)
+- Ledger is armed **(READER-ONLY knowledge):** carries four channelled throwing knives in a chest harness — Carter's work (focusing inscriptions along spines, convergence nodes near tips). The "anonymous client" who commissioned the throwing knives (Ch09) was Ledger. **No team member knows what was in the jacket — this was omniscient narrative for the reader only. Characters know only that Ledger opened his jacket and the hired men fled.** (Ch19)
+- Compact deniability tactics: when escalating from surveillance to action, the Compact sends hired hands with no badges, no documentation, no identifying marks, paid in unmarked coin. The authorising official is not present at the scene. Plausible deniability at the cost of sending amateurs to do professional work. (Ch19)
+- Compact institutional self-protection: when an operation is exposed, the Compact reassigns the responsible official rather than investigating or disciplining. Qualification inquiries and regulatory motions are withdrawn as "administrative corrections." Public position: "honest assessment error, the system works." The corruption remains intact — the individual is removed from proximity to the evidence. (Ch20)
+- Ned Floundry's written intel (Ch20): three companies (including Greenvale Provisions), minimum three intermediary layers per transaction chain, purchase volumes consistent across four quarters (continuous operation, not one-time). Requisition chains through intermediaries, purchase orders from nonexistent addresses. Systematic extraction through Compact supply infrastructure. Not proof (records in Compact offices), but a roadmap. Book 2 seed.
+- Floundry home (additional detail, Ch19): Ned's bedroom staged for the cure — two ceramic light rods eliminating shadows, water skins and ceramic pitcher on side table, medical kit open, clear corridor from door to bed to window. Three-storey (consistent with Ch11). (Ch19)
 
 ### Geography
 - Drenwick: dockside district (Phelan's shack, Gavren's shop, Leon's rooms above chandler's shop), arcane district (Thresholds bookshop, Aldric's, Brevian's), guild quarter (Carterson's Supplies on boundary), upper guild quarter (Floundry home — aspirational streets below the hill district)
@@ -660,6 +783,7 @@ Scene 4 (The Shack): Team disperses. Mere walks with Phelan — long way through
 - **Velken's Drift:** Abandoned magical ore mine, ~3 hours SE of Drenwick by carriage. Crystallised ambient energy extracted for decades, closed 15–20 years ago when main veins exhausted. Upper levels structurally sound (Devod knows layout from delivery days). Lower levels flooded when pumping stopped — nothing below third gallery reliable. Residual magical energy so dense in lower shafts compass enchantments stopped working. Target for ghostveil moss expedition. (Ch12)
 - **Saltern Cliffs:** Coastal growth site for ghostveil moss, "acquired by the Compact for preservation purposes." (Ch12, referenced — Professor Aldwen)
 - **Brenwick:** Location of second ghostveil moss growth site, also decommissioned by Compact. (Ch12, referenced)
+- **Thorngate:** Northern Compact administrative hub, four days by carriage from Drenwick. Northern trade oversight. Where careers go to cool down or disappear. Cassius Rykhard reassigned here post-Floundry case. (Ch20)
 
 ### Economy
 *Full reference: `/world/economy.md` — consult for all pricing and financial details.*
@@ -674,7 +798,7 @@ Scene 4 (The Shack): Team disperses. Mere walks with Phelan — long way through
 - House construction estimate: ~1,300 silvers (800 materials, 60 permits, 200 warding, 300 labor)
 
 ### Society
-- Guild of Necessary Services: front office at 14 Greystone Lane, filtering receptionist, eight-week "waiting list" filter, four rules (good-faith clients, no double-dealing, no messes for members, judgment), 20% commission, monthly retainer by tier, minimum 2 engagements/quarter, members use aliases (guild convention). Extended engagement surcharge exists but can be waived. (Ch11)
+- Guild of Necessary Services: front office at 14 Greystone Lane, filtering receptionist, eight-week "waiting list" filter, four rules (good-faith clients, no double-dealing, no messes for members, judgment), 20% commission, monthly retainer by tier, minimum 2 engagements/quarter, members use aliases (guild convention). Extended engagement surcharge exists but can be waived. (Ch11) "Never burn a good-faith client" extends to aftercare — guild arranged a healer for Ned post-cure (twice weekly until recovery stabilised). Not standard for every case. (Ch20)
 - Arcane Compact: governing body for magical practice. Classifies curses. Fast-track classification possible (11 days vs. 4–6 weeks standard). (Ch11)
 - Guild of Arcane Practice: professional guild for curse-breakers and registered practitioners. Members operate within Compact-sanctioned methodology. (Ch11)
 - Commerce Authority: licenses trade inspectors. Ned Floundry's employer — shipping and warehouse oversight, dock quarter. (Ch11)
@@ -689,12 +813,15 @@ Scene 4 (The Shack): Team disperses. Mere walks with Phelan — long way through
 - Phelan: early-to-mid 30s, magic since age 12, licensed at 16, Brannick's Academy 4 years (withdrew year 3 equivalent), from Caldburn, mother living/no contact, no father
 - Mere: runs Thresholds bookshop (eastern arcane district), expert in physical quality assessment (crystal density, grain patterns, tolerances), blunt/direct, treats cursed animals. Can read pre-Compact grammar patterns (structural/linguistic, not magical). Identified conditional logic in bracelet notation (Ch10).
 - Leon: rooms above chandler's shop (south dockside), formerly expensive clothes now worn, independent operator, taught fire spells by Phelan at school, cracked the Vethani Crypts
-- Carter: runs Carterson's Supplies (guild quarter/dockside boundary), five-foot-five, barrel-built, black hair/beard, photographic memory for logistics, knows the Barrows. Back room is a forge-and-inscription workshop — builds magical devices (throwing knives with focusing channels). Craftsman, not just shopkeeper.
+- Carter: runs Carterson's Supplies (guild quarter/dockside boundary), five-foot-five, barrel-built, black hair/beard, photographic memory for logistics, knows the Barrows. Back room is a forge-and-inscription workshop — builds magical devices (including throwing knives with focusing channels for an anonymous client — revealed to the READER as Ledger in Ch19, but no character knows this). Craftsman, not just shopkeeper.
 - Ledger: medium height, lean build, guild alias. The Observer from Ch04 interview panel. Guild intelligence — reads physical symptoms and behavioral data with clinical precision. Phelan's direct contact post-first-job.
 - Gavren: runs Gavren's Botanical & Sundry (dockside), punctual, methodical, perceptive, gave herb parcel at farewell
 - Devod Fields: mid-fifties, wiry, perpetual energy, hands always moving. Carriage driver (Henwick's yard). Lives alone above tanner's on Millford Street. Single room, tools from three trades, half-finished projects. Divorced from Charlette Fields. Forced out of contact with Mere via ultimatum when she was 12. Keeps twelve years of unsent birthday/holiday gifts on a shelf. "Ninety percent noise, ten percent signal." (Ch12)
 - Charlette Fields: Mere's mother. Owns Thresholds (Mere built the business, Charlette holds the deed). Systematic controller — income extraction ("household contribution"), schedule monitoring, social restriction. Forced Devod to cut all contact via ultimatum (Mere age 12) or she'd disappear with Mere. Family in northern provinces. Mere doesn't know about the ultimatum. (Ch12, off-page)
 - Professor Aldwen: taught Advanced Environmental Thaumics at Brannick's Academy. Referenced ghostveil moss growth sites that were later acquired by the Compact. (Ch12, referenced)
+- Cassius Rykhard ("Cass"): Compact official, full name established Ch20. Ordered Ned's curse, sent hired hands during cure (Ch19), offered 25-gold bribe (Ch13). Reassigned to Thorngate (Ch20). Knows who The Shade is. **Book 2 antagonist.** (Ch13, Ch19, Ch20)
+- Ned Floundry: Commerce Authority trade inspector. Cursed for investigating vendor scheme irregularities. Post-cure (Ch20): hearing damaged, throat damaged, left hand curled (motor control cascade), but eyes clear — half-beat delay gone. Writing with right hand. (Ch11, Ch20)
+- Calla Floundry: Ned's wife. Managed crisis with filing systems and clean sheets. Post-cure (Ch20): siege broken, children returning. (Ch11, Ch20)
 
 ---
 

world/timeline-book1.md

@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@
 | ~38 | Ch16 | **Monday** | Morning: Phelan visits Leon at chandler's shop rooms, asks him to guild planning room. Second bell (afternoon): guild planning room, 14 Greystone Lane. Bracelet revealed to Leon. Leon/Phelan riff refines Layer 2 (stabilizer weaponized). Mere cracks conspiracy (curse-breaker procedures don't test for nested workings — "Who wrote the procedure?"). Sniff parallel named. **Devod solves Layer 3** — "move the lock" analogy (idea #7). Dual moss use crystallized. Execution order locked: L3→L2→L1. Hyperfocus spiral takes over — chapter ends mid-thought. Reserves ~70-80% entering session, draining from sustained hyperfocus. |
 | ~38–39 | Ch17 | **Monday–Tuesday** | Monday afternoon: hyperfocus spiral continues, bracelet goes hot (focusing matrix past physical limit), crash. ~14 hours unconscious on guild planning room floor. Leon transcribes execution architecture. Mere stays after others leave (hand-holding, blanket-tucking). Compact moves overnight: transfer motion (blocked by guild), qualification inquiry (filed), Calla approached directly (shaken but holding). Carter drops off supplies, sees bracelet. Tuesday morning: Phelan wakes. Thornwell root (Mere's quarter-grain prep). Leon reports Compact intel. Devod arrives with supplies and Carter's bracelet note. Mere arrives with moss preparations — standard complete, altered at 70%. Ledger visits Calla to steady her. Planning: tomorrow (Wednesday) morning bedside observation for resonance data, then Mere completes altered prep, then cure. Reserves ~30%, bracelet recovering (warming toward amber). |
 | ~39 | Ch18 | **Tuesday** (afternoon–evening) | Tuesday afternoon: Phelan rises (~35% reserves, bracelet tired amber, Flaw Sight functional). Walks to Floundry home with Mere. Spots Cass surveilling from café pillar across street. Ned further deteriorated (grey-yellow, patches, tracking delay, curled left hand, approaching laboured breathing). Bracelet-enhanced Flaw Sight — surgical observation: anchor recalibration speed 0.7 (was 0.9), grip tolerance contracted 12%, bond weakness threshold 18%. Reserves dip ~5%. Second note to Ned: "We know what to do. Tomorrow morning." Mere takes data to Thresholds. Ledger in guild hallway — Calla holding, children's names used, inquiry managed, will be at Floundry by seventh bell. Guild planning room: Leon annotating (colour-coded overlays), Jonael with logistics supplies, Devod with food. Mere returns — altered prep completing within hour (Devod to collect by seventh bell). Full team briefing: L3 (Devod credited, moss blinds anchor), L2 (forge-and-redirect), L1 (standard dampening). Roles assigned. Evening: team disperses. Mere walks with Phelan to shack. Enters shack — sees house plans, not poverty. Redesigns ventilation/drainage. Stays. Bracelet shifting closer to amber. |
+| ~40 | Ch19 | **Wednesday** (morning) | Phelan wakes at shack (Mere already gone), reserves 75%, bracelet warm amber. Walks to Floundry home, arrives quarter to seventh bell. Ledger at door (children at Calla's sister). Jonael staged room since sixth bell. Leon at window. Devod by door. Mere at bedside (arrived first, both preparations ready). Phase 1 (L3 anchor drift): ~20 min, reserves 75%→67%. Phase 2 (L2 stabiliser weaponisation): ~15 min sustained forging, reserves 67%→16%. During Phase 2: four Compact hired hands defeated by Jonael/Devod/Ledger downstairs. Phase 3 (L1 dissolution): reserves 16%→2-3%. Curse broken. Ned breathing freely. Phelan crashes — Mere catches him. |
+| ~42 | Ch20 | **Friday** (morning–late morning) | Two days post-cure. Phelan recovers (Mere managed crash — third witnessed). Reserves ~40%, bracelet "deep, tired colour" (between black and amber), Flaw Sight sluggish ("like looking through dirty glass"). Mere left house plans annotation: steel reinforcement not timber for load-bearing wall. Visits Floundry home: Calla different (siege broken), children returning tomorrow (Saturday). Guild healer arranged (twice weekly). Ned upstairs — hearing/throat damaged, left hand curled, but eyes clear (half-beat delay gone). Two written notes: (1) "You kept your word. Thank you." (2) Compact intel — three companies, transaction patterns, vendor scheme roadmap (Book 2 seed). Guild debrief with Ledger at 14 Greystone Lane: 60s completion fee collected (120s net total case). Cassius Rykhard (full name) reassigned to Thorngate (four days north — removed, not punished). Qualification inquiry withdrawn ("administrative correction"). Greenvale evidence filed — "We'll need it." Ledger: "The guild has noticed." Phelan walks home processing the institutional lattice. |
+| ~42–44 | Ch21 | **Friday–Sunday** | Ore delivered to Carter — 8 gift pieces (repayment), rest to sell through Leon/Carter channels (200-400s est. over months). Carter's reaction: craftsman's hyperfocus on master-grade saturated material. Financial reckoning: ~140s liquid, ore income projected, house target 1,300s — trajectory "years, not decades." House plans revision nine going on ten. 25 gold bribe callback (2,500s refused, math doesn't regret it). Leon visits: case debrief over wine, forge-under-fire discussion, brute-force forgery closer to viable. Devod helps with ore logistics (covered storage, transport contacts — idea #2 of 10). Has house ideas (pilings, reclaimed timber — 2 out of 10 good). Carter builds Phelan a tool roll (noticed need, said nothing). **Mere beat:** "The kitchen should face east." Relocates washbasin pipe run. Talks about the house as shared fact. The noise settles. |
+| Months later | Epilogue | **Deep winter** | New rented place on Chandler's Row (guild quarter edge). Mere lives there (established fact). Her books, moss preparations, Sniff's corner. House plans revision 10 on the wall with Mere's annotations integrated into drawings. Mere left Charlette 3 months ago (packed, walked out — Thresholds still Charlette's, fight unresolved). Daily training with Leon (sixth bell, chandler's courtyard). Fire sequence: 12 seconds integrated (up from 8-10). Leon seed: someone asked about Vethani Crypts / Mallory crystal buyer — "People ask." Guild standing shifted — higher-tier case brief delivered to home address. New case: bigger, different classification, better fee. Bracelet full amber. Noise has changed — purposeful, directed. "Something like contentment, if contentment had sharper edges." |
 
 ---
 
@@ -69,6 +73,12 @@
 | Ch16 (Monday) → Ch17 (Monday–Tuesday) | 0–1 day | Ch17: crash Monday afternoon, wake Tuesday morning |
 | Ch17 (Tuesday) → Ch18 (Tuesday) | 0 days | Ch18: same day, Tuesday afternoon through evening |
 | **Ch01 → Ch18 (total)** | **~38–39 days** | ~5+ weeks |
+| Ch18 (Tuesday) → Ch19 (Wednesday) | 1 day | Ch19: next morning, Mere already gone from shack |
+| **Ch01 → Ch19 (total)** | **~39–40 days** | ~5–6 weeks |
+| Ch19 (Wednesday) → Ch20 (Friday) | 2 days | Ch20: "Two days" post-cure, Friday morning |
+| Ch20 (Friday) → Ch21 (Friday–Sunday) | 0–2 days | Ch21: same Friday through Sunday |
+| **Ch01 → Ch21 (total)** | **~42–44 days** | ~6 weeks |
+| Ch21 → Epilogue | Months | Epilogue: deep winter, months after the cure |
 
 ---
 
@@ -93,8 +103,8 @@ The Ch05 Leon visit is a social call during the two-week notice period, unrelate
 |------|------|---------|--------|
 | Second bell | ~2:00 AM | Late night (migraine) | Ch03 |
 | Fourth bell | ~4:00 PM | Afternoon visit | Ch06 |
-| Sixth bell | ~6:00 AM / PM | Shop open (AM) or close (PM) | Ch01, Ch02, Ch05 |
-| Seventh bell | ~7:00 AM | Shop opening, morning training, cure start time | Ch01, Ch06, Ch18 (planned) |
+| Sixth bell | ~6:00 AM / PM | Shop open (AM) or close (PM), room staging start | Ch01, Ch02, Ch05, Ch19 |
+| Seventh bell | ~7:00 AM | Shop opening, morning training, cure start time | Ch01, Ch06, Ch18 (planned), Ch19 (executed) |
 | Ninth bell | ~9:00 AM / PM | Morning appointment or evening job | Ch04, Ch06 |
 | Half past nine | ~9:30 AM | Mid-morning arrival | Ch02 |
 | Third bell | ~3:00 PM | Afternoon appointment (Calla's return time) | Ch11 |
@@ -122,4 +132,4 @@ When drafting or revising a chapter:
 4. Flag any conflicts with existing timeline entries
 5. Resolve or note any Continuity Flags
 
-*Last updated: Ch18 final (2026-03-09)*
+*Last updated: Epilogue final (2026-03-10)*