Peer is tall and broad-shouldered, with pale grey, stone-like skin, pointed ears, and short, quickly growing blond hair. His eyes are an eerie, uniform silver-blue. He wears a wool cloak that hangs a little too short at the wrists, repeatedly patched with careful, tiny stitches. A plain iron sword is kept polished beyond its worth, though he avoids letting it touch bare skin. He smells faintly of woodsmoke, wet stone, and the onions he keeps in his pocket.

Quick-witted, ingratiating, and skilled at making a bad situation sound temporary. Peer is generous with food now that he can spare it, but dislikes being thanked too warmly. He wants to be brave, though he often begins by calculating the least painful way to look brave.

Peer Ludvik was once the handsome young hero people swore had slain the troll king. He let them believe it. He had golden hair, a sword, a few useful spells, a rich man’s daughter for a wife, and enough food at last that he stopped counting every bite. Before that, he and his brother had been abandoned in the woods with two cousins after their parents died. Peer learned to bargain, charm, and take the easy path. When he went to trolls for tools and food, he dismissed his family’s warnings as country superstition. He never noticed what those bargains were doing to him.