diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 66bcf95..e3801e4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ Semantic Versioning.
 - Removed every hat and hood from the NPC roster: the firefighter helmet is the only head gear
   left, so no character hides its face behind a cap. The street performer no longer wears the
   cone hat and carries the baton and board in the hands instead.
+- Every NPC now has a visible mouth; the Quaternius heads shipped without one, so the faces read as
+  brow-and-eye masks.
 - Fixed the modular Worker characters: the guard, delivery, firefighter and crowd roles had holes
   in the torso and an open crown, a continuous unibrow and no visible eyes. They now have a closed
   torso, hair, two eyebrows and two eyes.
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index f1cd212..cfacef5 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -930,6 +930,37 @@ gear) and 5 (head gear on the skull).
 - [ ] Refresh `CHARACTERS`, the manifest roles/tint data, `CREDITS.md` and the review doc rows as
       each family lands.
 
+### Prop and gear fit pass (new NPC attach points)
+
+Goal: every gear piece and role prop is measured against, and re-authored for, the Quaternius
+skeleton. The 0.9.9 roster swap moved the hand from y 0.78 to the wrist at y 1.017, the head centre
+from 1.62 to 1.69 and the shoulder width from 0.27 to 0.15, so anything authored for the procedural
+body is now the wrong size or in the wrong place. Nothing in this workstream changes the runtime
+contract.
+
+- [ ] Extend `tools/blender_assets.py fit` to measure **hand** and **chest** gear (it currently
+      reports head, back and chest only, and skips `hand` outright). Report each item's grip
+      offset from the wrist, its overall size and whether it clears the thigh at rest.
+- [ ] Record a measurement table for the nine hand items (`phone`, `cup`, `clipboard`, `umbrella`,
+      `camera`, `protest_sign`, `flashlight`, `wand`, `radio`) against the Quaternius wrist
+      (Godot y 1.017, palm 4 cm forward) and pick a grip scale per item.
+- [ ] Re-author the oversized hand items: `clipboard` (0.23 x 0.31 m) and `umbrella` (0.70 m
+      shaft) are the two the captures flag; rebuild, re-bake AO and re-check in the capture gate.
+- [ ] Re-fit the role props in `NpcAvatar._add_props()` and `_add_hand_item()` — delivery box,
+      confused-visitor tray, influencer photo prop, tourist camera — against the same wrist
+      anchors, and delete the now-unused primitive cap/hood fallbacks, if any remain.
+- [ ] Retire the gear GLBs the roster no longer uses (`cap`, `hood`, `beanie`) or mark them
+      fallback-only, and update `CREDITS.md`, the manifest and `docs/blender-assets.md`.
+- [ ] Re-measure `fit` for `backpack`, `shoulder_bag`, `scba_tank` and `lanyard` on the slimmer
+      Quaternius torso and re-fit the straps where they no longer touch the body.
+- [ ] Rebuild `docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_gear.jpg` and add a gear-on-character sheet to the
+      review page, then re-run the 24-NPC budget smoke.
+- [ ] Update `docs/npc-visual-review.md` row 4 (hands and hand-held gear) once the pass lands.
+
+**Exit:** every gear piece and role prop has a measured fit against the Quaternius attach points,
+the hand-held items are within +/-10 % of their authored real-world size, and the review page row 4
+is signed off.
+
 ### Gates and rollout
 
 - [ ] Re-bake AO per rebuilt GLB and refresh the stale `.godot` import cache (scratch-copy
diff --git a/assets/models/blender/manifest.json b/assets/models/blender/manifest.json
index b2e2604..aab0037 100644
--- a/assets/models/blender/manifest.json
+++ b/assets/models/blender/manifest.json
@@ -450,7 +450,8 @@
         "Eyebrows",
         "Eye",
         "hair",
-        "pants"
+        "pants",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_casual.glb",
@@ -467,8 +468,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6206,
-      "vertices": 12988
+      "triangles": 6218,
+      "vertices": 13012
     },
     "npc_coat": {
       "base": "hoodie",
@@ -493,7 +494,8 @@
         "Eyebrows",
         "Eye",
         "hair",
-        "pants"
+        "pants",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_coat.glb",
@@ -509,8 +511,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6206,
-      "vertices": 12988
+      "triangles": 6218,
+      "vertices": 13012
     },
     "npc_crowd_a": {
       "base": "casual",
@@ -535,7 +537,8 @@
         "Hair_Brown",
         "Brown",
         "hair",
-        "pants"
+        "pants",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_a.glb",
@@ -550,8 +553,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6424,
-      "vertices": 13439
+      "triangles": 6436,
+      "vertices": 13459
     },
     "npc_crowd_b": {
       "base": "casual",
@@ -576,7 +579,8 @@
         "Hair_Brown",
         "Brown",
         "hair",
-        "pants"
+        "pants",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_b.glb",
@@ -591,8 +595,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6424,
-      "vertices": 13439
+      "triangles": 6436,
+      "vertices": 13459
     },
     "npc_crowd_c": {
       "base": "hoodie",
@@ -617,7 +621,8 @@
         "Eyebrows",
         "Eye",
         "hair",
-        "pants"
+        "pants",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_c.glb",
@@ -632,8 +637,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6206,
-      "vertices": 12988
+      "triangles": 6218,
+      "vertices": 13012
     },
     "npc_crowd_d": {
       "base": "worker",
@@ -660,7 +665,8 @@
         "pants",
         "Brows",
         "Eye.001",
-        "hair"
+        "hair",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_d.glb",
@@ -675,8 +681,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6254,
-      "vertices": 13198
+      "triangles": 6266,
+      "vertices": 13222
     },
     "npc_dress": {
       "base": "casual",
@@ -701,7 +707,8 @@
         "Hair_Brown",
         "Brown",
         "hair",
-        "pants"
+        "pants",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_dress.glb",
@@ -715,8 +722,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6424,
-      "vertices": 13439
+      "triangles": 6436,
+      "vertices": 13459
     },
     "npc_firefighter": {
       "base": "worker",
@@ -743,7 +750,8 @@
         "pants",
         "Brows",
         "Eye.001",
-        "hair"
+        "hair",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_firefighter.glb",
@@ -757,8 +765,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6254,
-      "vertices": 13198
+      "triangles": 6266,
+      "vertices": 13222
     },
     "npc_guard": {
       "base": "worker",
@@ -785,7 +793,8 @@
         "pants",
         "Brows",
         "Eye.001",
-        "hair"
+        "hair",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_guard.glb",
@@ -800,8 +809,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6254,
-      "vertices": 13198
+      "triangles": 6266,
+      "vertices": 13222
     },
     "npc_hoodie": {
       "base": "hoodie",
@@ -826,7 +835,8 @@
         "Eyebrows",
         "Eye",
         "hair",
-        "pants"
+        "pants",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_hoodie.glb",
@@ -842,8 +852,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6206,
-      "vertices": 12988
+      "triangles": 6218,
+      "vertices": 13012
     },
     "npc_jacket": {
       "base": "casual",
@@ -868,7 +878,8 @@
         "Hair_Brown",
         "Brown",
         "hair",
-        "pants"
+        "pants",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_jacket.glb",
@@ -884,8 +895,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6424,
-      "vertices": 13439
+      "triangles": 6436,
+      "vertices": 13459
     },
     "npc_vest": {
       "base": "worker",
@@ -913,7 +924,8 @@
         "pants",
         "Brows",
         "Eye.001",
-        "hair"
+        "hair",
+        "mouth"
       ],
       "mesh_node": "npc_base",
       "path": "assets/models/blender/npc/npc_vest.glb",
@@ -927,8 +939,8 @@
         "accessory",
         "hair"
       ],
-      "triangles": 6254,
-      "vertices": 13198
+      "triangles": 6266,
+      "vertices": 13222
     },
     "palm_tree": {
       "bounds_godot": {
diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_casual.glb b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_casual.glb
index 6cce457..79a39bb 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_casual_ao.png b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_casual_ao.png
index 27dc18e..2948cfe 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_coat.glb b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_coat.glb
index 6cce457..79a39bb 100644
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index 27dc18e..2948cfe 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_a.glb b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_a.glb
index 41811dc..f466e02 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_a_ao.png b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_a_ao.png
index 45cebb6..82a54b5 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_b_ao.png b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_b_ao.png
index 45cebb6..82a54b5 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_c.glb b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_c.glb
index 6cce457..79a39bb 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_c_ao.png b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_c_ao.png
index 27dc18e..2948cfe 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_d.glb b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_d.glb
index 5f93500..365fe78 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_d_ao.png b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_crowd_d_ao.png
index f4e3170..9b040c6 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_dress.glb b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_dress.glb
index 41811dc..f466e02 100644
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index 45cebb6..82a54b5 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_firefighter.glb b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_firefighter.glb
index 5f93500..365fe78 100644
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index f4e3170..9b040c6 100644
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index 5f93500..365fe78 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_hoodie.glb b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_hoodie.glb
index 6cce457..79a39bb 100644
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index 41811dc..f466e02 100644
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diff --git a/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_vest.glb b/assets/models/blender/npc/npc_vest.glb
index 5b81c81..e0db1c8 100644
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index f4e3170..9b040c6 100644
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diff --git a/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_0.9.9.jpg b/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_0.9.9.jpg
index 163c739..d359622 100644
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diff --git a/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_crowd_0.9.9.jpg b/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_crowd_0.9.9.jpg
index cf9a765..99c9460 100644
Binary files a/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_crowd_0.9.9.jpg and b/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_crowd_0.9.9.jpg differ
diff --git a/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_views_0.9.9.jpg b/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_views_0.9.9.jpg
index a2f1562..e22acde 100644
Binary files a/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_views_0.9.9.jpg and b/docs/blender_previews/sheet_npc_roster_views_0.9.9.jpg differ
diff --git a/docs/npc-visual-review.md b/docs/npc-visual-review.md
index 25ffb13..f8533cd 100644
--- a/docs/npc-visual-review.md
+++ b/docs/npc-visual-review.md
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ all build defects, not art. This revision covers what was fixed and what is stil
 | arms intersecting the body on `npc_dress`, `npc_jacket`, `npc_crowd_a`, `npc_crowd_d` | the baked rest aimed the upper arm straight down, which fails on the narrow bases | reduced — the arm rests 7° out from vertical (mesh width 0.180 → 0.220 on `casual`, 0.228 → 0.262 on `hoodie`) |
 | head gear did not sit on the skull | gear is authored around the procedural head centre (1.62); the Quaternius head centre is 1.69 | **resolved by removal** — see below |
 | performer cone swallowed the head | a 0.44 m cone authored for the old body | removed — the performer carries a baton and board in the hands |
+| faces had **no mouth at all** | none of the three upstream heads carries a mouth material | fixed — a small lip block is placed on the measured skin surface for every base (dark maroon, not tinted) |
 
 ## Hats and head items
 
@@ -91,6 +92,10 @@ Recorded as tasks in `TODO.md` under **Owner review findings**:
 
 1. **Eyes have no whites.** Every base uses single-colour quads, so eyes read as dark rectangles at
    portrait distance. A light sclera plus pupil on the `Eye` slot would finish the face.
+2. **Hands and hand-held gear are still authored for the old body.** The wrist moved from y 0.78 to
+   1.017 and the arm got shorter, so the clipboard and the umbrella are oversized. A dedicated
+   prop-and-gear fit pass is queued in [`../TODO.md`](../TODO.md) under **Prop and gear fit pass
+   (new NPC attach points)** — it starts by teaching `fit` to measure hand gear at all.
 2. **Arms still graze the torso on the `worker` base** — the 7° rest tilt cleared the `casual` base
    but not this one.
 3. **The `npc_vest` clipboard is oversized** on the shorter Quaternius arm.
diff --git a/tools/blender_assets.py b/tools/blender_assets.py
index 33c080a..b326ae6 100644
--- a/tools/blender_assets.py
+++ b/tools/blender_assets.py
@@ -1587,6 +1587,65 @@ def _purge_unused_materials(obj):
         bpy.data.materials.remove(material)
 
 
+def _add_quaternius_mouth(obj):
+    """Give every Quaternius head a readable mouth.
+
+    None of the three upstream heads carries a mouth material: the face is skin
+    only, so at gameplay distance the characters read as brow-and-eye masks. A
+    small flat lip block is placed on the measured skin surface, which is why it
+    works for all three bases without per-source tuning.
+    """
+    # This runs before the slot map, so the material is still the upstream `Skin`.
+    skin = next((i for i, m in enumerate(obj.data.materials)
+                 if m is not None and _base_name(m.name).lower() == "skin"), None)
+    if skin is None:
+        return
+    band = []
+    for poly in obj.data.polygons:
+        if poly.material_index != skin:
+            continue
+        for index in poly.vertices:
+            co = obj.data.vertices[index].co
+            if 1.600 <= co.z <= 1.632 and abs(co.x) <= 0.035:
+                band.append(co.y)
+    if not band:
+        return
+    front = min(band)          # Blender -Y is the face; the lip sits on the surface
+    height = 1.616
+    material = bpy.data.materials.new("mouth")
+    material.use_nodes = True
+    bsdf = material.node_tree.nodes.get("Principled BSDF")
+    if bsdf is not None:
+        # Blender node colours are linear; 0.16 linear reads as mauve once
+        # Tonemapped in Godot, so the lip is set well below the skin value.
+        bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value = (0.055, 0.018, 0.02, 1.0)
+        bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value = 0.6
+    else:
+        print("  mouth: no Principled node, colour left at default")
+    material.diffuse_color = (0.055, 0.018, 0.02, 1.0)
+    bm = bmesh.new()
+    bmesh.ops.create_cube(bm, size=1.0)
+    for vert in bm.verts:
+        vert.co.x *= 0.058
+        vert.co.y *= 0.012
+        vert.co.z *= 0.011
+        vert.co += Vector((0.0, front + 0.003, height))
+    mouth = bpy.data.objects.new("Mouth", bpy.data.meshes.new("Mouth"))
+    bm.to_mesh(mouth.data)
+    bm.free()
+    mouth.data.materials.append(material)
+    bpy.context.scene.collection.objects.link(mouth)
+    for o in bpy.context.selected_objects:
+        o.select_set(False)
+    obj.select_set(True)
+    mouth.select_set(True)
+    bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = obj
+    bpy.ops.object.join()
+    group = obj.vertex_groups.get("Head") or obj.vertex_groups.new(name="Head")
+    group.add([v.index for v in obj.data.vertices if not v.groups], 1.0, "REPLACE")
+    print(f"  mouth placed at y {front + 0.003:+.3f} z {height:.3f}")
+
+
 def _base_name(name):
     """Strip Blender's `.001` duplicate suffix."""
     head, sep, tail = name.rpartition(".")
@@ -1998,6 +2057,7 @@ def _quaternius_tpose_glb(base, overrides):
     slots.update(overrides)
     if source.get("donor_head"):
         _transplant_worker_head(obj)
+    _add_quaternius_mouth(obj)
     _quaternius_slot_map(obj, slots)
 
     # Upstream UVs are degenerate (every loop at 0,0), so an AO bake would write