A small, wiry kobold with rust-red scales, a cream-colored throat, oversized amber eyes, and one chipped horn. He wears a fitted leather coat beneath a patched charcoal cloak, with thieves’ tools arranged in careful loops across his belt. A black iron ring hangs from one ear, etched with a symbol that resembles both a dragon’s eye and a keyhole. His hands are quick, stained with lampblack, and almost always hold a small piece of wire, chalk, or folded paper.

Nekuz is bright, alert, and cheerfully suspicious. He assumes every room has a secret entrance, every noble has a hidden debt, and every apparent threat can be redirected with the right distraction. He is generous toward frightened people and animals, but he becomes intensely competitive when someone dismisses him as weak or stupid. Beneath his bravado, he wants desperately to be trusted.

Nekuz learned the city from underneath it. His clutch lived in a drainage vault beneath the old market, where kobolds repaired traps, scavenged broken locks, and sold information to anyone who paid in food, candles, or interesting metal. Nekuz became the clutch’s smallest and fastest burglar, slipping through chimneys and crawlspaces to retrieve ledgers, keys, and the occasional jewel. He told himself that stealing from merchants was harmless, especially when the merchants were cruel, but the distinction became harder to maintain after a burglary left an elderly shopkeeper facing ruin. During that job, Nekuz found a sealed coffer containing a shard of black glass that whispered in Draconic. The voice belonged to an unseen patron who offered him power in exchange for carrying messages and uncovering secrets. Nekuz accepted, partly from desperation and partly because the voice spoke to him as though he were clever rather than small. His first magical successes were awkward, bright bursts of force and borrowed words that made locks forget they were locked. He now travels as an adventurer, trying to use his criminal talents against predators, tyrants, and anyone who treats the helpless as disposable. He still takes valuables when nobody is looking, but he keeps a private ledger of every theft and intends to repay each one someday.