Ketta is a compact, broad-shouldered mountain dwarf with iron-gray hair braided close to the scalp and a square beard bound with plain copper rings. Her hands are the first thing people notice. The fingers are thick, callused, and permanently darkened around the nails from years of oiling armor, tightening straps, and repairing weapons in bad weather. She stands with her feet planted wide, habitually occupying more space than she intends, and speaks to nearby people as though they are already part of the same squad. Her chain mail is meticulously maintained, while the wooden grip of her longsword has been worn smooth by constant use.

Ketta is practical, direct, and unexpectedly patient with frightened people. She has a dry sense of humor and treats preparation as a form of affection. She dislikes boasting, wastes no food, and becomes quietly generous whenever she sees someone repairing old equipment instead of throwing it away.

Ketta Grak was raised in a mountain fortress where every child learned that walls were only as strong as the hands maintaining them. She became a soldier almost by accident, first serving as an armor tender, then as a shield bearer, and finally as a line sergeant after holding a collapsing gate long enough for a patrol to return. She was never the fastest fighter or the loudest officer, but she could see exactly where a formation was about to fail and put herself there before anyone else noticed. Her company was disbanded after a border campaign ended in a political betrayal. The official report blamed the soldiers for abandoning a supply train, while Ketta knew the wagons had been deliberately redirected by a noble commander seeking to conceal stolen arms. She left the fortress with her rank, her battered shield, and the names of three surviving comrades. Now she travels as a sellsword and investigator, gathering enough proof to expose the betrayal while protecting ordinary people from the kind of powerful cowardice that destroys armies from within.