chapters 1-4 complete

world/magic/exploits-log.md

@@ -197,6 +197,17 @@ Every exploit Phelan uses, logged for continuity tracking.
 - **Cross-reference:** Exploit #3 (death ward signature forgery) is the direct precedent. Both use signature acquisition → forgery → system manipulation. Key differences: Book 1 acquired signature externally (8+ passive observation cycles, exact match at 7 junctions); Book 2 acquired internally (being drained, within degraded tolerance window). Book 1 result was destruction (system consumed itself); Book 2 result is reprogramming (system survives but reversed). Philosophy evolves from "break the lock" to "change what the lock opens."
 - **Story significance:** Connection log serves as evidence of every victim drained (legal weight). Crystal survives as a trap — anyone in Book 3 who tries to use it gets drained. Locksmith identity elevated: doesn't break locks, changes what they open.
 
+## Training Development: Sustained Channelling — Ring Capability Evolution
+- **Timeline:** Book 1 epilogue through Book 2 opening (~3 months of daily training with Leon D'Nardis)
+- **Focus:** Extending integrated casting duration through the focusing ring — fire + targeting + movement as one system
+- **Progression:**
+  - Book 1 epilogue: 12 seconds integrated (ceiling)
+  - Book 2 Ch01: 12.5 seconds (Leon's volume sparring, ceiling moved)
+  - Book 2 Ch02: 13 seconds (accuracy work, sustained thread at chalk target, 12 paces — ugly, 50% success rate)
+- **Key limitation:** Targeting locks in at ~9 seconds. Environmental disruption before that window causes compensation rather than absorption. The ring's micro-pulse (~1.3 second stabilisation rhythm) saturates instinct past 12 seconds, causing handoff to conscious correction which overcorrects and introduces drift.
+- **Training method:** Leon provides variable-timing heat pressure from off-angle during sustained thread exercises. Tests structural absorption vs. reactive compensation.
+- **Significance:** The ring's original specification (Ch13) was 15–20ft range. Sustained channelling extends this to 25–30ft trained, 35–40ft theoretical maximum. The 3-month training arc moves the ring from a range multiplier to a sustained combat tool. Full technique documentation: `/world/magic/fire-magic.md`
+
 ## Equipment: Focusing Ring (Carter's Custom Build)
 - **Chapter:** Ch13
 - **Builder:** Jonael Carterson ("Carter")

world/magic/fire-magic.md

@@ -0,0 +1,238 @@
+# Fire Magic — Elemental Combat Reference
+
+Fire magic within Runic Flow. All base rules from `runic-flow-rules.md` apply — anchoring, finite energy, complexity cost, trace residue, intent binding. This document covers technique taxonomy, energy costs, equipment, and practitioner profiles.
+
+---
+
+## Overview
+
+Fire is one of the elemental disciplines within Runic Flow. Approximately 20% of Corvel's population can use magic, but most practitioners learn a narrow specialty and stay within defined parameters. Fire mages are common enough — what's rare is combining fire-weaving with physical combat, or pushing standard techniques past their intended tolerances.
+
+Fire magic requires the same anchoring as any Runic Flow working: a rune, a phrase, a material component, or a combination. The fire itself is shaped arcane energy manifesting as thermal output — not conjured flame in the theatrical sense, but directed heat structured through the practitioner's framework. The output responds to the practitioner's training, their anchoring method, and environmental conditions (particularly ambient magical residue, which can amplify or dampen output unpredictably).
+
+---
+
+## Technique Taxonomy
+
+Fire techniques are organised by function rather than named spells. A trained fire mage learns principles, not a catalogue. The four categories below cover the operational range from individual combat to area control.
+
+### 1. Projection — Directed Fire at a Target
+
+The most common combat application. Fire-weave is generated and directed at a specific target along a controlled path.
+
+**Standard techniques:**
+
+- **Snap projection:** Quick, short-range burst. Minimal charge time. Effective at 5–6 feet unassisted, 12–15 feet ring-assisted. The default combat response — fast, cheap, reliable. Scorches but rarely ignites flammables at thin weave.
+- **Sustained thread:** A continuous line of fire-weave held on target. Requires integrated casting — fire and targeting operating as one system. Duration limited by the practitioner's ability to maintain the integration before conscious correction takes over and introduces drift. Standard mages hold 6–8 seconds. Phelan's current ceiling: 13 seconds (see Training Progression below).
+- **Focused strike:** A tight-arc projection — not a broad wash but a concentrated line of force. Higher penetration, lower area coverage. Effective against hardened or crystalline targets (see Ch07: resonance crawlers, where crystalline growths cracked on impact).
+
+**Advanced variations:**
+
+- **Ring-assisted projection:** Secondary anchor point (focusing ring) refines and extends output. See Focusing Ring section below for full specification.
+- **Charged projection:** Sustained charge through ring before release. Longer charge = more range OR thicker weave, not both. See Charge-to-Range Table below.
+- **Integrated melee-fire:** Physical combat strikes combined with simultaneous spell work. Extremely rare in Corvel — most mages only know spells and fight at range. Requires muscle memory for both disciplines operating in parallel, not sequence. When the integration fails, it degrades to sequential (physical action, then fire, with a delay gap). Phelan's integration: functional but not smooth; body carries the skill from teenage practice, stamina still rebuilding.
+
+### 2. Area Denial — Fire Spread Across Space
+
+Techniques that control space rather than target individuals. Higher energy cost, broader tactical application.
+
+**Standard techniques:**
+
+- **Thermal screen:** A flat plane of heated air between the caster and a threat. Doesn't stop a determined charge but forces angle changes and buys positioning time. Standard cost: ~3% reserves. In high-residue environments, cost doubles (see Ch15: 7% for a screen that should cost 3%).
+- **Dispersal pattern:** Fire-weave released in a broad fan rather than a directed line. Covers a wide arc, lower intensity per unit area. Effective for flushing targets from cover or discouraging group advances. Generates significant arcane residue.
+- **Ember wall:** A sustained barrier of heated particulate — not solid flame but a curtain of superheated material that damages anything passing through. Higher sustained energy cost than a thermal screen. Requires material to heat (stone dust, debris, organic matter in the environment).
+
+**Advanced variations:**
+
+- **Saturation (Leon's signature):** Volume-based area denial. Multiple simultaneous low-to-medium intensity fire workings across a broad area. Not precise — designed to overwhelm rather than target. Leon's 50-simultaneous-fire-spells rescue (Ch17/Book 2) is the extreme application: brute-force area saturation that makes the entire engagement zone uninhabitable. Requires enormous reserves and the ability to generate many workings in parallel. Most fire mages can manage 2–3 simultaneous outputs; Leon's parallel generation capacity is exceptional.
+
+### 3. Infusion — Fire Applied to Objects
+
+Fire-weave channelled into or onto a physical object rather than projected through space.
+
+**Standard techniques:**
+
+- **Blade infusion:** Fire-weave sustained along a weapon's edge or surface. Adds thermal damage to physical strikes. Low ongoing cost (~3% per minute sustained) but requires split attention between the infusion and physical combat. Most practitioners can't maintain both effectively.
+- **Material ignition:** Directed heat applied to a specific object to cause combustion. More controlled than projection — the fire is placed, not thrown. Used for practical purposes (lighting, demolition, signalling) as often as combat.
+
+**Advanced variations:**
+
+- **Thermal charge:** Fire-weave compressed into a small object or material packet, held in potential state, released on impact or trigger. Requires precise compression — too much and the charge destabilises during transport; too little and the release is underwhelming. The compression technique is the difficult part; the release is just removing the containment.
+- **Residue-fed infusion:** In high-residue environments, ambient magical energy can be channelled into the infusion, amplifying output beyond what the practitioner's reserves alone would produce. Unpredictable — the residue composition determines whether the amplification helps or introduces instability (see Environmental Variability below).
+
+### 4. Shaping — Sustained Real-Time Manipulation
+
+The most skill-intensive category. Active, continuous control of fire-weave behaviour after generation.
+
+**Standard techniques:**
+
+- **Weave control:** Adjusting a fire-weave's direction, intensity, or shape in real time during projection. All competent fire mages do this to some degree — the difference between a trained practitioner and a novice is how much mid-flight correction they can apply without losing coherence.
+- **Compression:** Tightening a fire-weave's cross-section to increase intensity at the cost of coverage. Used when precision matters more than area — threading fire past obstacles, targeting structural weak points.
+- **Expansion:** Widening a fire-weave's cross-section to increase coverage at the cost of intensity. The inverse of compression. Used for area denial when a full dispersal pattern is too expensive.
+
+**Advanced variations:**
+
+- **Arc shaping (ring whip):** Using the focusing ring's convergence architecture to shape the fire-weave into a curved or whip-like trajectory. The ring's focal point acts as a pivot, allowing the weave to follow non-linear paths. Requires intuitive understanding of the ring's convergence behaviour — the ring shapes the output, but the practitioner must work with the shaping rather than against it.
+- **Environmental compensation:** Real-time adjustment of weave parameters to account for variable ambient conditions (residue pockets, air density, magical interference). In stable environments, a trained mage sets parameters and fires. In variable environments (like Velken's Drift), every working requires active shaping to produce consistent results. The same ring, the same technique, different result depending on local concentration.
+
+---
+
+## Energy Cost Reference
+
+All costs assume standard environmental conditions (no significant ambient residue). In high-residue environments, costs may double (confirmed in Ch14–15: Velken's Drift mine operations).
+
+| Technique | Reserve Cost | Notes |
+|-----------|-------------|-------|
+| Snap projection (unassisted, 5–6ft) | ~3–5% | Baseline combat working |
+| Snap projection (ring-assisted, 12–15ft) | ~3–5% | Ring extends range, doesn't increase cost significantly |
+| Standard whip/thread (20ft) | ~5–7% | Sustained output, moderate drain |
+| Charged whip (30ft) | ~8–12% | Extended charge time, higher drain |
+| Full charge (40ft) | ~15–20% | Maximum ring-assisted range, significant drain |
+| Thermal screen (standard) | ~3% | Flat plane, basic positioning tool |
+| Thermal screen (high-residue) | ~7% | Confirmed Ch15 — doubled by environment |
+| Blade infusion | ~3%/minute | Sustained cost, requires split attention |
+| Dispersal pattern | ~10–15% | Broad coverage, high residue generation |
+| Focused strike (tight arc) | ~4–6% | Higher penetration, lower area |
+
+**Reference baselines from Book 1:**
+
+- **Ch07 (Barrows):** Five workings against three resonance crawlers at 5–6ft unassisted range = ~100% reserves (started at full, ended depleted). No ring. No bracelet buffering. Stamina at its lowest point.
+- **Ch14 (mine dogs):** Four ring-assisted workings at 8–12ft = ~30% reserves. Ring efficiency + partial residue amplification. First field use of ring.
+- **Ch15 (bandits):** Five ring-assisted workings + one thermal screen at double residue rate = ~45% reserves (from 70% to ~25–26%). Bracelet wellspring then pushed reserves to ~32–34%.
+
+---
+
+## Equipment: Focusing Ring
+
+### Specification
+
+- **Builder:** Jonael Carterson
+- **Origin:** Depth-staggering principle from Phelan's knife thermal distribution fix (Ch09). Carter applied the concept to a new form factor.
+- **Construction:** Wide band of dark metal, matte-finished. Three staggered channel depths in spiral pattern. Convergence architecture at focal point on outer face.
+- **Function:** Secondary anchor point for fire-weave projection. Fire-weave projects from ring's focal point instead of directly from hand. Refines and extends output — "clean output from dirty input."
+- **Cost:** 12 silvers (materials only — labour donated by Carter, technique credited to Phelan).
+- **Worn:** Right index finger.
+
+### Range Improvement
+
+Unassisted fire-weave: 5–6 feet reliable range.
+Ring-assisted fire-weave: 15–20 feet standard, up to 40 feet with sustained charging (trained limit).
+
+The improvement is multiplicative, not additive. The ring doesn't add a fixed distance — it refines the output geometry so the weave maintains coherence over greater distance.
+
+### Sustained Channelling — Charge-to-Range Table
+
+Longer charge through the ring before release produces greater range OR thicker weave. The practitioner chooses one axis per working — range and thickness trade against each other.
+
+| Charge Level | Duration | Range | Weave Character | Ring Strain |
+|-------------|----------|-------|----------------|-------------|
+| Snap | <1 second | ~15ft | Thin, scorching. Fast deployment. | None |
+| Short | 1–2 seconds | ~20ft | Standard combat weight. Reliable ignition. | Minimal |
+| Medium | 3–4 seconds | ~25–30ft | Full combat weight. Consistent ignition of flammables. | Noticeable vibration |
+| Full | 5–7 seconds | ~35–40ft | Maximum range OR thick weave (not both). Heavy ignition capability. | Significant vibration — approaching channel erosion threshold |
+
+**Thickness vs. range trade-off:** At medium and full charge, the practitioner decides where the accumulated energy goes. A 4-second charge can produce a 30ft thin thread or a 20ft thick weave. The thick weave ignites flammables reliably; the thin thread at distance scorches but may not sustain combustion.
+
+### Ring Strain
+
+The ring's convergence architecture has physical tolerances. Pushing output past the ring's designed parameters produces measurable feedback:
+
+- **Vibration in the metal** — the first warning. Convergence channels destabilising under load. Carter's instruction: "Pull back immediately."
+- **Safe operational limit:** ~20ft standard projection. Below this, the ring operates within design tolerance.
+- **Trained limit:** ~30ft with sustained charging. Requires practice to read the ring's feedback and stay below the destabilisation point. Achievable with daily training over weeks.
+- **Maximum theoretical limit:** ~40ft at full charge. Risks channel erosion — permanent degradation of the inscription architecture if sustained or repeated. Emergency use only.
+
+The vibration threshold is a physical, mechanical warning — not a magical limit. The ring's metal and inscription work have tolerances the same way a bridge has load limits. Exceeding them doesn't produce a dramatic failure; it produces cumulative wear that degrades future performance.
+
+### Book 2 Training Development
+
+**Timeline:** ~3 months of daily training with Leon D'Nardis (post-Book 1 epilogue through Book 2 opening).
+
+**Training focus:** Sustained channelling through the ring — extending the duration of integrated casting (fire + targeting + movement as one system) before conscious correction introduces drift.
+
+**Progression:**
+- Book 1 epilogue: 12 seconds integrated casting (ceiling)
+- Book 2 Ch01: 12.5 seconds (ceiling moved under sparring conditions — Leon's volume vs. Phelan's precision)
+- Book 2 Ch02: 13 seconds (ugly, 50% success rate under accuracy conditions — sustained thread at chalk target, 12 paces)
+
+**Key technical issue:** Targeting locks in around 9 seconds. Before that window, environmental disruption (Leon's push, ambient interference) causes compensation rather than absorption. The fix is not more precision — it's teaching instinct to handle longer input duration without handing off to conscious correction, which overcorrects.
+
+**The micro-pulse:** The ring has a stabilisation rhythm — a micro-pulse every ~1.3 seconds that the bracelet's buffering doesn't quite sync with. Below 12 seconds, Phelan's targeting instinct absorbs the pulse naturally. Past 12, the instinct saturates and conscious control takes over, introducing the drift.
+
+**Training method:** Leon provides environmental pressure (heat wave from off-angle) at variable timing during sustained thread exercises. The pressure tests whether Phelan is absorbing disruption structurally or compensating reactively. Early push (before 9-second lock-in) is the current weakness.
+
+---
+
+## Environmental Variability
+
+Fire-weave output is affected by ambient magical residue. This is not theoretical — it was confirmed repeatedly during Velken's Drift mine operations (Ch14–15).
+
+**Effects:**
+- **Amplification:** Residue pocket feeds additional energy into the working. Output exceeds calibration. The first mine dog (Ch14) took more fire than intended — ambient energy in the stone added to the output.
+- **Dampening:** Different residue composition suppresses the working. Output falls below calibration. The second mine dog (Ch14) — fire-weave sputtered, weak hit. Ring vibrated at threshold.
+- **Neutral:** Some areas have residue that neither amplifies nor dampens. Output matches calibration.
+- **Cost multiplication:** Even when output is neutral, the energy cost of generating workings in high-residue environments increases. Ch15 confirmed: every working cost roughly double standard rate.
+
+**Operational implication:** In variable-residue environments, output is unpredictable. Same ring, same technique, different result depending on local concentration. Adjust by feel, not formula. Don't trust consistent output.
+
+---
+
+## Notable Practitioners
+
+### Phelan Varrant — Integrated Combat
+
+Phelan's fire magic is unusual not for its power but for its integration with physical combat. He learned fire-weaving as a child (response to bullying), practised obsessively as a teenager, then let the skill atrophy for approximately three years before guild work forced its revival.
+
+**Strengths:**
+- Melee + magic combination (rare in Corvel — most mages fight at range only)
+- Muscle memory carries the skill even when stamina fails
+- Ring-assisted projection extends engagement distance from 5–6ft to 15–20ft standard, up to 40ft charged
+- Bracelet wellspring provides autonomous energy buffering during sustained combat
+
+**Weaknesses:**
+- Stamina still rebuilding after years of dormancy
+- Integration degrades under sustained load (sequential instead of simultaneous fire + physical action)
+- Conscious correction introduces drift past 13 seconds sustained casting
+- Environmental variability in residue-heavy areas forces constant real-time adjustment
+
+**Combat style:** Close-to-mid range. Ring projection for initial engagement, physical strikes (elbows, redirects) when targets close distance or fire sputters. Reads the tactical geometry — target selection based on threat assessment (remove ranged threats first, screen vulnerable allies, close and finish stunned targets physically).
+
+### Leon D'Nardis — Volume and Saturation
+
+Leon's fire magic is the brute-force complement to Phelan's precision. Where Phelan threads a single working through a gap, Leon fills the space with enough workings that gaps become irrelevant.
+
+**Strengths:**
+- Exceptional parallel generation — can produce dozens of simultaneous fire workings where most mages manage 2–3
+- Saturation tactics — overwhelming area coverage rather than precision targeting
+- Large personal reserves (supports high-volume output)
+- Layered ignition technique (traded to Phelan during training)
+
+**Weaknesses:**
+- Volume approach is energy-expensive
+- Less effective against targets that require precision (structural weak points, focused penetration)
+- Input flooding philosophy (see Exploit #2) occasionally sacrifices efficiency for coverage
+
+**Combat style:** Mid-to-long range. Area saturation, environmental pressure, cover fire. Functions as force multiplier for precision operators like Phelan — Leon controls the space while Phelan works within it.
+
+### Common Fire Mage Approaches
+
+Most fire mages in Corvel:
+- Learn 2–3 standard techniques within one category (usually Projection)
+- Fight at range only — no melee integration
+- Hold sustained casting for 6–8 seconds before drift
+- Operate within a single environmental condition (don't adapt well to variable residue)
+- Use no focusing equipment beyond standard anchoring (rings, staves, and other secondary anchors are specialist tools, not standard kit)
+
+---
+
+## Cross-References
+
+- **Runic Flow base rules:** `/world/magic/runic-flow-rules.md`
+- **Exploits log (combat logs):** `/world/magic/exploits-log.md` — see Combat Logs for Ch14 (mine dogs) and Ch15 (bandits) for field performance data
+- **Focusing ring specification:** `/world/magic/exploits-log.md` — Equipment: Focusing Ring entry
+- **Bracelet wellspring:** `/world/magic/exploits-log.md` — Discovery entries for Ch15 and Ch17
+- **Economy (ring cost):** `/world/economy.md`
+
+---
+
+*Last updated: Book 2 Ch02 draft. Fire combat training at 13 seconds integrated (ugly, 50% success rate). Ring sustained channelling mechanics documented from training progression.*

world/magic/runic-flow-rules.md

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 Full magic system documentation for Corvel.
 
+**Elemental disciplines** (fire, earth, etc.) follow all Runic Flow base rules — anchoring, finite energy, complexity cost, trace residue, intent binding. Each element has its own technique taxonomy and practitioner conventions, but the underlying system is the same. See element-specific references for detailed technique documentation:
+
+- **Fire magic:** `/world/magic/fire-magic.md` — technique taxonomy, energy costs, focusing ring specification, practitioner profiles
+
 ---
 
 ## Magical Materials

world/story-summary-book2.md

@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+# Story Summary — Book 2: The Hollow Man
+
+**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:** Ch04 final (2026-03-17)
+
+---
+
+## 1. Story Timeline Overview
+
+| Chapter | Title | Days Covered | Elapsed (from Book 2 Day 1) |
+|---------|-------|-------------|---------------------|
+| Ch01 | The Quiet | Day 1 (Godsday) | Day 1 |
+| Ch02 | The First Victim | Day 2 (Monday equiv.) | Day 2 |
+| Ch03 | Scene of the Crime | Day 3 (Tuesday equiv.) | Day 3 |
+| Ch04 | The Crystal Trail | Day 4 (Wednesday equiv.) | Day 4 |
+
+**Time gap from Book 1:** ~3 months after the epilogue. Deep winter → late winter.
+
+*For detailed bell/time references and continuity flags, see `/world/timeline-book2.md`.*
+
+---
+
+## 2. Chapter Summaries
+
+### Ch01: The Quiet
+
+**Timeline:** Day 1 (Godsday). Morning through just past eighth bell (~8 PM).
+
+**Summary:** Establishes the new status quo three months after Book 1. Phelan and Mere are living together at Chandler's Row. Godsday morning — Mere presents a household budget she's prepared in a ledger. Income: 15 silvers guild retainer, projected case fees (averaged from last three assignments — higher-tier cases have been arriving as briefs on the kitchen table since the Floundry aftermath), 12 silvers/month ore income through Leon's channels. Phelan's noise engages — he can't accept Mere's method without independently verifying it. Spends two hours redoing the budget his way (thirteen branching scenarios, edge cases, contingency layers). Same number: 8.5 silvers monthly surplus, 51 months to house target. Mere: "I told you." She reclassifies his work as useful contingency modelling. Both methods kept.
+
+**Training with Leon (fourth bell, ~4 PM):** Courtyard behind the chandler's shop. Fire combat sparring — Leon's volume vs. Phelan's precision threading. Twelve seconds integrated casting is the ceiling; Phelan holds twelve and a half (progress). Leon identifies the targeting drift at the thirteenth second. Easy rhythm, comfortable back-and-forth — tips traded (Leon's layered ignition technique, Phelan's bracelet buffering rhythm). Godsday rules banter (Leon's invented traditions for being late). Tomorrow's training at sixth bell. Leon departs ~fifth bell as the light fades.
+
+**Devod's visit (~6:15 PM):** Arrives roughly an hour after Phelan gets home. Has been thinking about drainage for the house plans — presents hollow pilings concept (over-engineered, over-budget). Phelan extracts the kernel: integrated function (structure and drainage as one system). Filed for future revision. Devod brings windfall apples (Henwick's orchard, Thursday route). Mere engages with him directly about the apples — Devod's barely-contained brightness when she does. Stays ~20 minutes, talks delivery routes, asks about Leon's training (gathering data about people in Mere's life). Three more house ideas (two impractical, one worth investigating — timber sourcing on the eastern road). Departs with his characteristic too-many-words-at-the-door exit.
+
+**Evening quiet scene:** Phelan at the kitchen table with house plans (revision 10) and the budget. Devod's integration concept percolating. Mere reading herbalism in the sitting room. Sniff asleep. Bracelet warm amber. The noise reflects on the day — the quiet is good, the surplus is real, the training ceiling moved, and two methods producing the same number is probably the answer to a question he hasn't figured out how to ask.
+
+**Disruption — guild knock (just past eighth bell, ~8 PM):** Guild runner delivers a sealed note from Ledger. Not a case brief — no case number, no classification, no client summary, no fee schedule. Handwritten. "Pattern identified. Compact is aware and not acting. We need to discuss." Requests attendance at the hall tomorrow, eighth bell. Phelan reads it twice. The noise shifts to the sharper kind. The quiet lasted exactly as long as he expected.
+
+### Ch02: The First Victim
+
+**Timeline:** Day 2 (Monday equivalent). Sixth bell (~6 AM) through late morning.
+
+**Training with Leon (sixth bell, ~6 AM):** Ring accuracy work in the courtyard — Phelan switches from sparring to targeting because he doesn't want to get dirty before the guild meeting. Twelve paces, sustained fire thread through the focusing ring at a chalk target. Thirteen seconds achieved — ugly, not clean, but held (2 out of 4 attempts). The ceiling moved from 12.5 to 13 seconds. Leon identifies the key issue: targeting locks in around nine seconds, anything before that window and Phelan compensates rather than absorbs environmental disruption. **Charged whip demonstration:** Leon asks to see the whip at full charge. Phelan holds a 6-second charge through the ring — the convergence architecture compresses and stacks energy — then releases a thick whip-arc that blackens the far wall. Weave is fat enough for sustained combustion, not just scorching. Leon notes the improvement from last week: thicker weave, more energy into the charge before the channels resist. Phelan's noise reflects on three months of daily ring work driving the improvement — repetition and adaptation, ring learning the fire, fire learning the ring. Leon estimates 15–18ft effective range at that charge level with room before vibration threshold. Leon needles Phelan about the guild summons — the collar/leash joke. "Three months of case briefs landing on your kitchen table like clockwork, and now they're summoning you to the hall. That's not a meeting, Phelan. That's a fitting." Leon's advice: "Know the difference between walking through a door and being led through one." ~1 hour session. Comfortable dynamic, last moment of routine before the case.
+
+**Ledger's briefing (eighth bell, guild hall):** Phelan's first time past the interview corridor — third door on the right, deeper into the building. Ledger's office: a working desk, annotated map of Drenwick with coloured pins, a folder. This is not a case brief — it's a guild operation, guild-funded, assigned directly. Two signals: (1) Ledger's intelligence network detected a draining pattern across Drenwick — 7 confirmed victims over 6 weeks (dockworker in warrens, shopkeeper's wife near canal, student in arcane district, others), all presenting with severe fatigue, cognitive confusion, premature aging. Spread across multiple districts, no demographic pattern. (2) A Compact compliance officer filed an internal report flagging "anomalous arcane residue consistent with unregistered life-force extraction," recommended investigation — report acknowledged, filed, no action taken. Officer reassigned to records management in Thorngate three days later. Two signals, one conclusion: someone with Compact protection is running an unregistered magical weapon. Arcane residue suggests pre-Compact signature — older than current regulatory framework. Ledger assigns Phelan specifically: structural analysis capabilities + Leon's pre-Compact artifact knowledge. 12 investigation sites total (7 victim locations, 3 residue-only, 2 high-probability). Frequency escalating: first 3 incidents in 4 weeks, last 4 in 2 weeks. Phelan realizes the scope means he needs help — solo work can't outrun the pattern. Ledger: "How you work is your business. That it works is mine." **Pathfinder seed #1:** The noise notes Ledger's network reach — how does a guild desk analyst have warrens-level contacts and access to internal Compact documents? Filed, not explored.
+
+**Carter's shop (after briefing, ~ninth bell):** Phelan stops by Carterson's Supplies to survey available gear for the case. Shelves are noticeably thin — focusing crystals (7 where there should be 12-15), inscription-grade minerals (3 containers where there should be 8), reagents rearranged to hide gaps. Local supply normal; imported/Compact-regulated stock depleted. Carter explains: 3 suppliers went quiet over 6 weeks in the same pattern (orders stopped, payment returned without explanation). Supplier names: Maren (mineral broker, east road), Halwick (specialty district, inscription-grade), Donnick's Refined Compounds (Compact-certified). Carter already investigated — traced coordination, confirmed other shops unaffected (specific to him). Comes to Phelan as a peer: "I've done what I can do. This is your kind of problem." Has 6-8 weeks of reserve before critical shortage. **Gear comment:** Carter notices Phelan is wearing wool for fire combat training. "Someone doing what you're doing should have protection. Treated leather at minimum. Something with channelling resistance along the contact surfaces — cuffs, collar, hem." Calls it professional negligence, not concern. **Brother reveal:** Carter looks at Phelan's Barrows neck scar and tells him about his brother Tomael — guild supply runner who died at the third door, second floor of the Greymarch Barrows. Gear was rated to spec, passed every test, still failed. Carter was two steps behind him. First time Carter has shared this with Phelan directly. Recontextualises Carter's obsessive quality standards for Phelan — "good enough" killed his brother, every piece of gear from the workshop carries that lesson. Seeds the Ch11 jacket delivery. Phelan buys 2 vials ward-resistance compound + containment sleeve.
+
+**Closing beat (walking home):** The noise processes both problems side by side — draining case and Carter's supply chain. Notes they share an architecture (institutional cover enabling harm) but aren't connected. Probably. Plans to read the folder tonight, start victim sites tomorrow, and have the pre-Compact conversation with Leon. The quiet from Ch01 is over. The case requires collaboration — "the case has decided this for me."
+
+### Ch03: Scene of the Crime
+
+**Timeline:** Day 3 (Tuesday equivalent). Pre-dawn through late afternoon.
+
+**Morning at Chandler's Row:** Phelan at the kitchen table before sixth bell, having read the case folder overnight. Mapped all 12 sites. Mere enters with her own copy of the folder (she made a copy). Her contribution: "The cognitive confusion precedes the fatigue in five of seven cases. That's a sequence, not a cluster." Clinical, precise — a data point Phelan hadn't extracted. Different analytical method, same data set. The sequence implies a pathway direction: cognitive centres are the entry point or the first system to fail under extraction load. **Mere planned the investigation route** — drew it out on a blank page, three numbered stops, optimised for efficiency. Included a stop at Maren's brokerage (Carter's supplier) on the east road between sites, without being asked — Phelan had mentioned Carter's problem once the night before and she'd filed it. Mere warns Phelan about the dockworker's wife: "Don't let her hear [you can fix this] unless you mean it." Phelan skips training for the first time — case takes priority over the sixth-bell routine.
+
+**Arcane district site (mid-morning):** First site visit. Student boarding house — Vellen Thrace, third-year inscription apprentice, second-floor room. Landlord notes the Compact "already came through" two weeks ago, looked, wrote something, left. Room is in the arcane district's suppression field — clean background, easy residue reading. Flaw Sight engagement: the draining signature is visible but the architecture is wrong. Not broken, not flawed — different. Pre-Compact construction: deeper-set anchoring, irregular node spacing, routing methodology that modern practice abandoned. "Like reading handwriting from a century ago — recognisable as writing but the conventions are wrong." The working is an extraction pathway — life force drawn from the victim and routed northeast through a structured, repeatable channel. Not improvised. A tool, not a spell. The construction quality is unsettling — competent, professionally done, an engineer's work within an unfamiliar framework. Twenty minutes on site.
+
+**Warrens site — Ren Dorren's family (late morning):** Brewer's Alley. Ground floor tenement. Wife (Mrs. Dorren, late twenties/early thirties) answers. Three children: Tam (~3-4) on the rug with blocks, toddler (~18 months) asleep in crib, eldest out (muddy boots by door). Phelan introduces himself as "the Locksmith" — first time using the professional name with a civilian. Ren in the back room — thirty-one years old, looks fifty. Visible aging, cognitive confusion, can't lift his youngest child. Mrs. Dorren describes onset: confusion first (asking the same question four times in an hour), then fatigue, then aging. Confirms Mere's cognitive-first sequence. Flaw Sight: identical signature to arcane district — same architecture, same construction. But heavier traces, denser extraction pathway. The later drainings left messier residue — escalation confirmed. Outbound pathway points northeast, same vector as first site. Phelan lingers one beat longer than necessary. The narration notes the lingering without explaining it. Mrs. Dorren asks "Will he get better?" — Phelan answers "I don't know yet. I know what happened. I'm working on who did it."
+
+**Carter B-plot — Maren's brokerage (early afternoon):** East road, between sites. Maren Harwick (mid-forties, sharp-featured) stonewalls Phelan. "I'm not currently filling orders for that account" — rehearsed, polished. Not frightened, not angry — compliant. Institutional pressure, not criminal. "I can't help you" (not "won't"). Canal district inquiries on the way home — ambient rumours of coordinated supply adjustments, regulatory guidance, nobody specific. Coordination is real, source obscured behind bureaucratic plausibility. Carter's problem is Compact-sized.
+
+**Third site — residue-only (mid-afternoon):** Cobbler's workshop near canal district boundary. Faint, incomplete signature — same pre-Compact architecture but the lattice is partial, extraction pathway not fully formed. Edge of range, or attempted draining that didn't connect, or residue drift. The instrument has range limits. Pattern crystallisation: same source, same tool, same pre-Compact architecture at all three sites. One operator, one instrument, escalating output. The signature is the instrument's, not the operator's — no personal magical fingerprint. The tool does all the work. Earlier drainings took less, later took more. The architecture predates the Compact — built decades ago within a framework no longer in living practice. **Noise-leash beat:** After the analytical spiral, Phelan deliberately pulls back from the noise — a skill he's taught himself since the Floundry crash. "Three months of practice had given me a leash where before I'd had nothing." Growth: he can disengage before the migraines, before Mere has to nurse him through the crash. The noise resists, but the leash holds.
+
+**Closing beat (late afternoon):** Decision: Phelan needs Leon. The pre-Compact architecture is beyond his expertise. He can describe what the working did, but he can't identify what produced the signature. Leon's domain — pre-Compact systems, old construction, historical magic architecture. Tomorrow: not training, the pre-Compact conversation. The noise surfaces one last observation: the craftsmanship wasn't just old, it was good. The instrument was built to drain. Purpose-built. Specified, designed, manufactured to extract human vitality. Not repurposed. Whoever made it was skilled within their framework and knew exactly what they were creating.
+
+### Ch04: The Crystal Trail
+
+**Timeline:** Day 4 (Wednesday equivalent). Morning through evening.
+
+**Leon recognizes the crystal (morning, courtyard):** Phelan meets Leon at the courtyard — no training today, case conversation. Describes the pre-Compact signatures from all three sites. Leon goes still, then identifies the architecture: a Mallory focusing crystal. Irregular node spacing (biological routing, not geometric), deeper anchoring (life-force workings need baseline hooks), northeast vector (outbound extraction channel to collection point). Then the recognition: "The Vethani crystal. The one I sold to Harren six months ago." Leon reveals why he sold cheap: "My father got attacked between towns. Healers aren't cheap." Phelan's noise processes the new information — D'Nardis minor nobility, father injured in bandit raid, Leon sold a pre-Compact artifact at a third of its value to cover healer bills. Phelan had noticed the low price at the time but filed it as Leon's business. Leon's guilt surfaces — quiet shock, then operational pivot. Boxes the emotion, pivots to tracing the buyer. Leon was already planning to visit Harren to browse for a fire augmentation tool (jealous of Phelan's ring). Double duty: shopping + investigation.
+
+**Harren's Collected Antiquities (arcane district):** Rented shopfront, east side of arcane district. Three ward layers on the door (detection, identification, response — military sequence). Harren: mid-fifties, barrel-shaped, thinning hair, two-second appraisal eyes. Greets Leon warmly — repeat customer. Leon browses fire augmentation tools; Harren shows a Telessi projection sleeve (third era, worn channels, +8-10ft range). Phelan asks about the crystal sale. Harren shuts down — "I don't discuss buyers." Leon applies pressure: tells Harren the crystal is killing people, chain runs through both of them, veiled threat ("I'd prefer to keep this between professionals"). Harren cracks. Crystal sold within a month to an intermediary through broker Galden. Intermediary: average height, professional clothing, forgettable, asked practitioner's questions (inscription, anchoring integrity, conversion efficiency — not a collector). Broker inquiries followed 2-3 months later — someone checking provenance chain. Phelan connects these to the inquiries from a few months back. Harren gives the broker name: Galden, canal district, Warehouse Row, third building from junction. Discreet, professional, expensive. Leon buys the Telessi sleeve for 40 silvers (no haggling — lost the appetite). Outside, Leon acknowledges the irony. Operational pivot: Leon knows Galden's name, knows broker psychology, volunteers to run him down. Phelan also tasks Leon with finding alternative suppliers for Carter outside Compact-regulated channels.
+
+**Ledger's reluctant share (guild hall):** Ledger's office — new red pins on the map, clustered northeast. Opens a different folder — thinner, edges worn from weeks/months of handling (predates the draining case). Delivers: "I have intelligence that a woman connected to a man named Kae was recently killed. I believe this is related to your case." Measured, controlled — too controlled. Phelan cold-reads: the folder is old, the Kae name isn't new intelligence, Ledger has been sitting on this and deciding when/how much to share. Something personal underneath the institutional framing. Kae: street name, no registered identity, active in warrens, protected by street contacts. Ledger doesn't offer more. Phelan files the omission, doesn't push yet. **Victim escalation:** Two new reports — both from last three days. One critical: woman in merchants' quarter, severe cognitive deterioration, healer puts chances at even. Earlier victims were surviving; these aren't necessarily. Instrument being used more frequently and/or with more force. Ledger: "Find Kae. Before the next victim doesn't survive." **Pathfinder seed #2:** Ledger's worn folder, personal investment, intelligence reach continues to exceed what a desk analyst should have.
+
+**The Misread — evening at Chandler's Row:** Phelan arrives home. Noise-leash used on the walk (resistance familiar now). Tells Mere about the case unprompted — "It was Leon's crystal." This is new; he doesn't normally volunteer case information without being asked. Mere's observation: "Leon's guilt will make him reckless." Then: "Tell him to be strategic. 'Careful' isn't in his vocabulary." Clean, practical advice — but Phelan's noise reads criticism that isn't there. Hears judgment of his decision to let Leon run unsupervised. Adjusts behavior: pulls back from conversation, plans to set parameters with Leon tomorrow. **Mere didn't mean any of it as criticism.** Words were the whole message. The noise can't stop reading subtext even when the gap doesn't exist. Phelan doesn't know this yet — recalibration comes in Ch05 when Mere notices the behavioral shift and asks why.
+
+**Carter B-plot:** Woven into Leon's tasking. Phelan asks Leon to find alternative suppliers for Carter outside Compact-regulated channels while he's in the canal district. Leon: "Carter's standards are higher than most Compact-certified suppliers." Gives himself two days on Galden and the supplier search.
+
+---
+
+## 3. Active Character Tracker
+
+| Character | Status at End of Ch04 | Last Seen |
+|-----------|----------------------|-----------|
+| Phelan Varrant | Crystal identified as Mallory (Leon's Vethani recovery). Harren and Galden leads obtained. Kae named by Ledger. Victim escalation confirmed. Misread Mere's advice — behavioral adjustment based on nonexistent criticism. | Ch04 |
+| Mere Fields | Gave clean tactical advice about Leon ("tell him to be strategic"). Phelan misread it as criticism. At Chandler's Row. | Ch04 |
+| Leon D'Nardis | Identified the crystal as his Vethani recovery. Revealed father's injury as reason for cheap sale. Guilt surfaced, boxed, operational pivot. Bought Telessi projection sleeve (40 silvers). Tasked with running down broker Galden + finding alternative suppliers for Carter. Headed to canal district. | Ch04 |
+| Devod Fields | Peripheral, grateful. Visiting with house ideas and apples. Awkward orbit. | Ch01 |
+| Sniff | At Chandler's Row, asleep under kitchen table. | Ch04 |
+| Ledger | Brought "Kae" name and dead woman intel (worn folder, personal investment visible). Withheld details — Phelan cold-read the omission. Reported victim escalation (two new, one critical). | Ch04 |
+| Carter (Jonael Carterson) | Supply chain under pressure. Leon tasked with finding alternative contacts outside Compact channels. | Ch02 (B-plot advanced Ch04) |
+| Cassius Rykhard | Off-page. Reassigned to Thorngate after Book 1. | Book 1 |
+| Harren | Artifact dealer, "Harren's Collected Antiquities," east side of arcane district. Sold crystal within a month of Leon's sale — to intermediary via broker Galden. Provided intermediary description and broker name under pressure from Leon. | Ch04 (NEW) |
+| Galden | Broker, canal district, Warehouse Row, third building from junction. Facilitated crystal sale to unnamed buyer. Discreet, professional, expensive. Leon is pursuing. | Ch04 (NEW, referenced) |
+| Maren Harwick | Mineral broker, east road. Stonewalled Phelan — "I can't help you." Under institutional (Compact-adjacent) pressure to stop supplying Carter. | Ch03 |
+| Mrs. Dorren | Dockworker Ren's wife. Late twenties/early thirties. Holding family together. Asked Phelan "Will he get better?" | Ch03 |
+| Ren Dorren | Dockworker, warrens. Draining victim. Age 31, looks 50. Can't lift his son Tam. Three children total: eldest (out, muddy boots by door), Tam (~3-4), toddler (~18 months, napping in crib). Cognitive confusion + physical decline. | Ch03 |
+| Vellen Thrace | Third-year inscription apprentice, arcane district. Draining victim. Off-page — room examined, Vellen not present. | Ch03 (referenced) |
+
+---
+
+## 4. Plot Thread Tracker
+
+| Thread | Status | Last Updated |
+|--------|--------|-------------|
+| House plans | Revision 10, east-facing kitchen. Question mark on workshop east wall (needs soil samples). Devod's integration concept (structure + drainage) filed for revision 11. | Ch01 |
+| Budget/finances | 8.5 silvers monthly surplus. 51 months to house target at conservative estimate. Both Mere's and Phelan's methods kept. | Ch01 |
+| Fire combat training | 13 seconds integrated casting (ugly, 50% success rate). Ceiling moved from 12.5 (Ch01) to 13 (Ch02). Key issue: targeting locks at ~9 seconds, early disruption causes compensation not absorption. Ring accuracy work (targeting at range) replacing sparring as the focus. **Charged whip:** 6-second charge produces thick whip-arc at 15–18ft with room before vibration threshold. Weave thick enough for sustained combustion. Three months of daily practice has pushed the ring's charge tolerance — a month ago, 6 seconds would have had the ring shaking by four. | Ch02 |
+| **Draining case (MAIN PLOT)** | Crystal identified: Mallory focusing crystal, Leon's Vethani recovery, sold to Harren ~6 months ago, resold to intermediary through broker Galden. Intermediary asked practitioner's questions (not collector's). Provenance inquiries followed 2-3 months later. "Kae" named by Ledger — street name, no registered identity, warrens, protected by contacts. Dead woman connected to Kae (Ledger holding back details). Victims escalating: two new reports, one critical. Leon pursuing Galden (2-day timeline). Next: Leon's broker conversation + street investigation to converge on Kae (Ch05). | Ch04 |
+| **Carter supply chain (B-PLOT)** | Compact intermediaries identified as pressure source. Leon tasked with finding alternative contacts outside Compact-regulated channels while in canal district. Carter evaluating with exacting standards. | Ch04 |
+| Carter gear comment + brother reveal | Carter noted Phelan's wool coat as inadequate — "professional negligence." Looked at Phelan's Barrows neck scar and revealed brother Tomael's death (third door, second floor, gear met standard but failed). First time shared with Phelan. Recontextualises Carter's quality obsession. Seeds Ch11 jacket delivery. | Ch02 |
+| Pathfinder seed #1 | Phelan's noise noted Ledger's network reach — warrens-level contacts, access to internal Compact documents. "How does a guild desk analyst have this?" Filed, not explored. | Ch02 |
+| Pathfinder seed #2 | Ledger's worn folder (predates draining case), personal investment in dead woman connected to Kae, intelligence reach continues to exceed desk analyst scope. | Ch04 |
+| Leon's guilt thread | Crystal he sold is killing people. Father's injury drove the cheap sale. Guilt boxed under operational competence — threw himself into investigation. Mere warns guilt will make him reckless. | Ch04 |
+| The Misread (Phelan-Mere) | Phelan misread Mere's blunt advice as criticism. Adjusted behavior based on nonexistent subtext. Desync active — recalibration in Ch05. | Ch04 |
+| Leon — Telessi projection sleeve | Bought from Harren for 40 silvers. Third era, worn channels, +8-10ft fire range. Fire augmentation tool — jealous of Phelan's ring. | Ch04 |
+| Galden (broker lead) | Canal district, Warehouse Row, third building from junction. Leon pursuing — 2-day timeline. Facilitated crystal sale. | Ch04 |
+| Devod's orbit | Present but peripheral. Bringing ideas, food, excuses to visit. Grateful energy. | Ch01 |
+| Higher-tier guild work | Case fees climbing since Floundry. Now escalated: first guild "assignment" (not a client brief) — guild-priority operation. | Ch02 |
+| Charlette/Thresholds | Unresolved. Mere left ~6 months ago (3 months before epilogue + 3 months since). Not mentioned in Ch01-02. | Book 1 |
+
+---
+
+## 5. Financial Ledger
+
+| Item | Amount | Notes |
+|------|--------|-------|
+| Guild retainer | 15 silvers/month | Stable |
+| Projected case fees | Variable (climbing) | Averaged from last 3 higher-tier assignments |
+| Ore income | 12 silvers/month | Conservative estimate. Sarren brothers uncommitted past March. Spring demand may compensate. |
+| Monthly surplus | 8.5 silvers | Conservative estimate, both methods agree |
+| House target | ~1,300 silvers | Per economy.md |
+| Months to target | 51 | At current surplus rate |
+
+---
+
+## 6. World Facts Established
+
+- Chandler's Row is in the guild quarter (border area). West-facing kitchen in current home.
+- Chandler's lease renews in ~4 months. Guild quarter gentrifying east (Mrs. Trevanney sold 15% above assessment).
+- Henwick's orchard on Devod's Thursday delivery route provides windfall apples.
+- Devod negotiating a new contract with a warehouse on the canal.
+- Devod knows a timber yard on the eastern road (worth investigating for house).
+- Dried silverthorn price increased 11% in last 6 months (Gavren's supplier).
+- Pre-Compact ore sells better in spring (academic institutions restock) per Leon.
+- Guild knocks: two measured strikes, a pause, a third.
+- **Guild hall geography:** 14 Greystone Lane. Reception → hallway. Second door on left = interview/deposition chamber (Ch04 Book 1, previous debriefs). Third door on right = deeper, past where decor shifts to functional. Doors have locks, walls have layered wards. Ledger's office: desk with drawers/papers, two chairs, annotated map of Drenwick with coloured pins (red, blue, yellow).
+- **Carter's suppliers (named):** Maren (mineral broker, east road), Halwick (specialty district, inscription-grade materials), Donnick's Refined Compounds (Compact-certified, supplies half the guild quarter, 4-year relationship with Carter).
+- **Compact compliance officer:** Filed internal report on "anomalous arcane residue consistent with unregistered life-force extraction." Report acknowledged, no action. Officer reassigned to Thorngate records management 3 days later.
+- **Draining victim profile:** Severe fatigue, cognitive confusion, premature aging. In 2 cases, visible aging within days. Dockworker in warrens (family of 5 — wife + 3 children, breadwinner reduced from full capacity to barely functional in under a week). Shopkeeper's wife near canal. Student in arcane district. Others.
+- **Ward-resistance compound price:** Still 6 silvers guild / 3 silvers Carter (per Book 1). Phelan bought 2 vials in Ch02.
+- **Carter's brother Tomael:** Revealed to Phelan in Ch02. Guild supply runner, died at the third door second floor of Greymarch Barrows. Standard gear rated to spec, passed every test, failed against the ward. Carter was two steps behind carrying secondary pack. First on-page disclosure — Carter saw Phelan's Barrows neck scar and connected it to the gear gap. Phelan now understands the origin of Carter's obsessive quality standards.
+- **Vellen Thrace:** Third-year inscription apprentice, arcane district. Draining victim. Rented second-floor room in a boarding house three streets east of Compact local offices. Compact visited the room two weeks ago, declared it safe to re-let, took no further action. Landlord hasn't re-let it.
+- **Ren Dorren:** Dockworker, warrens. Brewer's Alley, ground floor of three-storey tenement. Age 31, looks 50. Wife (Mrs. Dorren, late twenties/early thirties), three children: eldest (school-age, out during visit), Tam (~3-4, playing with blocks), youngest (~18 months, napping in crib). Was loading double crates at the docks. Cognitive confusion started ~4 weeks ago (asking same question four times in an hour), fatigue followed 3 days later, then visible aging. Healer charged 20 silvers, diagnosed "accelerated senescence," offered nothing.
+- **Maren Harwick:** Mineral broker, east road. Full name established Ch03. Shop between a chandler and a rope-maker. Mid-forties, sharp-featured. Under institutional (Compact-adjacent) pressure — "I can't help you" (not "won't"). Compliant, not frightened.
+- **Arcane district:** Northeast quarter of Drenwick. Ward-stones in pavement maintain background suppression field. Clean, regulated, orderly. Near Compact local offices.
+- **Warrens geography:** Southwest corner of Drenwick. Narrow streets, tall buildings blocking winter light. Ward-stones cracked or missing. Brewer's Alley named for a closed brewery.
+- **Draining residue characteristics (Ch03):** Pre-Compact architecture — deeper-set anchoring, irregular node spacing, unfamiliar routing methodology. Outbound extraction pathway points northeast from multiple sites. Same vector from arcane district and warrens. Later drainings leave heavier, denser, messier traces (escalation). No operator fingerprint — instrument does all the work. Instrument has range limits (cobbler site = edge of effective range, incomplete signature).
+- **Noise-leash (Ch03):** Phelan has learned to deliberately disengage from analytical spirals — a skill developed over three months since the Floundry crash. "The noise resisted. It always resists. But three months of practice had given me a leash where before I'd had nothing." Motivation: avoid migraines and crashes that require Mere to nurse him. Growth from Book 1, but the noise still fights it.
+- **"The Locksmith" as introduction (Ch03):** Phelan introduces himself to Mrs. Dorren as "the Locksmith" rather than by name — first civilian use of the professional title. Suggests he's learned it opens doors faster than "Phelan Varrant." Ledger had told Mrs. Dorren to expect someone from the guild.
+- **Harren's Collected Antiquities (Ch04):** Rented shopfront, east side of arcane district. Sign deliberately modest. Three ward layers on door (detection, identification, response — military sequence). Harren: mid-fifties, barrel-shaped, thinning hair, appraisal eyes that assign a price within two seconds. Deals in pre-Compact artifacts through grey-market channels. Repeat customer relationship with Leon.
+- **Mallory focusing crystal — technical details (Ch04, via Leon):** Mallory crystals use irregular node placement (biological routing, not geometric — Compact standardised node grids). Deeper-set anchoring required for life-force workings (surface anchors slide off). Northeast vector = outbound extraction channel routing to collection point.
+- **Telessi projection sleeve (Ch04):** Third era artifact. Worn channels but architecture holds. Adds ~8-10ft clean fire range before distortion. Purchased by Leon from Harren for 40 silvers.
+- **Galden (Ch04):** Broker operating from canal district, Warehouse Row, third building from junction. Handles acquisitions for clients who prefer anonymity. Discreet, professional, expensive. Facilitated the crystal sale from Harren to the unnamed intermediary buyer.
+- **Crystal intermediary description (Ch04, via Harren):** Average height. Professional clothing, not expensive — dressed to be forgettable. Practitioner's knowledge — checked inscription, tested anchoring integrity, asked about conversion efficiency. Not a collector.
+- **Provenance inquiries (Ch04):** 2-3 months after the crystal sale, someone checked the chain of custody through broker channels — who sold it, who handled it, where recovered from. Harren didn't respond. Phelan connects these to the inquiries he'd heard about previously.
+- **Leon's father (Ch04):** D'Nardis family — minor nobility, governs territory between cities. Father attacked by bandits between towns. Survived but required expensive healing. This + operational debt from Vethani Crypts drove the 1,200-silver fire sale. First time Leon told Phelan the reason.
+- **Ledger's Kae folder (Ch04):** Separate from the draining case folder. Thinner, edges worn from weeks/months of handling. Predates the draining case assignment. Contains intelligence on "Kae" (street name, no registered identity, warrens, protected by contacts) and a dead woman connected to him.
+- **Victim escalation (Ch04):** Two new reports — both from last three days. One critical: woman in merchants' quarter, severe cognitive deterioration, accelerated physical aging. Healer puts chances at even. Pattern: earlier victims surviving, newer victims critical. Extraction volume increasing.
+- **Phelan volunteering case info to Mere (Ch04):** New behavior — told Mere about the case without being asked. "The sentence arrived in the room before the decision to speak it had fully formed." He doesn't examine why.
+- **Noise-leash (Ch04):** Used again on walk home from guild hall. Resistance familiar now — "an old argument I knew how to win, most of the time." Consistent with Ch03 leash usage.

world/timeline-book2.md

@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+# Book 2 Timeline — The Hollow Man
+
+**Purpose:** Track elapsed time between chapters to prevent continuity errors. Update this file whenever a chapter is drafted or revised.
+
+**Season:** Late winter. ~3 months after Book 1 epilogue (deep winter).
+
+**Bell System:** Bells count 1–12. Bell number ≈ hour of day. Context (morning/afternoon/evening) determines AM/PM equivalent.
+
+---
+
+## Timeline Summary
+
+| Day | Chapter | Day of Week | Key Events |
+|-----|---------|-------------|------------|
+| 1 | Ch01 | **Godsday** | Budget scene (morning). Training with Leon (fourth bell, ~4 PM). Devod visits (~6:15 PM). Guild runner delivers Ledger's note (just past eighth bell, ~8 PM). |
+| 2 | Ch02 | **Day 2** (Monday equiv.) | Training with Leon at sixth bell (ring accuracy, not sparring). Ledger briefing at eighth bell — draining case assigned. Carter's shop after — supply chain problem, gear comment. |
+| 3 | Ch03 | **Day 3** (Tuesday equiv.) | No training (case priority — first skip since training started). Mere's folder analysis (cognitive-first sequence). Three victim site visits: arcane district (student Vellen Thrace), warrens (dockworker Ren Dorren), residue-only site (cobbler near canal). Maren's brokerage visit (stonewalled). Canal district inquiries. Pattern crystallisation: one source, one instrument, escalating, pre-Compact. Decision: needs Leon for pre-Compact identification. |
+| 4 | Ch04 | **Day 4** (Wednesday equiv.) | Leon identifies crystal as Mallory (his Vethani recovery). Reveals father's injury drove cheap sale. Visit Harren's Collected Antiquities — crystal buyer traced to intermediary via broker Galden. Leon buys Telessi sleeve (40 silvers). Ledger brings "Kae" name + dead woman intel (worn folder, personal investment). Two new victim reports (one critical). Leon tasked with Galden (2-day timeline) + Carter alternative suppliers. Phelan misreads Mere's advice at home. |
+
+---
+
+## Ch01: The Quiet — Detailed Timeline
+
+| Time | Bell | Event |
+|------|------|-------|
+| Morning | — | Mere presents budget. Phelan redoes it (two hours). Same number. |
+| ~4:00 PM | Fourth bell | Training begins. Courtyard behind chandler's shop. Leon arrives slightly late. |
+| ~5:00 PM | Fifth bell | Light fading. Training ends. "Already dark by fifth bell" (winter). Leon departs. |
+| ~5:15 PM | — | Phelan arrives home. |
+| ~6:15 PM | Sixth bell | Devod arrives ("roughly an hour after I got back"). Pilings discussion, apples. |
+| ~6:45 PM | — | Devod departs (stayed ~20 minutes after initial discussion). |
+| ~7:00–8:00 PM | Seventh–eighth bell | Evening quiet. House plans, budget review, Mere reading. |
+| ~8:00 PM | Just past eighth bell | Guild knock. Runner delivers Ledger's sealed note. |
+
+**Tomorrow (Day 2):**
+- Sixth bell: Training with Leon (regular weekday time)
+- Eighth bell: Meeting with Ledger at the guild hall
+
+---
+
+## Ch02: The First Victim — Detailed Timeline
+
+| Time | Bell | Event |
+|------|------|-------|
+| ~6:00 AM | Sixth bell | Training with Leon. Ring accuracy work (not sparring — Phelan doesn't want to get dirty before guild meeting). Thirteen seconds achieved (ugly but held, 2/4 attempts). Leon's collar/leash joke about the guild. ~1 hour session. |
+| ~7:00 AM | Seventh bell | Training ends. Leon departs. Phelan cleans up, heads to guild hall. |
+| ~8:00 AM | Eighth bell | Ledger briefing at guild hall. Third door on the right (deeper into building than previous debriefs). Case assignment: draining pattern — 7 confirmed victims, 12 investigation sites, escalating frequency. Pre-Compact arcane signature. Compact aware and not acting. Guild-priority, guild-funded. Phelan assigned specifically (arcane analysis + Leon's pre-Compact knowledge). |
+| ~9:00+ AM | After briefing | Carter's shop (Carterson's Supplies). Shelves noticeably thin — focusing crystals, inscription minerals, refined reagents all low. Carter explains: 3 suppliers went quiet over 6 weeks, coordinated, specific to him. Already investigated for weeks. "This is your kind of problem." Carter comments on Phelan's lack of protective gear (wool coat for fire combat training = professional negligence). Sees Barrows neck scar, reveals brother Tomael's death at the third door. First on-page disclosure. Phelan buys 2 vials ward-resistance compound + containment sleeve. |
+| Late morning | — | Phelan walks home. Noise processing both problems (draining case + Carter's supply chain). Plans to read folder tonight, start victim sites tomorrow. |
+
+**Tomorrow (Day 3):**
+- Begin victim site investigations
+
+---
+
+## Ch03: Scene of the Crime — Detailed Timeline
+
+| Time | Bell | Event |
+|------|------|-------|
+| Pre-dawn | Before sixth bell | Phelan at kitchen table with case folder, notes from overnight reading. Mapped all 12 sites. Third cup of coffee. |
+| ~6:00 AM | Sixth bell | Mere enters with her copy of the folder. Cognitive-first sequence observation. Phelan skips training — first time since daily sessions started. Heads to arcane district. |
+| Mid-morning | ~Seventh bell | Arcane district site visit. Student boarding house (Vellen Thrace, third-year inscription apprentice). Landlord lets him in. Flaw Sight engagement: pre-Compact signature, unfamiliar architecture, extraction pathway pointing northeast. ~20 minutes on site. |
+| Late morning | ~Ninth–tenth bell | Warrens site visit. Brewer's Alley, dockworker Ren Dorren's home. Wife (Mrs. Dorren), son Tam (~3-4 years old). Same signature, heavier traces — escalation confirmed. Ren aged from 31 to looking 50. |
+| Early afternoon | — | East road: Maren's mineral brokerage. Maren Harwick stonewalls — "I can't help you." Institutional pressure, not criminal fear. Canal district inquiries — ambient rumours of coordinated supply adjustments. |
+| Mid-afternoon | — | Third site — residue-only, cobbler's workshop near canal district boundary. Faint, incomplete signature — attempted draining at edge of range, or residue drift. Pattern crystallisation: one source, one tool, escalating. |
+| Late afternoon | — | Walk home. Decision: needs Leon for pre-Compact identification. Tomorrow. |
+
+**Tomorrow (Day 4):**
+- Leon conversation about pre-Compact signatures (not training — the case conversation)
+
+---
+
+## Ch04: The Crystal Trail — Detailed Timeline
+
+| Time | Bell | Event |
+|------|------|-------|
+| Morning | — | Phelan meets Leon at courtyard behind chandler's shop. No training — case conversation. Describes pre-Compact signatures. Leon identifies Mallory focusing crystal. Reveals his Vethani crystal is the one. Father's injury revealed. Operational pivot — plan to visit Harren. |
+| Mid-morning | — | Harren's Collected Antiquities, east side of arcane district. Leon browses fire augmentation tools (Telessi projection sleeve). Phelan asks about crystal sale. Harren resists, Leon applies pressure. Harren reveals: sold to intermediary via broker Galden. Intermediary described (forgettable, practitioner's questions). Provenance inquiries noted. Galden named (canal district, Warehouse Row). Leon buys Telessi sleeve (40 silvers). |
+| Late morning / early afternoon | — | Phelan and Leon part at edge of arcane district. Leon heads to canal district (Galden + Carter supplier contacts). Phelan heads to guild hall. |
+| Afternoon | — | Ledger's office. New red pins on map (northeast). Worn folder — "Kae" name, dead woman intel. Phelan cold-reads personal investment. Victim escalation: two new reports, one critical (woman in merchants' quarter). Ledger: "Find Kae." |
+| Late afternoon | — | Walk home. Noise-leash used. |
+| Evening | — | Chandler's Row. Phelan tells Mere about crystal unprompted (new behavior). Mere's tactical advice about Leon. The Misread — Phelan hears criticism that isn't there, adjusts behavior. |
+
+**Tomorrow (Day 5):**
+- Leon pursuing Galden (Day 1 of 2-day timeline)
+- Phelan: street investigation toward Kae — two vectors converging (Ledger's intel + arcane trail)
+
+---
+
+## Standing Schedule (established)
+
+| Time | Event | Notes |
+|------|-------|-------|
+| Sixth bell (daily) | Training with Leon | Courtyard behind chandler's shop. Godsday exception: fourth bell. |
+| Seventh bell | Thresholds opens | Not on Godsday. |
+
+---
+
+## Continuity Notes
+
+- Book 1 epilogue: deep winter. Book 2 Ch01: late winter, 3 months later.
+- "Three months of them now" — Godsday mornings at Chandler's Row (line 3).
+- Ch02 training: ring accuracy work (targeting at range with focusing ring), not sparring. Thirteen-second ceiling achieved (ugly, 50% success rate). Ch01 ceiling was 12.5 seconds.
+- Ch02 guild hall: Phelan goes deeper into the building (third door on right) for the first time. Previous debriefs were second door on left (interview room).
+- Ch02 training: Charged whip demonstrated — 6-second charge, thick whip-arc at 15–18ft. Leon notes improvement from last week. Ring's charge tolerance has increased over 3 months of daily practice.
+- Ch02 Carter: 3 suppliers (Maren — mineral broker east road; Halwick — specialty district inscription-grade; Donnick's Refined Compounds — Compact-certified). All went quiet over 6 weeks. Carter has 6-8 weeks of reserve before critical shortage. Revealed brother Tomael's death to Phelan (third door, second floor, Greymarch Barrows — gear failed).
+- Ch02 Ledger: 7 confirmed victims, 12 investigation sites, pattern over 6 weeks (first 3 in 4 weeks, last 4 in 2 weeks — escalating). Compact compliance officer filed report, was reassigned to Thorngate records management.
+- Ch03: First skip of daily training with Leon — case takes priority. Noted as break in established routine.
+- Ch03: Mere's analytical contribution — cognitive confusion precedes fatigue in 5/7 cases (sequence, not cluster). Different analytical method, same data set.
+- Ch03: Victim names established — Vellen Thrace (student, arcane district), Ren Dorren (dockworker, warrens, wife Mrs. Dorren, three children: eldest out, Tam ~3-4, toddler ~18 months). Ren is 31, looks 50.
+- Ch03: Phelan introduces himself as "the Locksmith" to Mrs. Dorren — first time using the professional name with a civilian. Ledger had told Mrs. Dorren someone would stop by.
+- Ch03: Mere planned the investigation route (drawn on paper, three numbered stops + Maren's brokerage). Filed Carter's supply problem from one mention the night before.
+- Ch03: Noise-leash — Phelan deliberately disengages from analytical spiral at third site. Skill taught himself since Floundry crash. Three months of practice. The noise resists but the leash holds.
+- Ch03: Maren's full name established — Maren Harwick. Stonewalled Phelan ("I can't help you"). Institutional pressure, not criminal.
+- Ch03: Outbound extraction pathway points northeast from both arcane district and warrens sites. Same vector.
+- Ch03: Residue-only site (cobbler near canal) shows incomplete signature — edge of instrument's effective range.
+- Ch03: Pattern confirmed — one operator, one instrument, escalating output. Instrument's signature, not operator's (no personal magical fingerprint). Pre-Compact architecture is the instrument's construction, not the user's method.
+- Next chapter: Leon conversation about pre-Compact signatures (Day 4).
+- Ch04: No training again (second consecutive skip — case took over the session). Meeting was case conversation, not the usual sparring/accuracy work.
+- Ch04: Leon identifies crystal as Mallory focusing crystal from signatures alone (irregular node spacing = biological routing, deeper anchoring = life-force baseline hooks, northeast vector = outbound extraction channel).
+- Ch04: Leon reveals father's injury — "My father got attacked between towns. Healers aren't cheap." First time Phelan learns the reason for the cheap sale. Phelan had noticed the low price (1,200 for a Mallory original) but hadn't pressed — "Leon's business was Leon's business."
+- Ch04: Crystal sold ~6 months before Book 2 (Leon to Harren). Consistent with design spec timeline.
+- Ch04: Harren's Collected Antiquities — east side of arcane district. Three ward layers (military sequence). Harren: mid-fifties, barrel-shaped, appraisal eyes. Sold crystal within a month to intermediary via broker Galden.
+- Ch04: Galden — broker, canal district, Warehouse Row, third building from junction. Leon pursuing (2-day timeline given).
+- Ch04: Leon bought Telessi projection sleeve from Harren — 40 silvers, third era, +8-10ft fire range. Jealous of Phelan's ring.
+- Ch04: Ledger brings "Kae" (street name) and dead woman intel. Folder predates draining case — worn edges, weeks/months of handling. Personal investment visible to Phelan's cold-read. Does NOT reveal Elara was guild informant.
+- Ch04: Two new victim reports — one critical (woman, merchants' quarter, healer gives even chances). Escalation from surviving to critical confirmed.
+- Ch04: Phelan volunteers case info to Mere unprompted — new behavior, not examined.
+- Ch04: The Misread — Mere says "Tell him to be strategic. 'Careful' isn't in his vocabulary." Phelan reads criticism of himself for letting Leon run unsupervised. Adjusts behavior. Mere didn't mean it. Recalibration in Ch05.
+- Ch04: Noise-leash used on walk home. Resistance familiar. Consistent with Ch03 leash growth.
+- Ch04: Ledger's map has new red pins clustered in the northeast — consistent with extraction pathway vector from Ch03.
+- Next chapter: Leon pursues Galden + Carter contacts (Day 1 of 2). Phelan street investigation — two vectors (Ledger's intel + arcane trail) converge on Kae (Ch05).