diff --git a/the-starfall-accord/staging/character-state-ch-04-final.md b/the-starfall-accord/staging/character-state-ch-04-final.md
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-# Character State: ch-04
+# Character State: ch-04 (FINAL)
 
 ## Mira
-Location: The Solas-Pyre Shared Grounds (The Frost-Veil Courtyard)
-Physical: Mana exhaustion; mild localized frostbite on fingertips from the "Binary Tap" incident; fire mana is erratic and "cold-seeking."
-Emotional: Deeply rattled and defensive; experiencing a loss of autonomy over her magic; surfacing attraction to Dorian manifesting as heightened irritation.
-Active obligations: To execute the "Equinox Gala" joint demonstration with Dorian (Ch05) -- UNPAID.
-Open loops: The "Unwanted Resonance" (Ch04) -- ACTIVE.
-Known secrets: Realizes her fire is no longer purely solar; it now mimics Dorian’s rhythmic cooling.
-Arc: 40% -- Transitioning from forced cooperation to involuntary physiological dependence on her rival.
-Permanent: NO (Flux state; resonance is still developmental).
+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: The Solas-Pyre Shared Grounds (The Frost-Veil Courtyard)
-Physical: Ocular strain from over-calculating mana vectors; "Thermal Drift" causing his ice to steam rather than freeze.
-Emotional: Methodical but fraying; protective of his students; secretly unsettled by the "Pull" Mira exerts on his core.
-Active obligations: To finalize the Unified Safety Protocols (Ch04) -- PAID.
-Open loops: The "Shattered Perimeter" (Ch04) -- RESOLVED.
-Known secrets: Knows Mira’s touch stabilizes his ice, but interprets it as a "magical anomaly" rather than an emotional one.
-Arc: 40% -- Moving from clinical observer to active participant in the dangerous alchemy of their combined power.
+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.
 
-## Kaelen
-Location: The Western Bastion
-Physical: Perfectly groomed; no injuries.
-Emotional: Skeptical and hyper-vigilant; protective of the Northern traditions.
-Active obligations: To report any "Harmonization Failures" to the Ministry (Ch05) -- ACTIVE.
-Open loops: None.
-Arc: 20% -- Transitioning from a loyalist to a suspicious internal critic of the merger.
+## 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
-Location: The Great Library
-Physical: Tincture stains on hands; sleep-deprived.
-Emotional: Scholarly obsession; fascinated by the cross-pollenization of the mages' mana.
-Active obligations: To document the "Binary Tap" phenomenon (Ch04) -- PAID.
-Open loops: None.
-Arc: 30% -- Proponent of the merger through the lens of academic discovery.
+## 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
-- Student Body: Traumatized by the courtyard incident; seeds of "forbidden" friendships are forming between fire and ice acolytes.
-- The Ministry: Impatient; they view the merger as a failure if it isn't "weaponizable" within the quarter.
+- 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
-- Spire Mages (Ice): Fearful of "Thermal Overrun"; seeing their rigid structures melt for the first time.
-- Pyre Mages (Fire): Resentful of the "Dampening" effect; feel their power is being suffocated.
+- 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
-- The Thinning Veil: The boundary between fire and ice magic is becoming porous; spontaneous "steam bursts" occurring throughout the campus.
-- The Great Equinox: An upcoming celestial event that will force a peak mana surge (Ch05 Prep).
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+- 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.
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