# Character State: ch-04

## Mira
Location: Mira's Sanctum, Pyre Academy lower levels.
Physical: Total mana exhaustion; scorched palms from kinetic overload; cold-shock from Paradox fusion.
Emotional: GRIEF-SHATTERED — Kaelen is dead. Survivor's guilt. Her hatred of Dorian has inverted into dependency.
Active obligations: Owes Dorian a response to his "anchor" offer (Ch04) — UNPAID. Ministry audit pending — ACTIVE.
Open loops: Kaelen's death / Ministry investigation (Ch04) — ACTIVE. Impact on student body (Ch04) — UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: Knows she and Dorian's fusion power ("Paradox" magic) could have stopped the vortex sooner if she had not hesitated — GUILT.
Arc: 45% — Her role as "sole protector" of the Pyre is shattered. She is no longer fighting the merger from pride but from grief.
Permanent: YES (First successful Paradox fusion; Kaelen's death; rivalry with Dorian replaced by shared trauma).

## Dorian Solas
Location: Dorian's Sanctum, Pyre Academy (adjoining suite).
Physical: Severe nerve-scorch on right hand; mercury-glass cuff cracked; mana-drained.
Emotional: Clinical detachment broken — experiencing grief for Kaelen and guilt for hesitating on the Paradox cast. Discovering loss operates outside his optimization calculus.
Active obligations: Initiate Full Safety Review of arena protocols — ACTIVE.
Open loops: Ministry "Correction Clause" / Vane's investigation (Ch04) — ACTIVE. Frost-ward failure origin (suspected sabotage) — UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: Realizes the Starfall pocket timing was statistically improbable — suspects deliberate manipulation by Vane's faction.
Arc: 50% — The first permanent crack in his emotional armor. Kaelen's death is making him question whether "optimal outcomes" justify the cost of people.
Permanent: YES (Paradox fusion established; clinical detachment permanently compromised by grief).

## KAELEN — DECEASED (Ch04)
Location: N/A — Killed in arena disaster.
Physical: DEAD — Killed when the inverted Starfall vortex slammed him into the basalt wall. Mira's "Goodbye, Kaelen" closes the chapter.
Arc: COMPLETE — Died protecting the academy he was sworn to defend.
Permanent: YES — does not appear in any subsequent chapter.

## Aric (Pyre Student Lead)
Location: Arena medical area.
Physical: Burns on arms; mana-exhausted.
Emotional: Guilt — his mana surge triggered the chain reaction.
Arc: 10%. Permanent: NO.

## Elara (Spire Student Lead)
Location: Arena medical area.
Physical: Mana-stripped; ice lattice trauma.
Emotional: Survivor's guilt — owes the Pyre a debt.
Arc: 10%. Permanent: NO.

# World State: ch-04

## Active World Events
- Kaelen's Death: Ministry inquiry open.
- The Accord: Under existential threat from Vane's dissolution petition.
- The Paradox: Mira/Dorian Paradox magic witnessed — first in centuries.