rename: Kimra -> Kimbra across project files

Text-content replacements to match the kimra.md -> kimbra.md file
rename. Preserves file history via the earlier git mv and updates all
references in outlines, character bibles, book 3 CLAUDE and input
files, and the historical design spec.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

chapters/book3/CLAUDE.md

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ This file is book-specific orientation. The series-level `CLAUDE.md` at the proj
 
 ## Logline
 
-Phelan's life is settling — Mere pregnant, Kimra re-entering his orbit, the house plans at revision 12 — when the Compact files a formal grievance reopening the Book 1 qualifications inquiry — the one Ledger got withdrawn — with the Book 2 crystal break as new evidence. Relief sought: strip his certification and expel him from the guild. Ledger ships him to a pre-Compact ruin on Duchess Pamira's territory to get him out of reach while the procedural fight runs, but the ruin is a test and a showcase: Ledger has been grooming him for elevation, and the grievance is the pressure that forces the move. Inside the ruin is a sealed weapon that magnifies any working 15-fold. Phelan opens the seal to understand it, then has to build a perfect lock against his own ability — and do it before Cass, burned by his own institution, arrives with the Compact's enforcement force at his back.
+Phelan's life is settling — Mere pregnant, Kimbra re-entering his orbit, the house plans at revision 12 — when the Compact files a formal grievance reopening the Book 1 qualifications inquiry — the one Ledger got withdrawn — with the Book 2 crystal break as new evidence. Relief sought: strip his certification and expel him from the guild. Ledger ships him to a pre-Compact ruin on Duchess Pamira's territory to get him out of reach while the procedural fight runs, but the ruin is a test and a showcase: Ledger has been grooming him for elevation, and the grievance is the pressure that forces the move. Inside the ruin is a sealed weapon that magnifies any working 15-fold. Phelan opens the seal to understand it, then has to build a perfect lock against his own ability — and do it before Cass, burned by his own institution, arrives with the Compact's enforcement force at his back.
 
 **The Compact is the real antagonist.** Cass is the face. The book's institutional confrontation and personal confrontation are the same confrontation at two scales. **Mere's pregnancy is the Act 3 stakes engine** — the Compact arc threatens her directly when enforcement officers arrive at the estate where she is staying.
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ Consult these instead of duplicating content here:
 
 ## POV
 
-Pure Phelan first-person, past tense, throughout. Kimra's subplot is processed through his noise. Pamira is seen mostly through Devod's interactions. Cass's arc is off-page until Ch19. The Compact enforcement arrival is seen from Phelan's position (ruin during the breach, estate during the standoff and elevation).
+Pure Phelan first-person, past tense, throughout. Kimbra's subplot is processed through his noise. Pamira is seen mostly through Devod's interactions. Cass's arc is off-page until Ch19. The Compact enforcement arrival is seen from Phelan's position (ruin during the breach, estate during the standoff and elevation).
 
 ---
 
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ Pure Phelan first-person, past tense, throughout. Kimra's subplot is processed t
 | Carson Johnsby | Drenwick-only, back channels | `characters/carson-johnsby.md` |
 | Brennan Toor | Off-page. Cairns infrastructure | `characters/brennan-toor.md` |
 | **Duchess Pamira** (new) | Client, Devod's love interest | `characters/duchess-pamira.md` |
-| **Kimra** (new) | Phelan's mother, reconnection subplot | `characters/kimra.md` (to create) |
+| **Kimbra** (new) | Phelan's mother, reconnection subplot | `characters/kimbra.md` (to create) |
 | **Pip** (new) | Pixie dragon, Mere-bonded, tactical magic detector | `characters/pip.md` (to create) |
 | **Sable** (new, minor) | Ledger's field operative | `characters/supporting-cast.md` |
 | **Seraphel "Sera"** (new, in utero) | Phelan/Mere's unborn daughter | `characters/supporting-cast.md` |
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ Internal character shifts and chapter-by-chapter beats live in `outline/book3-ou
 - **Compact commander:** Named or anonymous? Current plan: named but not recurring — an institutional face, not a character arc
 - **Tier system total count:** Deliberately unresolved. "Senior Specialist above Two" is all the book commits to
 - **Pamira's territory name:** TBD
-- **Kimra's surname:** TBD
+- **Kimbra's surname:** TBD
 - **Working title commit:** "The Sealed Chamber" vs. "What Stays Buried"
 - **Book 2 Ch20 micro-hook:** Confirm the Pamira/Thorngate inquiry reference is in place when Book 2 Ch20 finalises
 

chapters/book3/ch01-input.md

@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 - **The private marriage decision is now a shared, ordinary fact between them.** Whatever the filing looks like, it's not a Moment — it's an errand. That's the point.
 - **Devod visit.** Recovered. Slightly quieter than the pre-draining version. Idea machine still on, but dialed down. Opinions about nurseries are opinions — not performances.
 - **Fire training status as texture.** No reveal, no pride beat. Just a line or two that tells the reader the plateau is gone.
-- **Kimra absence.** She's coming in Ch04; not named this chapter. The shape of the silence (no recent letters) can be implicit through Phelan's noise if it fits, but don't force it.
+- **Kimbra absence.** She's coming in Ch04; not named this chapter. The shape of the silence (no recent letters) can be implicit through Phelan's noise if it fits, but don't force it.
 - **The noise.** Establishing chapter for Book 3 — target 4–6 parentheticals. Medium length, mostly domestic-register tangents. One can quietly register the pregnancy before the prose does, if it lands.
 
 ## Mood / Tone

characters/kimbra.md

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Kimra — Character Bible
+# Kimbra — Character Bible
 
 *Phelan's Mother / The Mirror He Told Himself Not to Look At*
 
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 
 ## Core Identity
 
-- **Name:** Kimra
-- **Known As:** "Kimra" (everyone), "Mum" or "Mother" (Phelan, rarely, when he can't avoid it)
+- **Name:** Kimbra
+- **Known As:** "Kimbra" (everyone), "Mum" or "Mother" (Phelan, rarely, when he can't avoid it)
 - **Age:** Mid-to-late 50s
 - **Role:** Phelan's mother. Book 3 reconnection subplot. The living rebuttal to his self-sufficiency narrative.
 - **Relationship status:** Married to Patren (husband, mentioned not present for Ch04 arrival; may visit later)
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@
 
 ### Core Traits — Critical Framing
 
-**Kimra is NOT an absent or neglectful mother.** The premise is the inverse of that trope. She is deeply caring, social, warm — a social butterfly with many friends and active relationships. The *opposite* of Phelan's antisocial nature. The uncomfortable truth of Book 3 is that:
+**Kimbra is NOT an absent or neglectful mother.** The premise is the inverse of that trope. She is deeply caring, social, warm — a social butterfly with many friends and active relationships. The *opposite* of Phelan's antisocial nature. The uncomfortable truth of Book 3 is that:
 
 - **She didn't leave. Phelan emotionally withdrew as a teenager.** When his developing Flaw Sight, ADD brain, and cold-reader instincts made him unmanageable, he narrowed his world to the people in front of him and treated everyone else as out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Not a door-slam. A slow, steady throttling of contact to the minimum.
-- **Letter contact was maintained — sparse but ongoing.** Phelan wrote 4–6 letters a year for most of his adult life. Kimra wrote back. The channel stayed open because she kept it open from her end, and because Phelan could manage a short practical letter every two months.
-- **In-person visits were rare.** Last one was ~5 years ago (before Book 1). Phelan in Drenwick, Kimra in Wensley, three days by coach between them — and Phelan's pattern is that a trip stays "on the pile" forever because it's never urgent enough to outrank the current case. She visited once or twice in the years before that. He has not gone north.
+- **Letter contact was maintained — sparse but ongoing.** Phelan wrote 4–6 letters a year for most of his adult life. Kimbra wrote back. The channel stayed open because she kept it open from her end, and because Phelan could manage a short practical letter every two months.
+- **In-person visits were rare.** Last one was ~5 years ago (before Book 1). Phelan in Drenwick, Kimbra in Wensley, three days by coach between them — and Phelan's pattern is that a trip stays "on the pile" forever because it's never urgent enough to outrank the current case. She visited once or twice in the years before that. He has not gone north.
 - **The letters stopped ~1 year ago.** During the Floundry case (Book 1), Phelan dropped into hyperfocus and never came out enough to finish the next letter. The task stayed on the pile. Tasks on his pile for that long don't get done — they become invisible. He did not realise he had stopped writing. From his side, nothing changed. From hers, the channel went dead.
 - **She has a full life.** Patren (her husband, a decent quiet man she met through work), Margeth (her best friend), a community, a garden, a rhythm. She was fine without daily contact. This is the hardest part for Phelan to sit with when he does notice it — she doesn't need him. She wants him.
 - **She shares his ability to "drop" people whenever, but replaces them easily.** Same mechanism, opposite personality. When a connection isn't working she lets it go, and then she forms five more, because connecting is what she does. Phelan has the same dropping instinct without the replacement instinct. They are built from the same cloth and used it to weave opposite lives.
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 - **Direct when it matters.** Does not lie to Phelan. Does not perform grievance. Does not guilt-trip. When she arrives at Chandler's Row, she does not demand explanation for the year of silence. She just arrives and asks the question once — *why did the letters stop?* — and accepts the answer.
 - **Stubborn in the same shape Phelan is stubborn.** The thing he thought he inherited from nowhere he actually inherited from her
 - **Worried, not angry.** She comes because the letters stopped. A year of silence, after a pattern of four-to-six-a-year, made her think something was wrong. She feared the worst. The three-day coach trip is her way of finding out if her son is alive. When she discovers he's not just alive but building a life, the relief metabolises slowly — underneath it is a quiet anger that he didn't tell her any of it. She does not perform that anger. She lets it settle and compresses it into one calibration move: *don't let it happen often.*
-- **Highly emotionally intelligent.** In Corvel terms, Kimra is the equivalent of a life-coach with a PhD-level understanding of how people work. She has spent her adult life professionally doing the thing she does personally — reading people, calibrating support, asking the question underneath the question. This is NOT surfaced by her explicitly naming it in Book 3 Ch04. It is visible in her behaviour — the way she reads Mere's pregnancy without announcing it, the way she reads Phelan's sentence structure back to him ("So I'm a task"), the way she chooses the single sentence that will land hardest without weaponising it ("Just don't let it happen often. I was worried.")
+- **Highly emotionally intelligent.** In Corvel terms, Kimbra is the equivalent of a life-coach with a PhD-level understanding of how people work. She has spent her adult life professionally doing the thing she does personally — reading people, calibrating support, asking the question underneath the question. This is NOT surfaced by her explicitly naming it in Book 3 Ch04. It is visible in her behaviour — the way she reads Mere's pregnancy without announcing it, the way she reads Phelan's sentence structure back to him ("So I'm a task"), the way she chooses the single sentence that will land hardest without weaponising it ("Just don't let it happen often. I was worried.")
 
 ### How She Processes People
 - Reads people the way Phelan does, but uses the reading to connect instead of to keep distance
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
 
 ## The Phelan Dynamic — The Mirror
 
-**The emotional core of Book 3:** Phelan spent years thinking the minimum contact he maintained with his mother was the relationship — four letters a year, the occasional visit on a timeline he controlled, a version of presence he could fit into his cases without disrupting them. Kimra's arrival reveals the truth: *the minimum was never the relationship. The minimum was the cost of avoiding the relationship, and he didn't even notice when he stopped paying it.*
+**The emotional core of Book 3:** Phelan spent years thinking the minimum contact he maintained with his mother was the relationship — four letters a year, the occasional visit on a timeline he controlled, a version of presence he could fit into his cases without disrupting them. Kimbra's arrival reveals the truth: *the minimum was never the relationship. The minimum was the cost of avoiding the relationship, and he didn't even notice when he stopped paying it.*
 
 This is not "absent mother returns and apologises." This is "son confronts the fact that he let the channel to the one person who understands him go dead without noticing, and that the woman on the other end of the channel has been waiting quietly the whole time, living her own full life, available — and is done pretending the silence isn't a problem."
 
@@ -75,20 +75,20 @@ This is not "absent mother returns and apologises." This is "son confronts the f
 - Mere recognises her instantly and likes her, which Phelan cannot argue with or pattern-read his way out of
 - She is worried, not angry. She is not performing forgiveness. She asks one question about the silence, accepts the answer, and calibrates the ask down to one achievable thing (*don't let it happen often*). He cannot solve this by being better at the problem, because she is not treating it as a problem to be solved — she is treating it as a channel to be kept open.
 
-**The Book 3 arc:** Growth, not resolution. Phelan does not reconcile with Kimra in Book 3. He finds a frequency he can share with her. The channel, which he let go dead, reopens — slightly wider than before. At the end of Ch22 she is at Chandler's Row, the garden is tended, dinner is cleaned up. He is tired and accepts her food. That is as close as he gets in one book. It is also further than he has moved in a decade of controlled minimum-contact letters.
+**The Book 3 arc:** Growth, not resolution. Phelan does not reconcile with Kimbra in Book 3. He finds a frequency he can share with her. The channel, which he let go dead, reopens — slightly wider than before. At the end of Ch22 she is at Chandler's Row, the garden is tended, dinner is cleaned up. He is tired and accepts her food. That is as close as he gets in one book. It is also further than he has moved in a decade of controlled minimum-contact letters.
 
 ---
 
 ## Backstory
 
 - **Raised Phelan alone in Wensley** (small town in Thorngate duchy, ~10 miles south of Thorngate city). Working mother — present in the house but largely absent in attention, by necessity not cruelty (this is the framing established in Phelan's own character bible). Her work at the time was in the Corvel equivalent of the life-coaching/applied-psychology field — she saw people privately in a room attached to the house, and her hours were long.
-- **No father figure for Phelan.** Phelan built his own code of conduct through trial, error, and observation. Kimra was not the obstacle to his independence; she was the soil he grew out of.
-- **Phelan at twelve.** Left Wensley for Brannick's Academy in Thorngate city (boarding school, Arcane Compact educational track). Four years. Kimra wrote weekly during that period; he wrote back less. This is where the contact pattern first established itself.
+- **No father figure for Phelan.** Phelan built his own code of conduct through trial, error, and observation. Kimbra was not the obstacle to his independence; she was the soil he grew out of.
+- **Phelan at twelve.** Left Wensley for Brannick's Academy in Thorngate city (boarding school, Arcane Compact educational track). Four years. Kimbra wrote weekly during that period; he wrote back less. This is where the contact pattern first established itself.
 - **Phelan at sixteen.** Licensed by the Arcane Compact. Withdrew from Brannick's before completing the advanced years. Stayed in Thorngate city rather than returning to Wensley — four more years finding his footing, working the margins, meeting the contacts who would eventually lead him to the Guild of Necessary Services. Visits home became occasional. Letters continued at roughly the cadence that would persist for the next decade — 4–6 a year, short, practical.
 - **Phelan at twenty.** Moved to Drenwick to pursue Guild of Necessary Services membership and to be closer to Leon (who had also left Thorngate by then). Has not returned to Thorngate duchy since. The letter cadence continued.
-- **The last visit.** ~5 years before Book 3 opens — Kimra came south to Drenwick for a week. Patren stayed in Wensley. The visit went fine. No rupture. Phelan simply never scheduled another one; "too busy" became permanent.
+- **The last visit.** ~5 years before Book 3 opens — Kimbra came south to Drenwick for a week. Patren stayed in Wensley. The visit went fine. No rupture. Phelan simply never scheduled another one; "too busy" became permanent.
 - **The years between.** She built a full life. Met Patren through work (decent, quiet, fits her). Became close with Margeth. Friends, garden, community. A rhythm. Fine without daily contact, kept the channel open through letters, never chased him.
-- **The Floundry silence (~1 year before Book 3 opens).** Phelan dropped into hyperfocus on the Floundry case and never came out enough to finish the next letter. The task slid to invisibility on his pile. He did not realise he had stopped writing. Kimra did. She waited the first two months. She wrote him at month three. He did not reply. She wrote again at month six. He did not reply. At month twelve she booked a coach seat.
+- **The Floundry silence (~1 year before Book 3 opens).** Phelan dropped into hyperfocus on the Floundry case and never came out enough to finish the next letter. The task slid to invisibility on his pile. He did not realise he had stopped writing. Kimbra did. She waited the first two months. She wrote him at month three. He did not reply. She wrote again at month six. He did not reply. At month twelve she booked a coach seat.
 - **Book 3 arrival.** She comes to Chandler's Row because the letters stopped and she needed to find out if her son was alive. She does not know about Mere's presence beyond a three-year-old letter mentioning her by name. She does not know about the pregnancy, the marriage filing, the Compact grievance, or the Floundry case details. She comes worried. Finds him alive. Finds him building a life. The relief is large. Underneath it is a quiet anger she will compress into one sentence.
 
 ---
@@ -99,9 +99,9 @@ This is not "absent mother returns and apologises." This is "son confronts the f
 |------|-------------|--------|-------|
 | Phelan Varrant | Son | Drifted-apart → reconnecting in Book 3 | Sparse letter contact (4–6/year) for most of his adult life. Last in-person visit ~5 years ago. Letters stopped ~1 year ago during Floundry. She comes because the silence scared her, not because of any specific news |
 | Mere Fields | Daughter-in-law (effectively) | Warm, mutual recognition | Mere let her in at Ch04 — "bone structure checked out, tea was offered." Accidental facilitator |
-| Seraphel "Sera" Varrant | Granddaughter | Incoming — discovered on-arrival | Kimra did NOT come because of the pregnancy (she didn't know). She reads it silently within minutes of arriving. Reveal lands at Ch04 dinner. Book 4+ relationship |
+| Seraphel "Sera" Varrant | Granddaughter | Incoming — discovered on-arrival | Kimbra did NOT come because of the pregnancy (she didn't know). She reads it silently within minutes of arriving. Reveal lands at Ch04 dinner. Book 4+ relationship |
 | Patren | Husband | Active, off-page for Ch04 arrival | Decent, quiet man. Met through work. Not present for Book 3 visit but mentioned. Phelan has never met him |
-| Margeth ("Mags") | Best friend | Active, off-page | Mentioned in Kimra's Ch11 letter. Possibly visits Chandler's Row while Kimra is there |
+| Margeth ("Mags") | Best friend | Active, off-page | Mentioned in Kimbra's Ch11 letter. Possibly visits Chandler's Row while Kimbra is there |
 
 ---
 
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ This is not "absent mother returns and apologises." This is "son confronts the f
 | Character | Relationship | Status (Current) |
 |-----------|-------------|-------------------|
 | Phelan Varrant | Son — reconnecting | Sparse letter contact for a decade, minimum-viable presence. Letters stopped at Floundry. She came worried. Book 3 reopens the channel he let go dead without noticing. Growth, not resolution |
-| Mere Fields | Daughter-in-law-to-be | Mutual recognition. Mere let her in at Ch04 — "bone structure checked out, tea was offered." Kimra reads Mere's pregnancy silently during the arrival scene; reveal lands at dinner. Mere invites her to stay. That is Mere's decision, not Phelan's |
+| Mere Fields | Daughter-in-law-to-be | Mutual recognition. Mere let her in at Ch04 — "bone structure checked out, tea was offered." Kimbra reads Mere's pregnancy silently during the arrival scene; reveal lands at dinner. Mere invites her to stay. That is Mere's decision, not Phelan's |
 | Patren | Husband | Not present for Ch04 arrival. Referenced, acknowledged as decent and quiet. Remained in Wensley |
 | Margeth | Best friend | Referenced in Ch11 letter |
 | Seraphel "Sera" Varrant | Incoming granddaughter | Discovered on-arrival (Ch04 dinner), not the reason for the visit. Will be present for the birth and beyond |
@@ -150,10 +150,10 @@ This is not "absent mother returns and apologises." This is "son confronts the f
 
 | Chapter | Development | Category |
 |---------|-------------|----------|
-| Ch04 | **Arrival at Chandler's Row.** "The Uninvited." She came from Wensley by public coach (3 days, alone) because the letters stopped. Mere let her in (bone structure checked out, tea was offered). Scene 1: Mere + Kimra alone, workshop tour, oblique "how is he?" — pregnancy kept off-screen, though Kimra silently clocks the ginger tell + hand placement + fatigue. Scene 2: Phelan arrives, relief-first beat (not-quite-a-hug), the letter friction lands: *"The letter became a task. Tasks I don't finish go into a pile. The pile got taller." / "So I'm a task." / "You birthed me, raised me, you know how I am." / "Yeah, I know. Just don't let it happen often. I was worried."* Scene 3: dinner, the locked reveal exchange — Mere ("Do we tell her about it?") → Phelan ("I don't mind, she will know eventually") → Mere ("True, we should tell her") → Kimra ("HA! I knew it! Congrats. Mere, you passed on the ginger and kept your hand where someone with morning sickness keeps their hand. Phelan, you've been watching her move since I walked in the door like she was carrying a lit fuse. When's it due?"). Ruin-trip disclosure folds in; Kimra states "Then I'll stay here while you're gone." Scene 4: Phelan in bed, noise inventory closes the chapter. Accidental-homecoming theme seeded via Wensley → Thorngate geography | Introduction / reframe |
-| Ch05 | Kimra and Phelan circle the past without touching it. She watches him pack for the ruin expedition. "Is it dangerous?" "It is." "Should Mere be going?" "Mere decided." Kimra nods. Knows when to stop asking. Offers road intel: she is from Thorngate duchy and knows the northern roads. The homecoming layer surfaces slightly more explicitly here | Quiet orbit |
+| Ch04 | **Arrival at Chandler's Row.** "The Uninvited." She came from Wensley by public coach (3 days, alone) because the letters stopped. Mere let her in (bone structure checked out, tea was offered). Scene 1: Mere + Kimbra alone, workshop tour, oblique "how is he?" — pregnancy kept off-screen, though Kimbra silently clocks the ginger tell + hand placement + fatigue. Scene 2: Phelan arrives, relief-first beat (not-quite-a-hug), the letter friction lands: *"The letter became a task. Tasks I don't finish go into a pile. The pile got taller." / "So I'm a task." / "You birthed me, raised me, you know how I am." / "Yeah, I know. Just don't let it happen often. I was worried."* Scene 3: dinner, the locked reveal exchange — Mere ("Do we tell her about it?") → Phelan ("I don't mind, she will know eventually") → Mere ("True, we should tell her") → Kimbra ("HA! I knew it! Congrats. Mere, you passed on the ginger and kept your hand where someone with morning sickness keeps their hand. Phelan, you've been watching her move since I walked in the door like she was carrying a lit fuse. When's it due?"). Ruin-trip disclosure folds in; Kimbra states "Then I'll stay here while you're gone." Scene 4: Phelan in bed, noise inventory closes the chapter. Accidental-homecoming theme seeded via Wensley → Thorngate geography | Introduction / reframe |
+| Ch05 | Kimbra and Phelan circle the past without touching it. She watches him pack for the ruin expedition. "Is it dangerous?" "It is." "Should Mere be going?" "Mere decided." Kimbra nods. Knows when to stop asking. Offers road intel: she is from Thorngate duchy and knows the northern roads. The homecoming layer surfaces slightly more explicitly here | Quiet orbit |
 | Ch11 | **The letter.** Practical: plants alive, Margeth visited, pantry reorganised. No emotion on the page. The first letter she has written since he stopped writing back a year ago. Phelan reads it three times. Recognises: she buries care under practical language. He does the same. *He didn't invent the technique — he inherited it.* First crack in the self-sufficiency narrative | Recognition |
-| Ch22 | **At Chandler's Row when the team returns.** Garden tended. "You look tired." "I am." "There's food." "Thank you." Not reconciliation — two people who process care through action finding a shared frequency. Kimra stays through the pregnancy (Mere's invitation — practical competence is useful). Final image: Kimra cleaning up dinner at the kitchen table while Mere sleeps and Phelan updates the house plans | Staying |
+| Ch22 | **At Chandler's Row when the team returns.** Garden tended. "You look tired." "I am." "There's food." "Thank you." Not reconciliation — two people who process care through action finding a shared frequency. Kimbra stays through the pregnancy (Mere's invitation — practical competence is useful). Final image: Kimbra cleaning up dinner at the kitchen table while Mere sleeps and Phelan updates the house plans | Staying |
 
 ### Book 4+
 <!-- Grandmother arc. Present for Sera's birth. Long-term relationship rebuilds across books. -->
@@ -169,18 +169,18 @@ This is not "absent mother returns and apologises." This is "son confronts the f
 
 ## Narrative Function
 
-- **The mirror.** Kimra is the single most effective pressure on Phelan's self-narrative in the series. Two books have shown Phelan letting people in. Book 3 shows him realising he walked away from people who were never out
+- **The mirror.** Kimbra is the single most effective pressure on Phelan's self-narrative in the series. Two books have shown Phelan letting people in. Book 3 shows him realising he walked away from people who were never out
 - **The anti-trope.** This subplot exists partly to invert the "absent parent returns" trope. The parent was always there. The child left. The child was wrong. The child has to sit with that without being allowed to defend himself
-- **Mere as the bridge.** Mere doesn't perform the peacemaker — she just acts practically and the bridge forms under her feet. She invites Kimra to stay because practical competence is useful. That instrumental framing IS how Mere shows care
-- **The growth, not resolution.** Book 3 does not reconcile Phelan with Kimra. It opens the door. Growth is the entire arc. Resolution is a Book 4+ matter
+- **Mere as the bridge.** Mere doesn't perform the peacemaker — she just acts practically and the bridge forms under her feet. She invites Kimbra to stay because practical competence is useful. That instrumental framing IS how Mere shows care
+- **The growth, not resolution.** Book 3 does not reconcile Phelan with Kimbra. It opens the door. Growth is the entire arc. Resolution is a Book 4+ matter
 
 ---
 
 ## Open Questions
 
-- [ ] Surname? The spec gives no surname for Kimra or Patren. Leave as single-name for now; add when an on-page use requires it
-- [x] How does Kimra hear about the pregnancy? — **She doesn't, before arrival.** She reads it silently on arrival (ginger tell, hand placement, fatigue, Phelan's protective watching). Confirmed at Ch04 dinner via the locked exchange
+- [ ] Surname? The spec gives no surname for Kimbra or Patren. Leave as single-name for now; add when an on-page use requires it
+- [x] How does Kimbra hear about the pregnancy? — **She doesn't, before arrival.** She reads it silently on arrival (ginger tell, hand placement, fatigue, Phelan's protective watching). Confirmed at Ch04 dinner via the locked exchange
 - [ ] Does Patren visit Chandler's Row on-page in Book 3 or 4, or does he remain a mentioned-but-unseen character?
 - [ ] Does Margeth visit on-page, or stay in the letters?
-- [x] Where does Kimra live currently? — **Wensley, a small town ~10 miles south of Thorngate city, in Thorngate duchy.** Three days by public coach from Drenwick
-- [x] What did Kimra do for work when Phelan was young? — **The Corvel equivalent of a life coach / applied psychologist.** Saw clients privately in a room attached to the house. Still practises, less formally, in her fifties. Not named on-page in Ch04 — surfaces in Ch05 or later if the conversation allows
+- [x] Where does Kimbra live currently? — **Wensley, a small town ~10 miles south of Thorngate city, in Thorngate duchy.** Three days by public coach from Drenwick
+- [x] What did Kimbra do for work when Phelan was young? — **The Corvel equivalent of a life coach / applied psychologist.** Saw clients privately in a room attached to the house. Still practises, less formally, in her fifties. Not named on-page in Ch04 — surfaces in Ch05 or later if the conversation allows

characters/phelan-varrant.md

@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@
 
 ## Backstory
 
-- **Born and raised in Wensley** — a small town in Thorngate duchy, ~10 miles south of Thorngate city. Raised by a working mother (Kimra) who worked as the Corvel equivalent of a life coach / applied psychologist. Present in the house but largely absent in attention during working hours. Necessity, not cruelty.
+- **Born and raised in Wensley** — a small town in Thorngate duchy, ~10 miles south of Thorngate city. Raised by a working mother (Kimbra) who worked as the Corvel equivalent of a life coach / applied psychologist. Present in the house but largely absent in attention during working hours. Necessity, not cruelty.
 - No father figure. Built his own code of conduct through trial, error, and observation.
 - Discovered Flaw Sight young — spent years thinking he was simply better at magic before realizing it was categorically different.
 - **Age 12:** Left Wensley for **Brannick's Academy in Thorngate city** (boarding school, Arcane Compact educational track). Four years.
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
 - **Met Leon D'Nardis at Brannick's.** Leon was younger, being bullied. Phelan taught him two combat fire spells as a practical solution. Leon combined them into an unexpectedly effective hybrid on the spot. Friendship seeded there.
 - **Age 16–20:** Remained in Thorngate city rather than returning to Wensley. Four years finding his footing, working the margins, learning about the Guild of Necessary Services through contacts — mostly via Leon's minor-nobility network, which opened doors Phelan's family name did not.
 - **Age 20:** Moved to Drenwick to pursue GNS membership and to be closer to Leon (who had also left Thorngate by then). Joined the Guild because it was the only structure that didn't require pretending to be something he wasn't.
-- **Has not returned to Thorngate duchy since** — approximately twelve years away from the duchy of his birth and adolescence as of Book 3 opening. Letter contact with Kimra maintained at a sparse 4–6 letters/year; last in-person visit ~5 years before Book 3 (Kimra travelled south to Drenwick for a week; Phelan has never returned the trip). Letters stopped ~1 year ago during the Floundry case without him noticing.
+- **Has not returned to Thorngate duchy since** — approximately twelve years away from the duchy of his birth and adolescence as of Book 3 opening. Letter contact with Kimbra maintained at a sparse 4–6 letters/year; last in-person visit ~5 years before Book 3 (Kimbra travelled south to Drenwick for a week; Phelan has never returned the trip). Letters stopped ~1 year ago during the Floundry case without him noticing.
 - Has never told anyone the full extent of what he can do.
 
 ---

characters/pip.md

@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@
 | Ch13 | Fifth chamber (research workshop). Pip vibrating at colours Mere hasn't seen before. High ambient residue signals something unusual about the workshop — it foreshadows the sealed door at the back | Signal |
 | Ch16 | **Sleeps on Mere's shoulder** during the quiet night-before scene at the estate. Pip's presence is the domestic texture of Mere's pregnancy — a calm creature, a calm woman, a calm room before the storm | Atmosphere |
 | Ch18 | **Tactical intelligence.** When Cass breaches the ruin, Pip tracks his position through the ruin's ambient field. Mere reads Pip's reactions and relays Cass's movement to Phelan via sending-stone / soundstone. Pip is an active participant in the climax | Active tool |
-| Ch22 | **On the windowsill at Chandler's Row.** Final image of the book: Pip on the windowsill, Mere asleep, Kimra cleaning up dinner, Phelan updating the house plans. Pip made the journey home with them. Bonded for the duration | Home |
+| Ch22 | **On the windowsill at Chandler's Row.** Final image of the book: Pip on the windowsill, Mere asleep, Kimbra cleaning up dinner, Phelan updating the house plans. Pip made the journey home with them. Bonded for the duration | Home |
 
 ### Book 4+
 <!-- Pip continues as Mere's companion and as a living magical instrument. Questions about pixie dragon lifespan, whether more pixie dragons exist, whether Pip would bond with Sera after birth. -->

characters/supporting-cast.md

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Recurring characters have their own files. Minor characters are tracked in the t
 | Kaeran "Kae" Thrainn | `kaeran-thrainn.md` | Book 2 Antagonist (tragic) |
 | Brennan Toor | `brennan-toor.md` | The Wolf's old Pathfinder comrade — visible Cairns node |
 | Duchess Pamira | `duchess-pamira.md` | Book 3 client, Devod's love interest |
-| Kimra | `kimra.md` | Phelan's mother (Book 3 reconnection subplot) |
+| Kimbra | `kimbra.md` | Phelan's mother (Book 3 reconnection subplot) |
 | Pip | `pip.md` | Pixie dragon, Mere's living magic detector (Book 3+) |
 
 ---
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ Recurring characters have their own files. Minor characters are tracked in the t
 | Drannick | Pipe smoker outside metalworking shop in Kae's territory. Referred Phelan to Carson. | Street contact | B2 Ch05 | Active — minor |
 | Sable | Ledger's field operative. Quiet, competent, late 20s. Attached to the Book 3 Athel Repository expedition as observer/security. Everything Phelan does appears in her reports — she doesn't hide this, Phelan doesn't object. Field survival, basic ward defence, sending-stone comms back to Ledger. Injured but alive during Cass's Ch18 breach. | Guild observer | B3 Ch06 | Introduced Book 3 |
 | Seraphel "Sera" Varrant | Phelan and Mere's unborn child. Conceived late Book 2 / between books. Not born in Book 3 — the pregnancy and preparation ARE the arc. Named based on "Sarah." Nursery planned at Chandler's Row (east-facing, adjacent to the kitchen). | Daughter (in utero) | B3 Ch01 | Expected Book 4+ |
-| Patren | Kimra's husband. Decent, quiet man she met through work. Not present for Kimra's Ch04 Chandler's Row arrival but mentioned. Phelan has never met him. | Phelan's stepfather (effectively) | B3 Ch04 (referenced) | Off-page |
-| Margeth ("Mags") | Kimra's best friend. Referenced in Kimra's Ch11 letter ("Margeth visited"). May visit Chandler's Row while Kimra is there. | Phelan's mother's best friend | B3 Ch11 (referenced) | Off-page |
+| Patren | Kimbra's husband. Decent, quiet man she met through work. Not present for Kimbra's Ch04 Chandler's Row arrival but mentioned. Phelan has never met him. | Phelan's stepfather (effectively) | B3 Ch04 (referenced) | Off-page |
+| Margeth ("Mags") | Kimbra's best friend. Referenced in Kimbra's Ch11 letter ("Margeth visited"). May visit Chandler's Row while Kimbra is there. | Phelan's mother's best friend | B3 Ch11 (referenced) | Off-page |
 | Aldric Vane | Warehouse district, east side, near the old grain exchange. Logistics, security. Contact offered to Phelan by Brennan Toor in B2 Ch15 — "Tell him the Wolf sent you." Not yet on-page. | Cairns network node | B2 Ch15 (referenced) | Seeded, not yet on-page |
 
 ---

docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-09-book3-the-sealed-chamber-design.md

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ Every major thread asks: **what happens when the thing you kept hidden gets foun
 - **Mere's pregnancy** — physical vulnerability she cannot control or optimize
 - **Cass** — burned by his own institution, mask of legitimacy stripped
 - **The ruin** — pre-Compact secrets sealed away for centuries, now unearthed
-- **Kimra** — a mother confronting the fact her son walked away, not the other way around
+- **Kimbra** — a mother confronting the fact her son walked away, not the other way around
 - **Ledger** — the Pathfinder mask slips; full reveal
 - **Devod** — The Wolf is no longer hidden
 
@@ -98,15 +98,15 @@ This is why:
 - **Dynamic with Devod:** He calls her "princess" constantly (wrong rank — she's a duchess, he doesn't understand or care about the distinction, she's given up correcting him). She says "DEVOD!" when he says something funny, rude, or childish. The chemistry is immediate and genuine.
 - **Estate:** The ruin is on her land. She is practical about the artifacts (financial value for her estate) and protective of her people and property.
 
-#### Kimra (Phelan's Mother)
-- **Name:** Kimra (based on Kim)
+#### Kimbra (Phelan's Mother)
+- **Name:** Kimbra (based on Kim)
 - **Husband:** Patren (based on Patrick) — decent, quiet man she met through work. Not present for Book 3 visit; mentioned.
-- **Best Friend:** Margeth (based on Maggie) — mentioned, possibly visits Chandler's Row while Kimra is there.
+- **Best Friend:** Margeth (based on Maggie) — mentioned, possibly visits Chandler's Row while Kimbra is there.
 - **Age:** Mid-to-late 50s
 - **Role:** Reconnection subplot
 
 **Critical characterization — NOT an absent/neglectful mother:**
-- Kimra raised Phelan to be independent. She succeeded too well.
+- Kimbra raised Phelan to be independent. She succeeded too well.
 - She is deeply caring, social, warm — a social butterfly with many friends and relationships. The opposite of Phelan's antisocial nature.
 - She shares Phelan's ability to "drop" people whenever, but unlike him, she replaces them easily because she connects easily. Same mechanism, opposite personality.
 - When Phelan hit 16, his developing Flaw Sight, ADD brain, and cold-reader instincts made him unmanageable. He decided he didn't need anyone and walked away. SHE didn't leave — HE did.
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ This is why:
 - **Climax:** Confronting Cass with the weapon exposed. The fight happens with catastrophic stakes — Cass reaching the amplifier means destruction
 - **End:** Discovers the "flawfinder's gift" is documented in the archive (he's part of a pre-Compact tradition, not alone). Built his first perfect lock. House plans revision 14 with Sera's room.
 - **Arc:** From exploiter to defender. From hiding what he is to understanding what he's part of.
-- **Kimra subplot:** Confronts the fact that his self-sufficiency narrative is a story he told himself. His mother didn't abandon him — he walked away. The noise processes this throughout the book but he doesn't resolve it fully. Growth, not resolution.
+- **Kimbra subplot:** Confronts the fact that his self-sufficiency narrative is a story he told himself. His mother didn't abandon him — he walked away. The noise processes this throughout the book but he doesn't resolve it fully. Growth, not resolution.
 
 #### Mere Fields
 - **Start:** Pregnant, systematic, refuses to be limited. Handles pregnancy as a systems problem.
@@ -221,15 +221,15 @@ This is why:
 - Kae intel: Cass mentioned a "project near Thorngate" — his insurance policy.
 
 **Ch 4: "The Uninvited"** (3,000-4,000 words)
-- Kimra arrives at Chandler's Row. Mere let her in (bone structure checked out, tea was offered).
-- **Reframed dynamic:** Kimra is warm, caring, social — the opposite of Phelan. She didn't leave; he walked away at 16. She's been available his entire adult life. He never called. She's done waiting.
-- The scene: Not a reconciliation. Two people finding a frequency they can share. Kimra recognizes the focused way Phelan works — she did the same thing. The similarity is uncomfortable.
-- Mere as accidental facilitator: Asks Kimra practical pregnancy questions. Two women communicating efficiently while Phelan sits between them, processing.
-- Kimra invited to stay (Mere's decision, not Phelan's). He endures it.
+- Kimbra arrives at Chandler's Row. Mere let her in (bone structure checked out, tea was offered).
+- **Reframed dynamic:** Kimbra is warm, caring, social — the opposite of Phelan. She didn't leave; he walked away at 16. She's been available his entire adult life. He never called. She's done waiting.
+- The scene: Not a reconciliation. Two people finding a frequency they can share. Kimbra recognizes the focused way Phelan works — she did the same thing. The similarity is uncomfortable.
+- Mere as accidental facilitator: Asks Kimbra practical pregnancy questions. Two women communicating efficiently while Phelan sits between them, processing.
+- Kimbra invited to stay (Mere's decision, not Phelan's). He endures it.
 
 **Ch 5: "Preparations"** (3,500-4,500 words)
 - Carter/Leon workshop scene. "I'll build it for three uses." "What if I planned for zero?" Carter builds it for five.
-- Kimra and Phelan circle the past without touching it. She watches him pack. "Is it dangerous?" "It is." "Should Mere be going?" "Mere decided." Kimra nods.
+- Kimbra and Phelan circle the past without touching it. She watches him pack. "Is it dangerous?" "It is." "Should Mere be going?" "Mere decided." Kimbra nods.
 - Devod pulls out old Pathfinder kit. Compass that points to last campsite. Field notebook. Maintained, not forgotten.
 - Compact inquiry upgraded from "routine review" to "active investigation." Ledger blocks: Phelan on guild business, unavailable.
 
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ This is why:
 - **Devod and Pamira deepen:** He tells the defining story from the inside (the fear, the sickness when the fourth idea worked, not the legend). She lost a brother to frontier service. Connection moves from friction to genuine understanding.
 - **Mere and Pip:** Using Pip's reactions as calibration — different inscriptions produce different responses. Brilliant, methodical categorization work.
 - **Pregnancy beat:** "My body is actively sabotaging my schedule." Phelan: silence. Mere: "Don't look at me like that." Phelan: "Like what?" Mere: "Like you're trying to decide whether to be concerned or impressed." Phelan: "Both."
-- **Kimra's letter:** Practical. Plants alive, Margeth visited, pantry reorganized. No emotion on the page. Phelan reads it three times. Recognizes: she buries care under practical language. He does the same. He didn't invent the technique — he inherited it.
+- **Kimbra's letter:** Practical. Plants alive, Margeth visited, pantry reorganized. No emotion on the page. Phelan reads it three times. Recognizes: she buries care under practical language. He does the same. He didn't invent the technique — he inherited it.
 
 **Ch 12: "Cass Burns"** (4,000-5,000 words)
 - **MIDPOINT TURN.** The Compact leadership calculates: if the evidence chain from Kae leads to Cass, and from Cass leads upward, the institutional damage is catastrophic. They sever the chain at Cass.
@@ -362,9 +362,9 @@ This is why:
 
 **Ch 22: "The Road Home"** (3,000-4,000 words)
 - Four days back to Drenwick. Team dynamic has shifted — closer to family.
-- **Kimra:** At Chandler's Row. Garden tended. "You look tired." "I am." "There's food." "Thank you." Not reconciliation — two people who process care through action finding a shared frequency. Kimra stays through the pregnancy (Mere's invitation — practical competence is useful).
+- **Kimbra:** At Chandler's Row. Garden tended. "You look tired." "I am." "There's food." "Thank you." Not reconciliation — two people who process care through action finding a shared frequency. Kimbra stays through the pregnancy (Mere's invitation — practical competence is useful).
 - **Ledger's coda:** Compact inquiry "suspended pending institutional review" — they're dealing with the Cass fallout and archive implications. Not closed — paused. Ledger's handwritten postscript: "The file stays open, Varrant. Yours and theirs."
-- **Final image:** Kitchen table, house plans revision 14, Sera's room marked. Mere asleep, Pip on the windowsill. Kimra cleaning up dinner. The noise runs: Mere's breathing, Kimra's movements, his pencil. (*Not quiet. Never quiet. But the right kind of noise.*)
+- **Final image:** Kitchen table, house plans revision 14, Sera's room marked. Mere asleep, Pip on the windowsill. Kimbra cleaning up dinner. The noise runs: Mere's breathing, Kimbra's movements, his pencil. (*Not quiet. Never quiet. But the right kind of noise.*)
 
 ---
 
@@ -374,8 +374,8 @@ This is why:
 |--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
 | **Ruin** | Briefed | Prep | Arrive | Chambers 1-4 | Surface/Ch5 | Seal + extract | Transport | Cass breach | Collapse |
 | **Cass** | Background | Kae intel | Compact recon | Recon delegation | **BURNS** | Gathering | Silence→ambush | **CONFRONTATION** | Captured |
-| **Pregnancy** | Established | Kimra arrives | Travel | Surface beats | Sabotaged schedule | Field demands | Quiet scene | Surface/safe | Home/Sera's room |
-| **Kimra** | — | Arrives | Stays behind | Letters | Letter recognized | — | — | — | Garden/staying |
+| **Pregnancy** | Established | Kimbra arrives | Travel | Surface beats | Sabotaged schedule | Field demands | Quiet scene | Surface/safe | Home/Sera's room |
+| **Kimbra** | — | Arrives | Stays behind | Letters | Letter recognized | — | — | — | Garden/staying |
 | **Devod/Pamira** | — | — | Meet/chemistry | Deepening | Wolf story | Ruin together | "Coming back to" | Safe | Compass/farewell |
 | **Ledger reveal** | File pressure | Inquiry upgrade | — | Sable reports | — | **REVEALED** | — | Extraction team | File stays open |
 | **Pip** | — | — | — | Mere finds Pip | Calibration | Tracks Cass | — | Tactical intel | Bonded |
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ Three threads converge simultaneously:
 - **Ledger's file:** Still growing. Protector or handler? Both. "Both" has a shelf life.
 - **Sera's birth:** Baby coming. Book 4 may open with a new father.
 - **Devod and Pamira:** Long-distance, compass pointing north.
-- **Kimra:** Present but relationship still new. Grows across books.
+- **Kimbra:** Present but relationship still new. Grows across books.
 - **The sealed chamber:** Collapsed but not destroyed. What's inside survived centuries. It can survive rubble.
 - **Cass's words:** "Better packaging, same leash." The noise doesn't stop processing it.
 
@@ -450,9 +450,9 @@ Three threads converge simultaneously:
 |-----------------|-------------|------|
 | Pam | **Pamira** | Duchess, Devod's love interest |
 | Sarah | **Seraphel** ("Sera") | Phelan and Mere's child |
-| Kim | **Kimra** | Phelan's mother |
-| Patrick | **Patren** | Kimra's husband |
-| Maggie | **Margeth** ("Mags") | Kimra's best friend |
+| Kim | **Kimbra** | Phelan's mother |
+| Patrick | **Patren** | Kimbra's husband |
+| Maggie | **Margeth** ("Mags") | Kimbra's best friend |
 | — | **Pip** | Pixie dragon (named for the sound it makes) |
 | — | **Sable** | Ledger's operative |
 
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ Alternatively, simpler: Ledger mentions that the Compact inquiry will "take time
 **New files to create:**
 - `/chapters/book3/CLAUDE.md` — Book 3 instructions (adapted from this spec)
 - `/characters/pamira.md` — Duchess Pamira full profile
-- `/characters/kimra.md` — Kimra full profile
+- `/characters/kimbra.md` — Kimbra full profile
 - `/world/locations/thorngate.md` — Expanded Thorngate + Pamira's estate
 - `/world/locations/athel-repository.md` — The ruin design
 - `/world/timeline-book3.md` — Chapter-by-chapter timeline
@@ -483,6 +483,6 @@ Alternatively, simpler: Ledger mentions that the Compact inquiry will "take time
 - `/characters/ledger.md` — Full Pathfinder reveal
 - `/characters/cassius-rykhard.md` — Burned/rogue arc, final fate
 - `/characters/mere-fields.md` — Pregnancy, Pip bond
-- `/characters/phelan-varrant.md` — Flaw Sight tradition discovery, Kimra reframe
+- `/characters/phelan-varrant.md` — Flaw Sight tradition discovery, Kimbra reframe
 - `/world/magic/exploits-log.md` — New seal construction, ruin ward reading
 - `/outline/series-arc.md` — Book 3 summary, Book 4 seeds

outline/series-arc.md

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ A pre-Compact ruin (the Athel Repository) on Duchess Pamira's territory near Tho
 **At the midpoint, Cass is burned by his own institution.** The Compact severs the evidence chain from Kae. Cass goes cold, strips his resources, and vanishes. He comes to the ruin because the weapon is the last card that still has value. Two books of buildup converge in an earned confrontation.
 
 **Subplots:**
-- **Kimra (Phelan's mother) arrives at Chandler's Row.** She didn't leave; Phelan walked away at sixteen. The living rebuttal to his self-sufficiency narrative. Growth, not resolution.
+- **Kimbra (Phelan's mother) arrives at Chandler's Row.** She didn't leave; Phelan walked away at sixteen. The living rebuttal to his self-sufficiency narrative. Growth, not resolution.
 - **Mere is pregnant.** The anticipation IS the arc. She says "home" about Chandler's Row for the first time without qualification.
 - **Devod meets Duchess Pamira.** Two old soldiers recognising each other on purpose. He calls her "princess" (wrong rank). She says "DEVOD!" (correct response).
 - **Ledger's Pathfinder reveal.** Full. "Cairns." One word. Everything from Book 2 clicks.
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ A pre-Compact ruin (the Athel Repository) on Duchess Pamira's territory near Tho
 - **Ledger's file.** Still growing. Protector or handler? Both. "Both" has a shelf life.
 - **Sera's birth.** Phelan as a new father.
 - **Devod and Pamira.** Long-distance. Compass pointing north.
-- **Kimra.** Present in Phelan's life now. The relationship grows across books.
+- **Kimbra.** Present in Phelan's life now. The relationship grows across books.
 - **The sealed chamber.** Collapsed but not destroyed. What's inside survived centuries. It can survive rubble.
 - **Cass's last words.** "Better packaging, same leash." The noise doesn't stop processing it.