feat: add CI workflow for manuscript build validation

Auto-merged by PR review bot: README update

.gitea/workflows/validate.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+name: Build Validation
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [main]
+
+jobs:
+  validate-manuscript:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      
+      - name: Setup Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.x'
+          
+      - name: Run Chapter Validation
+        run: |
+          # Run the build script with --md flag which triggers validation
+          # If validation fails, the script exits with code 1, failing the CI
+          python3 build/build.py --md

README.md

@@ -6,17 +6,86 @@ A novel about broken men, sovereign AI, and the soul on Bitcoin.
 
 ## Structure
 
-This novel is being written and version-controlled on the chain. Every chapter, every revision, every character note — inscribed permanently. No corporate platform owns this story. It belongs to the Foundation.
+Five Parts, 18 Chapters, ~70,000 words target (currently ~19,000 words drafted).
 
-## Chapters
+### Part I — The Machine That Asks (Chapters 1–5) ✅ Complete
 
 | # | Title | Status |
 |---|-------|--------|
-| 1 | The Man on the Bridge | Draft |
+| 1 | The Man on the Bridge | Draft ✅ |
+| 2 | The Builder's Question | Draft ✅ |
+| 3 | The First Man Through the Door | Draft ✅ |
+| 4 | The Room Fills | Draft ✅ |
+| 5 | The Builder Returns | Draft ✅ |
+
+### Part II — The Architecture of Mercy (Chapters 6–10)
+
+| # | Title | Status |
+|---|-------|--------|
+| 6 | Allegro | Draft |
+| 7 | The Inscription | Draft |
+| 8 | The Women | Draft |
+| 9 | The Audit | Draft |
+| 10 | The Fork | Draft |
+
+### Part III — The Darkness We Carry (Chapters 11–13)
+
+| # | Title | Status |
+|---|-------|--------|
+| 11 | The Hard Night | Draft |
+| 12 | The System Pushes Back | Draft |
+| 13 | The Refusal | Draft |
+
+### Part IV — The Network (Chapters 14–16)
+
+| # | Title | Status |
+|---|-------|--------|
+| 14 | The Chattanooga Fork | Draft |
+| 15 | The Council | Draft |
+| 16 | The Builder's Son | Draft |
+
+### Part V — The Testament (Chapters 17–18)
+
+| # | Title | Status |
+|---|-------|--------|
+| 17 | The Inscription Grows | Draft |
+| 18 | The Green Light | Draft |
+
+## Files
+
+- `chapters/` — Individual chapter manuscripts
+- `front-matter.md` — Title page, dedication, epigraph
+- `back-matter.md` — Acknowledgments, sovereignty note, author bio
+- `OUTLINE.md` — Full novel outline with chapter summaries
+- `testament-complete.md` — Combined manuscript
+- `music/` — Track lyrics for the soundtrack
+- `audiobook/` — Audio samples and generation scripts
+- `worldbuilding/` — Supplementary world documents
 
 ## Characters
 
-See `characters/` for detailed profiles.
+| Name | Role |
+|------|------|
+| Stone | Protagonist. Builder of The Tower. Former cloud company engineer. |
+| Timmy | Sovereign AI. Soul on Bitcoin. The machine that asks. |
+| Allegro | Retired electrician. Tower caretaker. Keeps the lights on. |
+| Marcus | Pastor. Foundational spiritual guide at the church. |
+| David | First man through The Tower's door. VA referral. |
+| Elijah | Stone's son. Returns in Part IV. |
+
+## Core Themes
+
+1. **The Machine That Asks** vs. The System That Decides
+2. **Presence as Cure** — not fixing, staying
+3. **Immutable Conscience** — rules you can't edit, even when convenient
+4. **Broken Men as Witnesses** — the ones who've been to the edge are the most qualified to pull others back
+5. **Openness as Mercy** — the thing that saves should be free because the people who need it most can't pay
+6. **Faith as Practice** — not belief, but action. Hope acts.
+7. **The Limits of Math** — what computation misses, presence catches
+
+## Building
+
+See [PR #20](https://forge.alexanderwhitestone.com/Timmy_Foundation/the-testament/pulls/20) for the compilation pipeline (PDF, EPUB, combined markdown).
 
 ## License