# Character State: ch-04 (FINAL)

## 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. His death is the wound that drives the rest of the novel.
Permanent: YES — Kaelen does not appear in any subsequent chapter. His absence is a permanent scar.
Note: Vane will weaponize this death against the Accord in Ch05.

## Aric (Pyre Student Lead)
Location: Arena medical area.
Physical: Burns on arms; mana-exhausted from the inverted vortex.
Emotional: Devastated and guilt-ridden — his mana surge triggered the chain reaction.
Active obligations: Recover and report to Mira — UNPAID.
Arc: 10% — Thrust into significance by the disaster; his guilt will forge his eventual leadership.
Permanent: NO.

## Elara (Spire Student Lead)
Location: Arena medical area.
Physical: Mana-stripped; nose bleed; ice lattice trauma.
Emotional: TRANSFORMED by survivor's guilt — Kaelen died in the blast her ice lattice amplified. She owes the Pyre a debt.
Arc: 10% — From academic prodigy to a person carrying moral weight.
Permanent: NO.

## Lyra (Spire Records Keeper)
Location: Great Library, documenting the incident.
Emotional: Professional horror; now documenting a death, not a merger.
Arc: 30% — Witnessed the first Paradox magic in centuries.
Permanent: NO.

# World State: ch-04

## NPC Memory
- Ministry Observers / Vane: OUTRAGED — Witnessed a death. Vane is drafting emergency dissolution petition. "Correction Clause" is now active.
- Aric (Pyre students): TRAUMATIZED — Their star student's vortex killed their proctor. Blame is diffuse.
- Elara (Spire students): SHOCKED — Survived because Kaelen intercepted the blast meant for her.

## Faction Attitudes
- The Ministry: HOSTILE — Arena disaster is proof the merger is "lethally unstable." Vane has the evidence he needs.
- Pyre Academy: GRIEF + RAGE — Kaelen was beloved. They want answers. Pyre-Spire tensions at their worst.
- Spire Academy: DEFENSIVE GUILT — Elara survived. They owe the Pyre. Lyra is already writing the apology records.

## Active World Events
- Kaelen's Death: Ministry inquiry open. The Union's first public act killed a proctor.
- The Accord: Under existential threat from Vane's dissolution petition.
- The Paradox: Mira/Dorian's combined "violet-gold" Paradox magic was witnessed by all — first such phenomenon in centuries. Proof they are more powerful together than apart.