A three-foot-tall halfling with warm brown skin, a narrow face, bright hazel eyes, and thick black curls usually tucked beneath a weathered burgundy cap. Their nimble hands are covered in tiny scars from lockpicks, broken windows, and hurried escapes. They wear a close-fitting leather jerkin beneath a dark traveling cloak, soft-soled boots, and a belt crowded with pouches, daggers, and tools. A silver button from their first successful burglary hangs at their throat as a keepsake.

Cheerful, suspicious, and quick with a joke, Pip treats every room as a puzzle and every conversation as a possible escape route. They are fiercely protective of underdogs, shamelessly curious about other people's secrets, and far more comfortable dangling from a windowsill than sitting in a chair.

Pip Quicklock grew up in a halfling neighborhood built behind the kitchens, cellars, and servant passages of a wealthy river city. Their family survived by repairing cookware and carrying messages, but Pip discovered early that a small body, a cheerful smile, and a talent for being overlooked could open more doors than any key. They joined a loose crew of burglars who called themselves the Lantern Mice, learning to read guards by their footsteps, lift purses without breaking conversation, and vanish into the legs of larger folk when trouble came near. The crew's luck ended when their leader sold them out to a ruthless guildmaster. Pip escaped through a chimney with nothing but four daggers, a battered set of thieves' tools, and the silver button torn from the guildmaster's coat. The betrayal left Pip wary of organized crime, but not of criminals themselves. They now take jobs that target tyrants, cruel merchants, and anyone who treats the powerless as easy prey. Adventure offers coin, danger, and perhaps enough leverage to free the surviving Lantern Mice from the guild's reach.