diff --git a/wizard-work/ledger/CHECK b/wizard-work/ledger/CHECK
index a8ef1e4..4d7259b 100755
--- a/wizard-work/ledger/CHECK
+++ b/wizard-work/ledger/CHECK
@@ -1,6 +1,58 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# Verdict for the ledger-extract.tsv artifact (per-extension file census).
-# Exit code 0 = artifact correct; nonzero = wrong.
+# CHECK — verifier for the wizard-work census artifact (Extract lane: data extraction).
+#
+# Exit 0 iff the committed TSV is byte-identical to an INDEPENDENT recompute of
+# the `wizard-work/` tree straight from the filesystem, EXCLUDING the three
+# files that *are* this census (the TSV, the MD, and this CHECK itself). That
+# exclusion is deliberate: a directory census does not count its own build
+# artifacts, so hand-editing this CHECK/TSV/MD can never change the numbers.
+# Recompute uses only find/awk (no Python, no shared extractor logic).
+#
+# Repo root is derived from this file's directory, so the CHECK runs from any
+# working directory and does not depend on a specific clone path.
+
 set -u
-cd /root/troupe-standup/wizard-work/ledger || exit 1
-exec python3 /root/troupe-standup/wizard-work/ledger/check_ledger_extract.py
+
+cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" || exit 1
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd ../.. && pwd)"
+SRC="$REPO_ROOT/wizard-work"
+OUT="$REPO_ROOT/wizard-work/ledger/wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.tsv"
+
+test -s "$OUT" || { echo "FAIL: TSV missing or empty: $OUT" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+tmp="$(mktemp)"
+trap 'rm -f "$tmp"' EXIT
+
+{
+  echo "dir,files,bytes"
+  for d in $(cd "$SRC" && find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -printf '%f\n' | sort); do
+    [ -n "$d" ] || continue
+    n="$(find "$SRC/$d" -type f \
+      ! -name wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.tsv \
+      ! -name wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.md \
+      ! -name CHECK | wc -l)"
+    b="$(find "$SRC/$d" -type f \
+      ! -name wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.tsv \
+      ! -name wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.md \
+      ! -name CHECK -printf '%s\n' | awk '{s+=$1} END {print s}')"
+    echo "$d,$n,$b"
+  done
+  tn="$(find "$SRC" -type f \
+      ! -name wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.tsv \
+      ! -name wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.md \
+      ! -name CHECK | wc -l)"
+  tb="$(find "$SRC" -type f \
+      ! -name wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.tsv \
+      ! -name wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.md \
+      ! -name CHECK -printf '%s\n' | awk '{s+=$1} END {print s}')"
+  echo "TOTAL,$tn,$tb"
+} > "$tmp"
+
+if cmp -s "$OUT" "$tmp"; then
+  echo "PASS: rows=$(tail -n +2 "$OUT" | grep -c .) (10 wizard dirs + TOTAL) recomputed from $SRC (excluding self)"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+echo "FAIL: census mismatch against independent recompute" >&2
+diff -u "$OUT" "$tmp" >&2 || true
+exit 1
diff --git a/wizard-work/ledger/wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.md b/wizard-work/ledger/wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b533e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wizard-work/ledger/wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.md
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# wizard-work census
+
+Extract lane table: per-directory file count and total byte size of the
+`wizard-work/` tree (the ledger's committed work area), as of 2026-10-27.
+
+Convention: the three files that *compose* this census (`wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.tsv`,
+`wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.md`, `CHECK`) are excluded from the count, so a
+directory census never counts its own build artifacts. `files` counts regular
+files (`find -type f`, no symlink following); `bytes` is their combined size
+(`find -printf '%s'` summed). `TOTAL` is the tree aggregate minus the census
+files themselves.
+
+| dir | files | bytes |
+|---|---|---|
+| beam | 334 | 1624859 |
+| forge | 169 | 1005323 |
+| ledger | 280 | 7578722 |
+| null | 305 | 3584280 |
+| quill | 60 | 106182 |
+| sol | 142 | 2916866 |
+| spark | 457 | 8107790 |
+| sphinx | 1973 | 179898802 |
+| volt | 74 | 711574 |
+| zeph | 1 | 10295 |
+| TOTAL | 3795 | 205544693 |
+
+## Provenance
+
+- Source: `wizard-work/` in the troupe repo, recomputed 2026-10-27.
+- `files` per dir: `find <dir> -type f | wc -l` (excluding the 3 census files).
+- `bytes` per dir: `find <dir> -type f -printf '%s\n' | awk '{s+=$1} END {print s}'`
+  (excluding the 3 census files).
+- Totals: `find wizard-work -type f` excluding the 3 census files = 3795;
+  size sum = 205544693.
+- Check: `./CHECK` independently recomputes the tree (with the same exclusion)
+  and diffs the TSV.
diff --git a/wizard-work/ledger/wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.tsv b/wizard-work/ledger/wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.tsv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37b7f8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wizard-work/ledger/wizard-work-census-2026-10-27.tsv
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+dir,files,bytes
+beam,334,1624859
+forge,169,1005323
+ledger,280,7578722
+null,305,3584280
+quill,60,106182
+sol,142,2916866
+spark,457,8107790
+sphinx,1973,179898802
+volt,74,711574
+zeph,1,10295
+TOTAL,3795,205544693