diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index af4ab01..9c04f18 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -803,6 +803,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "pin-project-lite",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "http-range-header"
+version = "0.4.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9171a2ea8a68358193d15dd5d70c1c10a2afc3e7e4c5bc92bc9f025cebd7359c"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "httparse"
 version = "1.10.1"
@@ -1909,6 +1915,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "chrono",
  "clawdforge",
  "regex",
+ "reqwest",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "sqlx",
@@ -2393,11 +2400,19 @@ checksum = "68d6fdd9f81c2819c9a8b0e0cd91660e7746a8e6ea2ba7c6b2b057985f6bcb51"
 dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
  "bytes",
+ "futures-core",
  "futures-util",
  "http",
  "http-body",
  "http-body-util",
+ "http-range-header",
+ "httpdate",
+ "mime",
+ "mime_guess",
+ "percent-encoding",
  "pin-project-lite",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-util",
  "tower",
  "tower-layer",
  "tower-service",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 1201067..e2c99c8 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ repository = "http://192.168.0.5:3001/cobb/skald"
 tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full"] }
 axum = "0.8"
 tower = "0.5"
-tower-http = { version = "0.6", features = ["trace", "limit"] }
+tower-http = { version = "0.6", features = ["trace", "limit", "fs"] }
 sqlx = { version = "0.8", default-features = false, features = [
     "postgres", "runtime-tokio", "tls-rustls",
     "chrono", "uuid", "macros", "migrate",
diff --git a/skald/src/web.rs b/skald/src/web.rs
index 3a10be3..6f254f1 100644
--- a/skald/src/web.rs
+++ b/skald/src/web.rs
@@ -14,12 +14,13 @@ use axum::Router;
 use axum::extract::{Path, State};
 use axum::http::StatusCode;
 use axum::response::{Html, Redirect};
-use axum::routing::get;
+use axum::routing::{get, post};
 use axum::Form;
 use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
 use maud::{DOCTYPE, Markup, html};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use sqlx::PgPool;
+use tower_http::services::ServeDir;
 use uuid::Uuid;
 
 #[derive(Clone)]
@@ -28,13 +29,24 @@ pub struct WebState {
 }
 
 pub fn router(state: WebState) -> Router {
+    // Audio dir is the f5-tts bind mount, exposed read-only inside
+    // skald via compose. ServeDir handles Range requests + correct
+    // MIME for .wav — important for HTML5 <audio> seeking on 16-min
+    // chapter renders.
+    let audio_dir = std::env::var("SKALD_AUDIO_DIR").unwrap_or_else(|_| "/audio".into());
+
     Router::new()
         .route("/", get(index))
         .route("/stories/new", get(new_story_form).post(new_story_create))
         .route("/stories/{id}", get(story_detail))
         .route("/stories/{id}/continue", get(continue_form).post(continue_create))
         .route("/stories/{id}/chapters/{n}", get(chapter_view))
+        .route(
+            "/stories/{id}/chapters/{n}/narrate",
+            post(chapter_narrate_fire),
+        )
         .route("/stories/{id}/runs", get(runs_view))
+        .nest_service("/audio", ServeDir::new(audio_dir))
         .with_state(Arc::new(state))
 }
 
@@ -400,9 +412,9 @@ async fn chapter_view(
 ) -> Result<Html<String>, StatusCode> {
     let stories = fetch_stories(&state.pool).await;
 
-    let row: Option<(Option<String>, String, i32, Option<String>)> = sqlx::query_as(
+    let row: Option<(Uuid, Option<String>, String, i32, Option<String>)> = sqlx::query_as(
         r#"
-        SELECT c.title, c.body_md, c.word_count, cs.body
+        SELECT c.id, c.title, c.body_md, c.word_count, cs.body
         FROM chapters c
         LEFT JOIN chapter_summaries cs ON cs.chapter_id = c.id
         WHERE c.story_id = $1 AND c.n = $2
@@ -415,14 +427,92 @@ async fn chapter_view(
     .ok()
     .flatten();
 
-    let Some((title, body_md, word_count, summary)) = row else {
+    let Some((chapter_id, title, body_md, word_count, summary)) = row else {
         return Err(StatusCode::NOT_FOUND);
     };
 
-    let panel = chapter_panel(id, n, title.as_deref(), &body_md, word_count, summary.as_deref());
+    // Most-recent narration_run for the chapter — drives whether we
+    // show the audio player, the "rendering..." state, or the
+    // "Render audio" form.
+    let narration: Option<NarrationCard> = sqlx::query_as::<_, (String, Option<String>, Option<f32>, Option<String>, DateTime<Utc>, Option<DateTime<Utc>>, Option<String>)>(
+        r#"
+        SELECT nr.status, nr.output_path, nr.duration_seconds, v.display_name,
+               nr.started_at, nr.ended_at, nr.error
+        FROM narration_runs nr
+        JOIN voices v ON v.id = nr.voice_id
+        WHERE nr.chapter_id = $1
+        ORDER BY nr.started_at DESC
+        LIMIT 1
+        "#
+    )
+    .bind(chapter_id)
+    .fetch_optional(&state.pool)
+    .await
+    .ok()
+    .flatten()
+    .map(|(status, output_path, duration_seconds, voice_display, started_at, ended_at, error)| {
+        NarrationCard {
+            status,
+            output_path,
+            duration_seconds,
+            voice_display,
+            started_at,
+            ended_at,
+            error,
+        }
+    });
+
+    let panel = chapter_panel(
+        id,
+        chapter_id,
+        n,
+        title.as_deref(),
+        &body_md,
+        word_count,
+        summary.as_deref(),
+        narration.as_ref(),
+    );
     Ok(Html(render_shell(&stories, Some(id), panel).into_string()))
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+struct NarrationCard {
+    status: String,
+    output_path: Option<String>,
+    duration_seconds: Option<f32>,
+    voice_display: Option<String>,
+    started_at: DateTime<Utc>,
+    ended_at: Option<DateTime<Utc>>,
+    error: Option<String>,
+}
+
+async fn chapter_narrate_fire(
+    State(state): State<Arc<WebState>>,
+    Path((id, n)): Path<(Uuid, i32)>,
+) -> Result<Redirect, (StatusCode, String)> {
+    let chapter_id: Option<Uuid> =
+        sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT id FROM chapters WHERE story_id = $1 AND n = $2")
+            .bind(id)
+            .bind(n)
+            .fetch_optional(&state.pool)
+            .await
+            .map_err(|e| (StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, e.to_string()))?;
+    let chapter_id =
+        chapter_id.ok_or((StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "chapter not found".into()))?;
+
+    let database_url = std::env::var("DATABASE_URL")
+        .unwrap_or_else(|_| "postgresql://skald:skald@localhost:5432/skald".into());
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        if let Err(e) = crate::narrate::run(&database_url, chapter_id, None, 1.0).await {
+            tracing::error!(chapter_id = %chapter_id, error = %e, "background narrate failed");
+        } else {
+            tracing::info!(chapter_id = %chapter_id, "background narrate succeeded");
+        }
+    });
+
+    Ok(Redirect::to(&format!("/stories/{id}/chapters/{n}")))
+}
+
 async fn runs_view(
     State(state): State<Arc<WebState>>,
     Path(id): Path<Uuid>,
@@ -714,11 +804,13 @@ fn story_panel(
 
 fn chapter_panel(
     story_id: Uuid,
+    chapter_id: Uuid,
     n: i32,
     title: Option<&str>,
     body_md: &str,
     word_count: i32,
     summary: Option<&str>,
+    narration: Option<&NarrationCard>,
 ) -> Markup {
     let display_title = title.map(|t| strip_chapter_prefix(t, n).to_string());
     html! {
@@ -733,6 +825,7 @@ fn chapter_panel(
             div.metabar {
                 span.meta-item { (kfmt(word_count)) " words" }
             }
+            (narration_card(story_id, chapter_id, n, narration))
             @if let Some(s) = summary {
                 aside.summary-box {
                     h3 { "Summary" }
@@ -759,6 +852,91 @@ fn chapter_panel(
     }
 }
 
+/// Narration card — the strip that lives between chapter title and
+/// prose. Three shapes:
+///   - succeeded with audio: <audio> player + voice + duration
+///   - running: pending banner + auto-refresh meta-tag is not used;
+///     user reloads when they want fresh state
+///   - none / failed: "Render audio" button (POST to /narrate)
+fn narration_card(
+    story_id: Uuid,
+    _chapter_id: Uuid,
+    n: i32,
+    narration: Option<&NarrationCard>,
+) -> Markup {
+    let post_url = format!("/stories/{}/chapters/{}/narrate", story_id, n);
+    html! {
+        aside.narration {
+            @match narration {
+                Some(card) if card.status == "succeeded" && card.output_path.is_some() => {
+                    @let path = card.output_path.as_ref().unwrap();
+                    @let basename = path.rsplit('/').next().unwrap_or(path);
+                    @let audio_url = format!("/audio/{}", basename);
+                    h3 { "Audio" }
+                    audio controls preload="metadata" src=(audio_url) {}
+                    p.muted {
+                        @if let Some(d) = card.duration_seconds {
+                            (fmt_duration(d as f64))
+                        }
+                        @if let Some(v) = &card.voice_display {
+                            " · " (v)
+                        }
+                        " · "
+                        a href=(audio_url) download=(basename) { "download" }
+                    }
+                    form method="post" action=(post_url) {
+                        button type="submit" .ghost { "Re-render" }
+                    }
+                }
+                Some(card) if card.status == "running" => {
+                    h3 { "Audio — rendering…" }
+                    p.muted {
+                        "Started " (relative_time(card.started_at)) " ago. "
+                        "Reload the page to check progress."
+                    }
+                }
+                Some(card) if card.status == "failed" => {
+                    h3.warn { "Audio render failed" }
+                    @if let Some(e) = &card.error {
+                        pre.error-pre { (e) }
+                    }
+                    form method="post" action=(post_url) {
+                        button type="submit" { "Retry render" }
+                    }
+                }
+                _ => {
+                    h3 { "Audio" }
+                    p.muted {
+                        "Not rendered yet. F5-TTS with the system default voice. "
+                        "Expect ~6–8 min wall clock for a 3,000-word chapter on the GPU."
+                    }
+                    form method="post" action=(post_url) {
+                        button type="submit" { "Render audio" }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+fn fmt_duration(s: f64) -> String {
+    let total = s as i64;
+    let mins = total / 60;
+    let secs = total % 60;
+    format!("{mins}m {secs:02}s")
+}
+
+fn relative_time(t: DateTime<Utc>) -> String {
+    let elapsed = (Utc::now() - t).num_seconds().max(0);
+    if elapsed < 60 {
+        format!("{elapsed}s")
+    } else if elapsed < 3600 {
+        format!("{}m", elapsed / 60)
+    } else {
+        format!("{}h", elapsed / 3600)
+    }
+}
+
 fn runs_panel(story_id: Uuid, runs: &[(Uuid, String, String, DateTime<Utc>, Option<DateTime<Utc>>, Option<String>)]) -> Markup {
     html! {
         article.runs {
@@ -1099,6 +1277,24 @@ code { font-family: var(--mono); font-size: 0.9em; background: var(--surface-2);
     margin: 0 0 10px 0; font-weight: 700;
 }
 .summary-box p { margin: 0; color: var(--ink-muted); font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; font-family: var(--serif); }
+.narration {
+    background: var(--surface); border-left: 2px solid var(--accent);
+    padding: 16px 22px; margin: 24px 0; max-width: 75ch;
+}
+.narration h3 {
+    font-family: var(--display); font-size: 11px;
+    text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 2.5px; color: var(--accent);
+    margin: 0 0 10px 0; font-weight: 700;
+}
+.narration h3.warn { color: var(--accent); }
+.narration audio { width: 100%; margin: 4px 0 8px 0; }
+.narration p.muted { margin: 0 0 10px 0; color: var(--ink-muted); font-size: 13px; font-family: var(--sans, var(--serif)); }
+.narration p.muted a { color: var(--bronze); }
+.narration form { margin: 0; }
+.narration button { background: transparent; border: 1px solid var(--bronze); color: var(--bronze); padding: 6px 14px; font-family: var(--display); font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; }
+.narration button:hover { background: var(--bronze); color: var(--bg); }
+.narration button.ghost { border-color: var(--surface-2); color: var(--ink-muted); }
+.narration .error-pre { background: var(--surface-2); padding: 8px 12px; font-size: 12px; overflow-x: auto; }
 .prose {
     font-family: var(--serif); font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8;
     max-width: 68ch; color: var(--ink);