ch3-4 done

characters/phelan-varrant.md

@@ -67,6 +67,14 @@
 - **Widen** — destabilize a working to cause controlled failure
 - **Chain vulnerabilities** — link multiple flaws across separate workings for cascading effect (rare, dangerous, exhausting — his signature move)
 
+### Combat Magic (Fire & Earth)
+- Learned fire magic and melee fighting as a child due to bullying. Kept quiet since leaving school. Hasn't needed it until dungeon work
+- **Fire element:** Strong. His primary combat tool — close-quarters fire weaving combined with physical strikes. Practiced obsessively as a kid
+- **Earth element:** Serviceable but weaker. Used for practical purposes (stabilizing terrain, creating cover) rather than offense
+- **Melee + magic combination:** Rare in Corvel. Most mages (~20% of population can use magic) are specialists who stand back and cast. Phelan can fight in close quarters while maintaining spell work. This makes him unusual in combat situations
+- **Current state:** Dormant skill resurfacing out of necessity. The skill and muscle memory are there, but stamina isn't what it was. Burns energy faster than he should because he's out of practice
+- **Not his identity:** Combat magic is a real capability he's been sitting on, not his defining trait. Flaw Sight remains his primary tool
+
 ### Other Skills
 - Cold reading / behavioral prediction
 - Guild-level problem solving and investigation