Kiri is a wiry half-elf girl with warm brown skin, pointed ears, and dark auburn hair hacked unevenly at the jaw. She keeps the sides of her head closely cropped, partly for practicality and partly because she dislikes anything that can be grabbed in a fight. Her amber-brown eyes are watchful and restless. Her clothes are clean when she has access to water, but visibly mended, layered, and chosen for easy movement. She stands with her weight forward, as if every conversation might become a chase.

Kiri is suspicious, sharp-tongued, and intensely observant. She notices exits, loose purses, concealed weapons, and changes in people's breathing before she notices beauty. Beneath her hostility is a desperate wish to be understood without having to beg for it. She respects people who keep their promises, dislikes pity, and has a fierce, awkward tenderness toward anyone smaller or more frightened than herself.

Kiri grew up in the narrow alleys behind a riverside market, the half-elven daughter of a human dockworker and an elven mother who disappeared before Kiri was old enough to remember her face. Her father died during a winter fever, leaving Kiri alone among warehouses, gutters, and crowded tenements. She survived by stealing food, running messages, and learning which doors opened for a frightened child and which doors required a knife. Anger became her safest possession. It kept her moving when hunger made her weak, and it made people hesitate before hurting her.